- Joined
- Sep 29, 2015
- Messages
- 229
I finally found the time to make my first hidden tang Bowie knife made from W2 from Aldo’s.
I really have to put a word of appreciation out to Nick Wheeler for putting his great series on Youtube about how to make a Bowie knife. They are great quality and very informative and helped me tremendously in every step of the process. It really is generous of him to put them online for free because they are much better than videos I have paid for.
I am really pleased the way it turned out and my hardening was successful with an after quench hardness of 65. I had to do so much thermal cycling to get this steel to harden properly that the blade took on an appearance like it had been acid etched but actually I think it suits the knife and I like the result so I left it. The guard is made of brass that I gave a patina with salt water and the handle is ironwood. Overall length is 15.25 inches.
I made sure with this knife that I spent extra time on my finishing detail work because I have rushed some knives in the past. I took the handle up to 1200 grit and applied just one coat of Tung oil.
And it certainly pays to have a milling machine to get all mating surfaces to mate perfectly. I don’t know if I will ever sell a knife and this one isn’t for sale but I just wonder what people might think it might be worth or any other comments welcome.
I really have to put a word of appreciation out to Nick Wheeler for putting his great series on Youtube about how to make a Bowie knife. They are great quality and very informative and helped me tremendously in every step of the process. It really is generous of him to put them online for free because they are much better than videos I have paid for.
I am really pleased the way it turned out and my hardening was successful with an after quench hardness of 65. I had to do so much thermal cycling to get this steel to harden properly that the blade took on an appearance like it had been acid etched but actually I think it suits the knife and I like the result so I left it. The guard is made of brass that I gave a patina with salt water and the handle is ironwood. Overall length is 15.25 inches.
I made sure with this knife that I spent extra time on my finishing detail work because I have rushed some knives in the past. I took the handle up to 1200 grit and applied just one coat of Tung oil.
And it certainly pays to have a milling machine to get all mating surfaces to mate perfectly. I don’t know if I will ever sell a knife and this one isn’t for sale but I just wonder what people might think it might be worth or any other comments welcome.
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