Russ Andrews, part 2

RogerP said:
While there's no official upper or lower size limit for a bowie knife, I am of the view that at a 20" blade length, you have left bowie territory and are definitely into the sword realm. Others may have a different view.
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Many of the old Civil War D-guard bowies were made from broken swords.
 
RogerP said:
While there's no official upper or lower size limit for a bowie knife, I am of the view that at a 20" blade length, you have left bowie territory and are definitely into the sword realm. Others may have a different view.

Roger
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18"+ is generally referred to as a short sword.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Roger, I think my Walker Bowie #1 has a 17 '' plus blade. I THINK!
 
Many of the old Civil War D-guard bowies were made from broken swords.
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That is correct Keith. I"m going to send pics to roger for him to post. (THANK YOU) I found this one night on the computer....I drooled till I was shoot down by Hughs and Batson....I thought it was an original Black!:eek:
 
Kevin Jones said:
Actually, the specific style of knife I'm referring to are closer to long Bowies than swords with blades most often from 15"-20". At least the historic examples I have seen. http://www.arms2armor.com/Swords/russ1910.htm
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RogerP said:
While there's no official upper or lower size limit for a bowie knife, I am of the view that at a 20" blade length, you have left bowie territory and are definitely into the sword realm. Others may have a different view.
Roger
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I wasn't really debating at what length a bowie became a sword, just clarifying that the old European and Russian Hunting Swords that I was addressing earlier were typically in the 15"-20" blade length range as the 16" length of the example in the above link.

The 18" maximum blade length for a Bowie that STeven suggested seems reasonable to me as anything longer would result in an approx. 23" oal Bowie which really seems to be stretching a Bowie to me.

As interesting to me is at what length does the Bowie start?

Harvey Dean make the Huckleberry that he identifies as a Bowie, which has about a 4 1/2" blade I believe. I have a John Fitch Bowie with a 4 3/4" blade. I generally identify a Bowie as starting at a minimum 4 1/2" blade length.

The "Vest Bowie" that early gentlemen carried concealed were very often in the 5"-6" blade length. There's a very interesting article in the April '05 Blade Magazine on "Vest Bowies".
 
quote from Kevin:
The "Vest Bowie" that early gentlemen carried concealed were very often in the 5"-6" blade length. There's a very interesting article in the April '05 Blade Magazine on "Vest Bowies".
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Sounds interesting:)
 
Darby's pics be right here:

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Roger
 
Kevin Jones said:
As interesting to me is at what length does the Bowie start?
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Indeed an interesting question. Since almost any knife of any shape can and has been described in some fashion as a "bowie", it's hard to pin down.

I have seen knives with blades as little as 3 1/2" described as bowies, to which my response is usually "yeah, right". Concealable vest knives were indeed popular in their time and may well have been described as "bowies" back then. But I suspect that then - as now - the description was more an attempt to capitalize on the marketing power of the name "Bowie" in the field of personal protection knives.

Though we may never know with any certainty the specific dimensions of the knife Jim Bowie carried, most would agree it was not a little itty bitty thing that could be easily slipped into a pocket.

For me, 7" blade length is about where I start to recognize a knife as a "bowie" without the need for a qualifier such as "vest bowie" or "mini bowie" or "fighter bowie" or some such. 9" to 11" is the bowie "sweet spot" for me.

Roger
 
There was some question, early on, about whether the long blade would
throw the ballance out of whack. At that time the blade had a somewhat
shorter , straight clip. Changinging that to a concave clip, and drawing
it back to about half the blade length seems to have improved that a bit.

I am pleased with the piece....The shop elves must have corrected
my goofs while I was sleeping....!
 
I tend to think of bowie knives as being bigger than most folks do, it appears. Still, I think a longer than normal blade looks better on a knife with a complex handle or big guard to provide visual balance. As a general personal rule, I think a D-guard bowie would look awkward with a 9" blade, for example.
 
Keith, Congratulations of what willbe a magnificent addition to any ones collection.

Russ, Congrats on pushing the envelope and coming up with a real masterpiece.

Stephen
 
The knife arrived today. There was some concern that Canada Customs might be a problem because the guard could be construed as a knuckle duster, but the box wasn't even opened.

Russ shipped the knife in a huge Bill's Custom Knife Case. First class all the way.

First impression of the knife is...WOW. This really is a fantastically well made knife. Fit and finish is excellent, as one would expect. The blade has a beautiful hand rubbed finish and a nice hamon. The pattern welded hardware is outstanding and the ivory is as nice as any I have seen. The knife is lighter than you would think it would be. The sheath is the work of a true crartsman as well.

After I have lived with the knife for awhile, I will give a more thorough review.
 
Keith, like you I had seen good clean photos as well. But once I held the knife and saw that Andrews cleanliness, it was whole new ballgame.

Congrats on such an acquisition. :thumbup:

Coop
 
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