New one in the works.

[Starkman1]

Fellas,
I've grown particularly fond of the cowboy style Bowie knives. The straight handles and smaller blades just seem very practical and conjures up images of the old west. I've been looking at Tommy Gann's work for awhile and really liked a piece he had at the 2008 Blade show and wish I had bought it. His work is very clean. Long story, short....this is a design we worked on and he is almost finished. He's also making a Spanish style sheath to go with it.


The following is from Tommy:

Blade rough forged

All the parts rough cut and milled and blade after it has been heat treated and tempered

The frame construction . you can see the frame has been milled and holes drilled to lighten the knife the liner have been lighten to .i my need to remove more to get the right balance. i put the hole handle togetter with a rod and grind the stag and frame so they match.

Blade rough ground. hole have been put in before heat treat to remove some of the handle weight

The blade is sanded to amost finished and the guard has been fit to the blade and rough ground. the stag has been sanded to match the spacers and ready for a dry fit.

Pics of the stag on both sides

Bob

 

[Starkman1]

Continued.

I will dry fit the knife to check the fit to the gaurd and the alignment of everything before I start to file the frame and spacers

Layout of grove for the spacer i will leave a 30th's of space on each side and file a 1/8 groove ,sand and polish

Layout the frame for the pattern, cut the lines in with a cutting wheel on the mill and a checking file and get ready to blue the cuts to see the pattern

This is the spacers after they have been filed and polished

Bob

 

[jdm61]

Very cool! A few years ago, I heard someone comment that the skinny full tang cowboys bowies of the late 1800's weren't good for much more than a coat hook what with that relatively useless thin handle. Doing them with a frame handle not only looks a lot better and lets you get a bit fancy, but gives you a usable handle. Very nice work by Mr. Gann. Enjoy it!:thumbup:

 

[John White]

Tommy's clean designs and intricate details make for true classics.

This will be one you'll love, Bob.

John

 

[Kevin Jones]

Tommy's clean designs and intricate details make for true classics.

This will be one you'll love, Bob.

John

I agree.
Tommy's file-worked ferrules/spacers and handle frames are specific examples of this.

Congrats Bob and Tommy on an outstanding piece.

 

[Wulf]

Really enjoying this... I'm a big fan of Tommy's work and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this one in its completion.

 

[Kohai999]

construction looks great, but the choil/ricasso region thus far looks poorly defined and ambiguous.

What does it want to be?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Lorien]

choil does look a little funky, but a great looking knife otherwise:thumbup:

You must be stoked! It's great to get work in progress shots from the guy making your knife. I think the only guy who's done that for me was Matt Lamey, and thank goodness for that or the handle would've been too big. From an 'investment' perspective, what better provenance can you get than a series of pictures of the knife being made?

 

[Tom Krein]

VERY COOL!

Thanks for sharing your construction WIP!

Tom

 

[Starkman1]

Just received the latest from Tommy.

Stag rough sanded to the ferrule / spacer both sides

Fit one more time to make sure it all good before filing

Frame was blued to enhance the details of the frame

Knife is ready to be glued. I put 1/50th copper shims on the sides of the tag to help keep the frame straight/parallel with the blade when glueing

After the knife has been glued

Knife & sheath. Sheath made by a friend of Tommy, Bob Bobbitt who is a cutom saddle maker. It has 3 small screws in it so that it can be removed from the back flap and be cared like a belt /belly sheath. The sheath has a sterling silver concho and gator skin overlay.

Thanks Tommy and Bob,

Bob

 

[John White]

That turned out great, didn't it, Bob, and the sheath goes right with the Cowboy theme.

John

 

[Starkman1]

Thanks John. I may have it in time for the Little Rock show. We'll see ya Friday.
Bob

 

[Pete Crowl]

Very nice package.

 

[ckerwin]

Very cool Bob, can't wait to see you at Little Rock:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Kevin Jones]

Congratulations Bob on a extremely nice Knife and Sheath package.
I'm wasn't surprised at all to see that spectacular sheath.

 

[tgann]

thanks guys and bob for posting it.

tommy

 

[RogerP]

That turned out very well indeed. Knife and sheath combine for an impressive package.

Roger

 

[lwrhea]

Tommy's work is clean, clean, clean. I really enjoyed seeing this one. Lin