Searles bowie tutorial

[jdm61]

Does anyone know if there is a tutorial out there on making a Searles bowie?

 

[LRB]

I don't know of any. It is pretty much just a basic hidden tang design. The difficult part would be in the embellishment, if you were trying to copy the original grip. You would have to do a little silver work, and some checkering.

 

[DanGraves]

Sorry LRB but I have to politely disagree in simple hidden tang construction. A Searle's Bowie has no plunge lines or riccasso which means the edge is sharp all the way. That makes it hard to put in a file guide as the tang will be tapered as the bevel on the knife ,means when filing the shoulders on the tang it is a real gripe. Plus the c cutout. Here is one I did a while back.

 

[Ken Hurst]

Great creation Mr. Dan ! Can I assume that wooden grip is rosewood and there is checkering on it, if so how many LPI is the pattern ?

 

[jdm61]

Sorry LRB but I have to politely disagree in simple hidden tang construction. A Searle's Bowie has no plunge lines or riccasso which means the edge is sharp all the way. That makes it hard to put in a file guide as the tang will be tapered as the bevel on the knife ,means when filing the shoulders on the tang it is a real gripe. Plus the c cutout. Here is one I did a while back.

Nice work, Dan. My biggest question is how hard is it to get the little "tab" at the bottom of the C cutout to mate up flush with the guard and have everything come out nice and perpendicular? Did you mill a shallow slot for it or just butt it up against the flat guard plate? One thought that I had for fling the shoulder was to leave the top bevel flat, make the cuts for the shoulder with a file guide and then draw file in the top bevel. Sounds like too much work, doesn't it? lol

 

[DanGraves]

On this one I did not do checkering. The way I do it is grind the knife (only thing nice is that you dont have plung lines to deal with), then chuck up in file guide using little brass wedges in the file guide ( on blade side of guide or the bottom where you dont file) and file the shoulders. Make a thick knife, if not the tang will get to thin. After the shoulders are done on the tang, I use a round file to cut the half moon. The little tab will be flush with guard if all work is done cleanly and crisp. Be sure to sharpen completely before construction. Hope this helps.

 

[LRB]

Sorry LRB but I have to politely disagree in simple hidden tang construction. A Searle's Bowie has no plunge lines or riccasso which means the edge is sharp all the way. That makes it hard to put in a file guide as the tang will be tapered as the bevel on the knife ,means when filing the shoulders on the tang it is a real gripe. Plus the c cutout. Here is one I did a while back.

Sorry Dan, but I do similar blades pretty regular. After profiling, I use a file guide to cut the shoulders, then grind with a slight convex blending thicker near the guard area. I do not have to taper the tang as the edge, and if you have acually seen seen the Searles at the Alamo, best I recall, it is much the same. It is no big deal. Aside from that, if it were to be ground flat, the guard on the original is only about 1/8" thick from what I remember, and not that hard to fit. Joe, you just make the cut out after you true the shoulders. No need to over engineer. Here is a similar blade, and I am finishing another today.

 

[DanGraves]

Granted it can be done with that type of grind but it is difficult with a flat grind. Nice knife.

 

[the possum]

When trying to make an interpretation of a historical design, it doesn't hurt to draw inspiration from the originals themselves.

There are several pictured in Levine's forum if you do some searching. There's a couple in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555576&highlight=Searles

Take note of how some have an enlarged swelling of the blade in front of the guard. I do not know how this was done, but I might assume the steel is actually thicker here so the tang doesn't get too thin. Not all had that little "C" cutout, either.

Also, look how narrow the handle is on the Henderson knife- many of the repro's I've seen had a thicker, almost rounded, grip.

 

[deloid]

Though the blade is tapered, there is no hump to suggest a swelling in front of the guard. The opposite is true in that there is an angled cut back as it approaches the guard.

 

[the possum]

Huh? You're saying the blade actually tapers thinner right before the guard? That's not what I'm seeing in the above picture, or the other one in the thread I linked. If that's what was going on the curve would look different where it intersects the top of the grind. (this blade is Saber ground) Look at the wear/patina pattern on the scabbard too.

 

[polish avenger]

There are definitely semicircular protrusions near the guard. I don't have any answers, but possibly it would have kept the blade centered in the sheath (as long as it were not dented), as well as not allowing you to mangle the guard too terribly when sharpening. I dunno.
-Mark

 

[haggismonger]

Sorry LRB but I have to politely disagree in simple hidden tang construction. A Searle's Bowie has no plunge lines or riccasso which means the edge is sharp all the way. That makes it hard to put in a file guide as the tang will be tapered as the bevel on the knife ,means when filing the shoulders on the tang it is a real gripe. Plus the c cutout. Here is one I did a while back.

Actually, Dan I would have to politely disagree with you. If you work the problem a little bit backwards you can use a filing guide with ease. You can grind the bevel past the point it seems natural, and then cut your shoulders afterward. I've done that in teh past, and although it's not intuitive, and hard work, it works out just fine.

 

[Erik Fritz]

just shim the file guide. i use wood clothes pins for this

 

[DanGraves]

Yes I use shims but no matter how you figure it, (at least me) its a gripe to get a triangle into the file guide. I do realize there is more than one way to skin a cat. haggismonger, I do it just as you have described.