I can't figure it out.

[ricky_arthur]

I can't figure out why I'm so enamered with Bowie knives right now. In all honesty they serve no practical purpose when it comes to what I actually use a knife for. There are certainly more practical hunting knives and I would probably never use one for that.. I carry a Small EDC folder for everyday tasks. They are much more difficult and time consuming to make just based on sheer size. Yet here I am making not 1 but 2 Bowies at the same time. And loving every minute of it. It's 1 am and here I am trying to decide what I should use for the handle. The first ones handle is finished.

But what to do for this one?


I don't even know how to attach a guard for this type of knife, which is why the first one became a hidden tang. I ordered some silver solder as I suppose that is the only way to do it, but how do I use 450 degree silver solder and not take the temper from the blade. Clamp the knife in a vice with a wet rag?

What is it about a Bowie knife?

[Kevster]

Good looking knife, I hope one day to get my grind lines that good. The choice of wood is a nice touch.

Good job!

[metal99]

Awsome job on both of them Ricky! I really like the handle shape and that grind turned out awesome! Are you going to leave the blade like that? I like it

What kind of wood do you have layer out with the bottom one? I think something like that would suit it.

[jdale]

Dang, those are some straight grind lines.
I saw a clip on you tube last week, the knife maker used copper solder to attach the guard to his damascus blade. He used copper because the melting point was 1650 so he could attach guard before doing ht. Just food for thought.

[ricky_arthur]

Originally Posted by metal99

Awsome job on both of them Ricky! I really like the handle shape and that grind turned out awesome! Are you going to leave the blade like that? I like it

What kind of wood do you have layer out with the bottom one? I think something like that would suit it.

Kevster. I have tried to do this grind on several knives and I was never able to get it clean enough to leave the grind "out in the open" a full grind is able to hide imperfections better and I always had to run the grind the rest of the way up. This one I am proud of for 2 reasons. 1 it was my first knife ground on a new grinder. I got a Coot grinder, and I have been using a friends old Burr King. Despite the fact that it was bought used in 1995,The Burr King is obviously a better machine in almost every way, but the Coot is mine and so I need to learn how to use it.

and 2, the sheer size of it made the grind process much more difficult. The Knife is over 12 inches long and I have been mainly making small neck knives so it felt huge in my hands.

Now all that said, there is every chance that the next 5 times I try a semi scandi grind, it will end up having to be a full grind because I will goof it up.


Kevster, I am leaning toward sand blasting the black and hoping that there is enough Texture in the steel to leave the transitions clean. The handle material is Cocobolo it was my first choice but has a crack in the scale that I'm not sure I can keep out of the handle. I will probably need to use those scales for a smaller knife. It would be close tho so I might try cutting them out.

Here are my Choices. This is what I have that is large enough to fit the handle. All of the top ones from JDALE of course.