- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,759
The Ka-Bar Short Heavy Bowie is now an extinct species. To me, it's a very well balanced all-rounder that can do a lot of stuff, even a very decent thrower; I like it more than the current Heavy Bowie. Been fortunate to grab 2 in used but great condition in the course of 2 years. I had posted shots of the first one already with the samurai helmet and the katana; for this one I decided to follow the legend of Ka-Bar's naming. You know, the one about the trapper's letter.
The blade in cuestion was nabbed as a halfway handle project. The guy had already fixed the guard in place but I guess he stumbled at the end on how to fix a pommel. He sent me a piece of wood, shaped and drilled for the whole length of the tang and pieces of leather, I guess he wasn't sure which way to go. I decide to scagel-ize it and did a stack of a piece of the wood, leather, pieces of red kydex, a piece of kraton from a gerber steadfast handle and a piece of stag. The stag, serving as the pommel, got a recess where a buffalo nickel was dropped and covered with 2-part epoxy.
So that took care of the handle. Now to the blade. After stripping and sanding it got covered in acid-resistant ink and 2 designs where scratched out before the dip. On the left side is the fur trapper with the bowie in hand. On the right side is the angry grizzly. After the etch it got blued.
Looking good, it couldn't be left to wear the old factory pants. I do like the stock sheath, but this one deserved bling. It was done following the original dangler, but this time the strap is at the bottom part, thus not hindering free movement. The belt loop got tooled with an arrow. On the bottom, the upper chevron got a plate that I fashioned from a piece of brass bar that got the acid treatment, then riveted to the leather. Lower chevron got tooled with an indian medicine bear. In between, there's a scene of grazing bisons by some low hills. The sides got stitched with leather lace in a double loop pattern. The upper part was originally riveted with some heavy brass bolts but I didn't like it (lesson - do your work from start to finish and don't let somebody else contribute unless strictly necessary) so I fashioned some "rivets" form a hollow bar, hence some stress marks in that area, it got heavy traffic. All said and done, I'm very satisfied with it
.
I sent this shots to Ka-Bar on an email, thanking them for their awesome blades. Hope you like them
The blade in cuestion was nabbed as a halfway handle project. The guy had already fixed the guard in place but I guess he stumbled at the end on how to fix a pommel. He sent me a piece of wood, shaped and drilled for the whole length of the tang and pieces of leather, I guess he wasn't sure which way to go. I decide to scagel-ize it and did a stack of a piece of the wood, leather, pieces of red kydex, a piece of kraton from a gerber steadfast handle and a piece of stag. The stag, serving as the pommel, got a recess where a buffalo nickel was dropped and covered with 2-part epoxy.
So that took care of the handle. Now to the blade. After stripping and sanding it got covered in acid-resistant ink and 2 designs where scratched out before the dip. On the left side is the fur trapper with the bowie in hand. On the right side is the angry grizzly. After the etch it got blued.
Looking good, it couldn't be left to wear the old factory pants. I do like the stock sheath, but this one deserved bling. It was done following the original dangler, but this time the strap is at the bottom part, thus not hindering free movement. The belt loop got tooled with an arrow. On the bottom, the upper chevron got a plate that I fashioned from a piece of brass bar that got the acid treatment, then riveted to the leather. Lower chevron got tooled with an indian medicine bear. In between, there's a scene of grazing bisons by some low hills. The sides got stitched with leather lace in a double loop pattern. The upper part was originally riveted with some heavy brass bolts but I didn't like it (lesson - do your work from start to finish and don't let somebody else contribute unless strictly necessary) so I fashioned some "rivets" form a hollow bar, hence some stress marks in that area, it got heavy traffic. All said and done, I'm very satisfied with it
.
I sent this shots to Ka-Bar on an email, thanking them for their awesome blades. Hope you like them
