My first Bowie/present for a friend WIP (fingers corssed)

Fletch Helical

Fletch Helical

Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
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Okay so we're clear here, this isn't a WIP to say "hey y'all watch this". This is a "I'm attempting something big for me please watch over my shoulder and make sure I don't screw it up". So I work with this girl who I wound up becoming good friends with. Turns out she's a knife nut so a while back I decided I'm going to try and make a nice present for her birthday which is next month, she is also of Puerto Rican decent (I'll explain why that "matters" soon). I ask her what is her favorite style knife and her favorite color. I find out it's a Bowie and the color is blue. So I get the idea in my head I'm going to do a Bowie with a dyed blue curly maple handle then I get an idea for the sheath. A while back I bought a blue stingray skin (again for this project) and my plan for the sheath is to use it as an inlay and have it be the top portion of the flag for Puerto Rico. Which is a blue triangle with a white star in the center along with red and white stripes coming off it vertically.

So as cool as it would be to do the flag on the side I have nowhere near the leather skills to do anything like that and figure the blue stingray with a white star would suffice because "how hard can that be? :foot:" A member here offered to get me started and supplied the blank and started the plunge and the clip for me to help save a little time. It arrived about a week ago and I also happen to be ripping a room of my house apart at the same time and re doing everything from floor to ceiling so there is the chance this present might be a bit belated. So I started grinding it and like I dope I went the wrong way with Fred Bubble Jig and used a steep angle wedge for a bit only to realize I'm dumb. So currently the edge is thinner that I'd like (way thinner than a dime) but I can knock that down with a file. Steel is ATS 34 and if memory serves you can go a bit thinner with stainless than carbon but I could be wrong.

Oh one other thing, I've been out of the game for about 2-3 years now so this is the first knife I've made and I only have a couple completed under my belt and a few in various stages from before I stopped. I will plug Fred's bubble jig because while there is some inconsistencies I'd like to think I've done a decent job so far on my grind considering I haven't put steel to a grinder in years.
 
Was having a problem loading the whole thing in one post here are the pics!

Here is basically how I got it (minus the Dykem) I filed in the plunges a bit higher than the were since with my 2x42 I seem to have a hell of a time using Fred's clamp as a guide since my platen isn't as great as a KMG But I THINK the key is set it for one side, grind that then do the other.






I'm thinking of making the clip more where the red line is in this pic easier to see than where I scribed in the dykem. What do you guys think? I borrorwed this design from a Bob Engnath's online knife patterns and it shows it a bit more like that I believe.




Here is where I got to today in the time I had. One side basically hit where I scribed it in the Dykem. Need to finish up the other side (I know this goes against traditional grinding technique) Keep in mind I didn't clean up the blade at all so this is right off the grinder

Hit the line I scribed



A bit more to go



So thanks for reading a long I hope some follow along. If I can make this look in real life how I want it in my head...... It shouldn't be half bad. ;)
 
Thanks for sharing your WIP, I'm in the middle of my first two now and it has been quite a journey.
 
I am just finishing my first bowie. I am doing the final shaping on the guard, and handle. Hoping to be done today. Its a lot of work, but there is a real pride in holding something like this in your hand knowing you made it. I must have at least 30 hours in the project already. Its a bday present for my brother, and his party is on Sunday. I won't have the handle fully completed, as I ran out of time, but he can hold it, and I'll complete the oil rubbing next week.
 
Looking good, Matt.

Don't worry too much about the edge, you can always take a little off before HT. In stainless steel, a thinner edge is OK. About .015" is the norm ( 1/3 the thickness of a dime).
Do be careful it does not form a sharp spot that will cut you while sanding!
 
Stacy I wanted to ask you a question. Since there are parts that look like they have a secondary bevel toward the edge. Is it necessary to worry about having them on the same angle as the primary bevel. Since I'm only going to put an edge on it anyway is it something I need to worry about or not really?
 
Well my first snafu. If you look at the pic where I didn't finish grinding up to my scribe line, you'll notice that closer to the tip the grind isn't even (I'm guessing I was lifting the blade off the platen as I was going?). So I decided to focus a bit more on just that area and about halfway up the blade (ricasso to tip) I managed to create a low spot :(. Probably about the size of a quarter I'm hoping I can grind it out without messing up the blade even more. I was using an 80 grit belt for the bevels I'm not sure if I should stay there and try and get the low spot out with that or maybe bump up to 120 or 220 and hopefully get it out a bit more slowly.
 
The "Bevel" you see is just the 45° grind I put on to locate the center of the edge. Ignore it, as it will be removed as you grind and sharpen.
Just work the bevel down on the side with the low spot until it is even, and if necessary, flatten the area above it to lower the flat part down to the grind line.
 
