What do you think of this Bear and Son Bowie

[Jack Black]

It's a Sheffield IXL I bought from KC to try the old WW2 era steel standardized formula. http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/IXL6004/IXL-Wostenholm-Bowie-Knife-5-78-inch-Carbon-Steel-Blade-Rosewood-Handles

I believe they are supporting members so I hope this is ok. I had to order it through them as they don't ever seem to stock them.

EN steel compositions. http://www.atozsteel.com/chemical-composition.html Looks sort of like a 1060 ish steel.

Joe

Hi Joe,

The IXL name has changed hands a number of times. I know the current owners well. The knives are made all over the city.

Best wishes

Jack

 

[festerfromnzed]

Kind of off topic?...but heres a couple of IXL,s ive owned and moved on.........FES

 

[Jack Black]

Kind of off topic?...but heres a couple of IXL,s ive owned and moved on.........FES

Thanks for the pic. The one below is the blade of a pocket-knife I was given 31 years ago. It was made under contract to Schrade for the US market, with the IXL Wostenholm marks, by the Joseph Rodgers company, who then owned those marks. Shortly after, Rodgers went bust, and the IXL, Wostenholm, and Rodgers marks were bought up, along with a few other old Sheffield marks, and all their stock) by Richards, a very inferior Sheffield cutlers. About two years later, Richards themselves went bust, and the marks were bought by the Eggington Group (also of Sheffield). For some years they did little with them, and then mainly marketed small Bowie knives with the John Clarke name, which they'd also bought. I happened to be given one of these knives in the early 1990's and remarked that I thought it was strange that they sold them under the Clarke name, and not under the Wostenholm one, as I knew they owned it. I recounted a bit of the legend relating to the Bowie knife, and lo and behold, they were then marketed with the Wostenholm and IXL marks, selling them with the tale I'd recounted considerably embellished. They've made a lot of money out of selling these "original" Bowie knives, and the larger ones produced since, which once sold for just a few pounds in Sheffield, and are now a pretty penny. The knives are made all over the city by various small cutlers, who are paid by the Eggington group. I wish I'd kept my mouth shut. I'm sure some of these knives look nice, but the history behind the marks means little when they've been traded so many times, and the knives themselves really could be made by anyone.

 

[Saymon]

Condor model Hudson bay this is well geared for heavy duty and has a good price

 

[The Mastiff]

Hi Joe,

The IXL name has changed hands a number of times. I know the current owners well. The knives are made all over the city.

These things are difficult to keep up with sometimes. I recall a couple of years ago when SMKW sold off some parts knives they had bought from a company in Japan who had stock left from IXL going under or so they said. They weren't anything like the quality of the above mentioned bowie which is actually very well made for the cost.

Who ever put the bowie I bought together did a very competent job with it especially considering the price. It's a sound knife, just a dated design for a guy with XXXL hands who is used to thicker grips in more modern knives.

If I was forced to I could make do very well with the knife until it broke my hands in to the design. It's plenty stout, just too narrow for my arthritic hands now.

It reminds me so very much of the bowies I used to see back in the 60's when I was a youth. Though it may take a back seat in use to my ferhman, and Spyderco Buscrafter it still delights the little kid in me who couldn't afford one like that, but had a plastic model for playing cowboys and indians in the midwest where I grew up.

Though old and not really sexy, EN-9 ( 1060) still makes very durable, understandable knife blades.

It's a knife I would have loved to have back then and it still looks good when out on the table getting the tarnish polished off it at night.



Thanks,

Joe