So I had a friend present me a bowie style knife blank the his father-in-law had started before he passed. Now I knew nothing about the history of this blade except it looked like the bevels had been ground with a bench grinder. Very rough and plenty of character marks with a huge hidden tang. And this steel was thick! Over 1/4". I wish I had pictures of the before. When I got it home the more I looked at it the less I wanted to tackle it. Consequently, it has been a fixture on my bench for well over a year. I finally had everything else caught up and was feeling guilty about having the blade this long so I dove in a few week ago.
I attempted to re-grind the bevels to clean them up as much as anything. It should have come to no surprise that this steel was already hardened. Since I had no idea what it was I didn't want to anneal it and try to re-harden it. That meant a slow process keeping things cool while I worked it. Luckily for me, my friend wanted to keep the knife sort of rough as his father-in-law had left it. I tried to etch it a little with vinegar but it was unfazed. I ended up just wiping the blade with cold blue then lightly buffing it with steel wool for a used patina.
I made the finger guard and spacer from 3/8" bar stock. The guard is chem-welded and pinned. I left the pin sticking out after peening rather than sanding it off. I thought it added an old touch to it. Then I washed it in acid to give it the used patina.
The handle is Wenge nd I filled most grin but stopped short of filling it all again hoping for an old school look.
I must say, this is one of my favorites since I finished it. The man did a nice job with the shape of this blade and the false edge. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as my friend. (I declined on another he asked if I wanted to do!)
Topic: new-old bowie (Read 752 times)
