kith bowie, low manganese 1075, 10.5", curly oak, hamon, DONE!

kevin - the professor

Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone,
thanks for all of the encouragement along the way. This is the first bowie I have made in a couple of years, and I have only made a few (maybe 4) ever. I wouldn't have finished in time without all of your help.

OK - this is the first time I have used a board of curly oak I got as salvage, along with copper pipes that were salvaged from our garage when we bought the home. The guard is steel from McMaster-Carr (I love them), and the blade steel is from Aldo (thanks for this wonderfull alloy, Aldo). The pieces are all discards except the guard. Even the blade steel - it was too low in manganese to be "real" 1075 so Admiral refused to buy the ingot. Aldo knew what a steal this steel was for hamon addicts and people who want shock resistant and easy to heat treat blades. Love ya, Aldo.

This is the coolest wood I have ever used, and I think the blade came out ok. I have to work on blade collars, but they are a cool design element. I just have to get better. That is part of the fun, after all.

Comments are encouraged. You guys are the only ones who will ever see this blade, plus whomever I trade with! Looking forward to that!

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Nice one, Kevin. This kith is going to be real fun come drawing time. What are you going to make that is going to hide that beautiful hamon? :p Wade
 
I'll take it, add a little rust to hide that that hamon thing....perfect
I'm semi-kidding, VERY nicely done!!!
This game is stepping up to top shelf, I'll have to add another bead....
 
Hey guys- seriously, are we supposed to include sheaths?

If we are, I will try and whip something up from wood (i hate leather work). I have the board that the handle came from and some more old pipes. I thought it was just a knife...

kc
 
As far as I'm concerned it's purely optional, Kevin. I don't think anybody would want to hide that blade anyway. I'll be making a sheath for mine, but it's purely a beaterupper. I think a display stand would be a nice touch, but that's up to you.
 
thanks guys. We just had about 20K worth of water damage and mold plus a dog with cancer who had surgery last week. I really need to get to making knives to sell so I can afford to maintain this hobby. But, I wanted to start collecting some, too.
This trading a knife for a knife (or tomahawk) seems to be the best way I will ever have to collect. I can't wait until the drawing!

kc
 
Hey Everyone,
I did not trust my brazing ability on the blade collar. I only had the thickness of the copper to get a brazed joint. It was only 1/16" thick. I did put some JB weld inside the collar to help seal the ricasso from moisture. Still, I was not happy. So, I took a 1/8" bit and drilled through both sides of collar through the ricasso. I have a constant supply of 1/8" copper roofing nails to use as pins. If you are careful in selection, you can always find a nail that is just a couple of thousandths smaller than your drill bit or reamer (you usually have to either order bits from mcmaster-carr or use a reamer to get a true 1/8" hole, anyway). I got a nail that was just under the bit, and pinned and riveted the collar. Now, it is SOLID. Nothing is going to move the collar or break it apart unless someone grinds the head off of the rivet. It doesn't look out of place at all. It is a coper rivet in the middle of a bunch of beaten up copper. I just wanted to let y'all know about the modification.

I can't wait... I don't know which one I want the most. It will be nice to add one of these to my very small collection (right now, my collection is 1 knife, by Petr Florinak).

Kevin
 
Sounds good Kevin.

Thought I'd let you know your work with the low magnese 1075 inspired me to pick up a stick at bladeshow, along with some W2 ;)

Just thought I'd say thanks for the inspiration buddy !

Take care, Josh
 
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