Quick update to post my "grind of shame" most of us have a weak side we grind on anyway right lol? I managed to get it down quite a bit but the last part is going to take some time. The whole area was about the size of a quarter now I'm basically down to this "line" which I guess was a result of me not hitting the platen square every time and/or pulling off of it as I was making the grind. Hopefully this is recoverable without turning this thing into bigger mess.

 
Okay guys there is something I can't really understand here maybe someone can explain this. I've been grinding this thing for a bit last night and this morning decided to put some more layout fluid on it to see what's happening. What I can't understand is this knife is sitting flat against the platen the entire time I've been grinding and no matter what it doesn't seem like I'm making any progress and I'm worried about screwing this thing up more.

Here is my first few passes after putting on the layout fluid. The highest spot you see is where I want the grind line to stop so I'm thinking I have the correct angle (using a 3 degree with Fred's jig and that's what I did the other side with which is as perfect as I'll get it).



Here I am after a few more passes. It just doesn't seem like I'm hitting the areas very much that have the layout fluid on them and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong so any input is appreciated.



Theoretically I would think if I'm flat against the platen this grind line should be moving up, it doesn't seem like it is and it's beginning to frustrate me as to what I'm doing wrong. I don't want to keep taking this thing to the grinder if I'm only going to keep making it worse. It's feeling like no matter that I do I can't get the area from the clip to the tip touched at all.
 
Okay since I'm stubborn and impatient I decided to go back at this thing shortly after fuming about my last post and think I finally nailed it.




Now I'm going to work on the clip and I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm finally happy to move on to hand sanding this. Looking forward I'm curious on the next step. I'll have to drill the hole in the tang to pin the handle in. How is that figured out? I'm guessing the block and the blade are drilled at the same time? Also at the moment all I have is Corbys will they work for something like this or do I need to pin it in place?
 
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I don't drill the tang until after HT and fitting the guard. Have the tang left soft, or drawn with a torch after HT.

After fitting the guard and handle, pre-drill the handle for the pin ( I use an 1/8" nickel rod). Be very careful to make sure the hole is not drilled at an angle or the pin will be higher on one side than the other. Put the guard and handle on and clamp the assembly in the glue-up jig. Make sure everything fits perfect, and when all has been adjusted, drill through the handle hole just enough to mark the tang. Remove the handle and then drill the tang. If when the handle is being assembled, for some reason there is too much slop, just add a colored spacer at the guard/handle.
 
1/4" mosaics are great for this task. Start with an 1/8" hole in the handle, and open it up to fit the rivet after drilling the tang. that way, any misalignment can be adjusted easier.
 
Just a quick update. I spent a fair amount of time the last day or so getting re acquainted with my surface plate to get all the flats FLAT. And to clean up my ugly grind spots (let this be a lesson to any aspiring makers a lot of screw ups can be fixed with a lot of elbow grease and a ton of sandpaper :D). I'm fairly happy with where I'm at for the moment. This is basically all 120 but it looks way better than I thought it was gonna come out. Yes my vice is not bolted down yet.

Here is my "good" grind side.



Here is the side that was the bane of my existence.



The only thing I'm not happy about is this one spot at the top of the plunge on the one side. It's got a weird look to it to me.



The only other thing I need to consider is the clip. At first I wanted to have it start further back on the spine but with that grind I'm thinking it might look funny. If you look it's already slightly behind it so I'm kind of stuck with it being there. Should I move it back or leave it alone?

This was kind of what I was thinking. Basically leave the clip where it is just bevel from where the red line is for the false edge... Yay or nay on this?

 
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Looking pretty good. I personally would shoot for somewhere between where you have it now and the line you have drawn in. I think that would look pretty good.
 
Still plugging away between this and my house. I spent sometime with the clip and seems this is about where it's going to end up. I wasn't really sure the best way to go about it so I opted to cut in with a chainsaw file on the spine then filed the clip. It's not exactly what I was hoping for but I guess it will do. Seems it's hard to get a good shot of but hopefully you can get an idea. Basically from here unless anyone has any suggestions otherwise, my plan is to take the clip and spine and the underside of the ricasso up to 400 (I'm at 320 now)then do the same for the flats and she'll be ready for HT.

My question is when it comes to fitting the guard and handle is that done before HT, after, or does it not really matter? My thought was before the HT in case any tinkering needs to be done with the blade in terms of filing or whatever better to do it before it's hardened. But then I guess you can also adjust everything around the blade as well. If anyone can tell me what the "norm" is I'd appreciate it. Lastly I was thinking about finishing the blade and most likely it will be a hand rubbed 800 or 1000 grit finish. But I was thinking of bringing the clip to a mirror polish, would that look stupid?

PICS!!





 
Nothing wrong with what you did in rounding the clip back a bit onto the spine, but I usually just bring the clip grind up to the spine so the spine top ends with a crisp triangle. I like the clip bevels to be crisp and flat.
 
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