- Joined
- May 29, 2004
- Messages
- 3,022
Howdy folks?!
A real benefit to offering free sharpening and restoring of knives for friends and co-workers is that you occasionally have an interesting knife handed to you that you get to handle, work on, and in some cases swing around alone inside your house.
This is one of those cases:
Western W49 Bowie.
From some quick research it seems like this knife was made ~’68-‘73, and was used (maybe issued as well??) in Vietnam.
The person who owns the knife said his uncle carried it during his service - not sure which branch.
I asked if he wanted to preserve the knife as an historical object or refurbish it as a tool, and he chose option #2.
I also sent him the above picture and discussed possibilities re: how much he wanted it addressed. He said it would be ok to sand through the dent and leave a groove.
Essentially he wants to keep the knife “as OG as possible”, which I intend to do.
Any other suggestions on how I might tackle that dent? The wood is crushed pretty deep and it pokes up more than the photo suggests.
Another issue is a slight bend, (can’t really see it in the photo). I actually haven’t told the owner yet. I’m not convinced I should, and I’ll explain why: If I say it’s bent, I’ll also say I can attempt to fix it, but that there’s a slim possibility I could break the blade. I have, now that I recall, broken one blade in this manner, after having warned the owner it could happen. Another time I asked about attempting a fix and was told to just leave it because the bend was so slight.
Anyway I sort of expect the owner of this Bowie will never notice the bend, and that if I bring it up, he’ll probably decline a fix, but will always be a little bummed about the blade. I dunno -your thoughts??
Guard markings above - Western on one side, W49 on the other. No printing/stamps on the blade.
The edge is pretty jacked but thankfully it hasn’t been sharpened a million times so the edge isn’t too thick. I’m looking forward to seeing it when it’s done.
I’ll probably use my Edge Pro on this and put a not quite mirror v edge on it.
The sheath is almost serviceable but pretty dry. I’m planning to give it some mink oil and already suggested he retire it.
Another question - any lines on reproduction sheathes for this model? Other inexpensive ideas?
Interestingly this knife is almost exactly the same weight and length as the Siegle Bowie I recently got.
It’s gonna be a beast when it’s sharp!
A real benefit to offering free sharpening and restoring of knives for friends and co-workers is that you occasionally have an interesting knife handed to you that you get to handle, work on, and in some cases swing around alone inside your house.
This is one of those cases:
Western W49 Bowie.
From some quick research it seems like this knife was made ~’68-‘73, and was used (maybe issued as well??) in Vietnam.
The person who owns the knife said his uncle carried it during his service - not sure which branch.
I asked if he wanted to preserve the knife as an historical object or refurbish it as a tool, and he chose option #2.
I also sent him the above picture and discussed possibilities re: how much he wanted it addressed. He said it would be ok to sand through the dent and leave a groove.
Essentially he wants to keep the knife “as OG as possible”, which I intend to do.
Any other suggestions on how I might tackle that dent? The wood is crushed pretty deep and it pokes up more than the photo suggests.
Another issue is a slight bend, (can’t really see it in the photo). I actually haven’t told the owner yet. I’m not convinced I should, and I’ll explain why: If I say it’s bent, I’ll also say I can attempt to fix it, but that there’s a slim possibility I could break the blade. I have, now that I recall, broken one blade in this manner, after having warned the owner it could happen. Another time I asked about attempting a fix and was told to just leave it because the bend was so slight.
Anyway I sort of expect the owner of this Bowie will never notice the bend, and that if I bring it up, he’ll probably decline a fix, but will always be a little bummed about the blade. I dunno -your thoughts??
Guard markings above - Western on one side, W49 on the other. No printing/stamps on the blade.
The edge is pretty jacked but thankfully it hasn’t been sharpened a million times so the edge isn’t too thick. I’m looking forward to seeing it when it’s done.
I’ll probably use my Edge Pro on this and put a not quite mirror v edge on it.
The sheath is almost serviceable but pretty dry. I’m planning to give it some mink oil and already suggested he retire it.
Another question - any lines on reproduction sheathes for this model? Other inexpensive ideas?
Interestingly this knife is almost exactly the same weight and length as the Siegle Bowie I recently got.
It’s gonna be a beast when it’s sharp!
Last edited: