My first Bowie sketch, critiques and recommendations welcome

Josh Rider

Josh Rider

Stuff maker
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Sep 2, 2014
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I want to get started on a Bowie for my brother that I've been promising him for quite a while.
This will be my first Bowie.
Here's a drawing:

 
The handle should follow the spine. Look at Don Hansen III, nick Wheeler, or other established makers (Salem Straub for example.) Will Morrison has been knocking it out of the park lately too.

Warren
 
I'm with Willie
I like the looks of your knife, just tilt the handle downwards a bit
 
I concur with the others. I might also rotate the angle of the butt clockwise a bit making it closer to a 45˚ angle. Keep an eye on the guard lug thickness. I like the design but try to make them the same thickness and taper. The top lug looks good.
 
Thanks guys, I'll redraw the handle today. I see what you're saying about the spine lining up with the handle,
What is the guard lug? I should also add this will be my first guard/hidden tang.
 
The guard lug or quillon is just the parts of the guard that stick out, as opposed to the center which wraps around the tang.
 
Give the tip a bit more belly, which is to say make it wider/more curvy.
 
I might shorten the clip up just a bit and give it a very slight curve inward, but I suppose that's more personal preference than a hard rule or anything.
 
I'll be the one to say I like different takes on basic designs. I do agree with equalizing the guard lugs, but I think your handle is fine as is--it is different from say Nick Wheelers stuff, who is a legend--but I think your's is fine myself. Having a different angle here and there is not a huge negative to me--if you look at several very successful versions of Bowie Knives, I don't know if there is something dictating that your handle spine needs to line up with your blade spine--perhaps there is--but to me a little change in those type of things are what make us distinct as makers. I can see where if you held the handle on your design 'level' the blade would be pointed down, but I don't know if that is a negative somehow, and that's why the others have the tilt downward more. I'll be interested to see the other feedback here.
 
The angle of the handle is also dictated by the grip, and how the blade orients itself in use. A drop handle works for snap cuts, and the blade is in a more natural position in a reverse grip.
 
i4Marc said:
I concur with the others. I might also rotate the angle of the butt clockwise a bit making it closer to a 45˚ angle. Keep an eye on the guard lug thickness. I like the design but try to make them the same thickness and taper. The top lug looks good.
Click to expand...

^^^^^ I would take this guts advice. His Bowles are very esthetically pleasing and look like they would fit the hand perfectly. :thumbup:
 
Thanks guys but Fish has it right. It is the individual approaches we all bring to our art that give us our own style and interpretation of the form. I hope Josh realizes that all the opinions offered are suggestions, to be adopted or dismissed as he sees fit. It's sometimes helpful to get other viewpoints we may not have considered but the final decision must fit the designers vision for the piece and express his own flair and sense of aesthetics. Of course there is nothing wrong with the handle the way it is. But when someone asks for help or we get a sense that their experience is limited (I'm not saying that is the case) I think suggesting common successful design principles is a good place to start. It's simply a home base from which to start exploring variations.

It might be my tendency to add a bit more belly as well but I like the aggressive look the way the line is now. I think it will be strong enough if the cross section is left appropriately robust at the tip.
 
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I really appreciate all the input. Never having done a Bowie or hidden tang for that matter is why I wanted advice. I always try to make my fixed blades flow from tip to butt so missing that on the Bowie I drew came as an aha moment. I also would like to keep it thin at the tip. I'll be using either 3/16" or 1/4" depending on whatever I feel like at the time as I've ordered both thicknesses in 1075 and W2 from Aldo. I'll be doing a hamon as well. If the tip ends up being too small with the clip I'll grind it back some.
 
Josh Rider said:
I really appreciate all the input. Never having done a Bowie or hidden tang for that matter is why I wanted advice. I always try to make my fixed blades flow from tip to butt so missing that on the Bowie I drew came as an aha moment. I also would like to keep it thin at the tip. I'll be using either 3/16" or 1/4" depending on whatever I feel like at the time as I've ordered both thicknesses in 1075 and W2 from Aldo. I'll be doing a hamon as well. If the tip ends up being too small with the clip I'll grind it back some.
Click to expand...

I think the tip is fine like this. The current trend is to more belly, as well as short ricassos, but the thin tip on this one fits the sleek design. :thumbup: Its a bit less than I would use. But it doesn't look wrong either.
 
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