Sub-Hilt Bowie

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Oct 19, 2011
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This one was a long time coming. A couple of years ago my brother says to me "let's go on a pig hunt". I said I couldn't afford that. So he says he'll pay for the trip if I make him a pig knife. Well, I think, I don't have any money but I have some rudimentary knifemaking skills so I say I'm in. I pitch him the design of the knife which called for a blued blade. He likes the specs and the design concept. So I make a couple of blades, one for him and one for me out of 80Crv2. I don't have the equipment to blue the blades. I tried a form of cold bluing but did not get the results I wanted so I sanded the knife back to bright. I ask a gunsmith I know who has the equipment if he could blue it. He has the equipment in his garage because he doesn't do it anymore and I realize that the alloy in the 80CrV2 is not good for bluing. In fact none of the shops in the area do bluing. They all send it out to "their guy". Ok, that blade goes on a shelf.

I make a new blade out of A2 because the new plan is to Cerakote the blade. I didn't do a great job with that so I sanded that blade clean again and that went on a shelf.

Finally, a year and a half later I decide to make another blade. This one is W2 (with hamon). I decide to have one of the local shops send it to their guy to be blued. With that out of the way I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. So after two years now the knife and sheath are finally done. Some of you will say the rig would have looked better with a leather sheath. I tried to sell him on leather but his heart was set on Kydex. This is only my second attempt at Kydex and the fit is perfection. I haven't shown my brother any part of it yet. I'll be presenting the knife to him this weekend.

Critiques and comments welcomed.


Blade: Aldo's W2 (with undeveloped hamon) Blued, 11"
Guard: 416SS with red spacers, polished interior surfaces with satin finished sides
Handle: Stabilized, black dyed curly maple from Mark at Burl Source with 316 pin and lanyard tube.
OAL: 16 & 3/4"
Sheath: Kydex, cross draw with slight cant.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFhRdk4x2Re/?taken-by=aldrich_knife

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That's a beautifully conceived and finished knife that should serve its purpose well. Nice job!
 
Very nice.

BTW he is smart in choosing kydex. This blade is made for actual field use, not a safe queen. Putting a pig sticker covered in blood and gut juice in a leather sheath is a good way to ruin the sheath as well as the blade.
 
Great lines.....a wicked sticker for sure!!!! [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This knife is absolutely amazing, I love the design and the choice of materials!
Very, very nice lines, keep on the great work!
 
this is totally BADA$$ and i have yet to see a "Pig Sticker" that is this nice. Really great work!

ps... We want "field" pictures ;D
 
Wow, Marc, you're on fire brother! Ya know, I think you have a knack for this knifemaking thing, you should really try it more often! :thumbup: ;) :p

I'm "pretty positive" I saw your "CAD" design of this knife in another thread where you were showing another maker a good width and angle for a hidden tang, I've been wanting to see it realized ever since then. I love it! The black/blued theme of this is great, fit n finish are perfect, and that kydex is actually pretty impressive in and of itself as well. I'd call this knife a "sinister beauty" :cool: .

Thanks for sharing. Btw, I love the hunter you just posted the other day as well! :)


~Paul

My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
Thank you everybody for your kind remarks!


Adam, You are correct. My brother is a hunter and a practical type of person so no doubt his reasons for wanting Kydex are in line with your thoughts.

Paul, Yes, the drawing you saw in that thread was a "production" drawing done in Adobe Illustrator. It is basically a cleaned up version of a hand concept sketch.
 
Hahaha. Yes Brett, I was kidding a little. But remember, I started this knife two years ago!
 
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