Personal carry bowie/fighter- mini WIP...

J. Doyle

J. Doyle

Dealer - Purveyor
Little bowie/fighter- mini WIP...

Ok, so this is not a true step by step work in progress but it does show some pictures along the way of how this one is coming together. I'm not very good at remembering to take pictures as I go but maybe this will give a little view into the process.

First, we have the blade forged mostly to shape and still attached to the parent bar.


Then we have the tang and ricasso surface ground and ready for rough grinding.


Here is the blade rough ground.


My makers mark was stamped and the blade is all ready to heat treat.


This is hand sanding after heat treat and before the clip is ground in. You can see some of the hamon in there.


Here is the blade all done, clip ground, sanded and ready to etch.


Two shots of the blade all done and etched ready for the guard and fittings.




And here is where it stands today, guard and fittings in place and to final dimensions.


Now it's off to Claude Scott for some leather then it will come back to me for final handle fitting, embellishments, filework and final finish. I'll keep this updated best I can from here on out. :)
 
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Looking good, looking forward to seeing the finished knife. Did you drive the guard on, or is it glued?
 
Brad Lilly said:
Looking good, looking forward to seeing the finished knife. Did you drive the guard on, or is it glued?
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Thanks Brad. The guard is just press fit. Super tight. It has to be driven on and off. And it goes on it one spot only. There's no slop for it to slide up and down. I like to file the slot to be only as long as necessary. Like maybe only a few thousandths more than it needs to be on top and bottom.

Mr.Svinarich said:
Is that the sharpened clip you were talking about?
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Yes, Sir, that is THE one. Though I can't recall where I might have mentioned that already? :les: :)

Gahagan said:
man tht is going to be beautiful.
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I hope you're right. Hope the collector thinks so too! He specified the materials, he wanted the whole thing dark.......blade, fittings, and handle. My kind of knife.
 
Are you going to do any fluting on the guard or spacer?
He specified the materials, he wanted the whole thing dark.......blade, fittings, and handle. My kind of knife.
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Mine too I love the dark look. Sort of classy and mean at the same time
 
Yeah there will be a whole boat load of embellishment on this one, including something special for the handle.........still thinking on that.

Usually they are classy and a little mean. But this one with that long sharp clip just looks pure sinister.
 
Hi guys. I have a few more updates to this. Sorry it's been so long.

A couple quick pics showing some of the progress. You can see final shape and where this one is headed. Now that all the rough work is done, I have all the fine embellishment and details and filework to do. :)

And look at that FINE leatherwork of Claude Scott!



 
Great work John.
I really like this one.
All it needs now is a little coining on the center spacer and maybe hot blue the guard and it would be my dream knife.
Hint, hint. But maybe a Koa handle.
 
Looks great, very impressive job.

How do you drill the hole in the end of the frame if you don't mind me asking?
 
I'm a little confused, the frame looks like two halves with inserts of some kind. Maybe assembled w/ screws.
 
Brad Lilly said:
Looks great, very impressive job.

How do you drill the hole in the end of the frame if you don't mind me asking?
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Brad, that was one of the most nerve wracking parts of the whole process. :)

I center punched the pilot hole and started with a 1/16" drill bit. Then I broke the bit off in the bronze, something I've not experienced with bronze. Copper many times but not bronze. That was almost a deal breaker. While thinking about what to do, I decided to cut it out with an end mill in the milling machine. Something I should have done in the first place.

I used a c clamp to keep the scales/frame from separating while drilling.

Mark Behnke said:
I'm a little confused, the frame looks like two halves with inserts of some kind. Maybe assembled w/ screws.
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Mark, you are correct. It was one piece, now it's two after I drill the hole for the nut on the butt end.

I didn't want to use pins through the sides of the scales. This piece was commissioned to be a full take down model. So that ruled out gluing everything up.

So the problem was, there was nothing to keep the butt end of the scales from separating out from the frame. Since epoxy was out, and permanent pins were out, that left two options: a butt cap that uses hidden pins to keep the scales in place or screws in the scales. I chose screws in the scales. I think it will still look alright. We didn't want the butt cap on this knife.

Also, everything had to be meticulously finished so that there is NO play whatsoever in any component, at least that's the only way I would do it. It locks up pretty tight all assembled, even without the screws in the scale and through the frame yet.

Anyone wanting to build a knife like this, be warned: Be prepared to spend a TON of time on fitting everything up right. ;)

Remember, this knife is not done. Tomorrow or Wednesday, I'll post pics of the totally finished knife and a pic of every part taken down.

Putting the finishing touches on the damascus fittings, the filework and blade.

Thanks for following along all.
 
Burl Source said:
Great work John.
I really like this one.
All it needs now is a little coining on the center spacer and maybe hot blue the guard and it would be my dream knife.
Hint, hint. But maybe a Koa handle.
Click to expand...

Mark, you're pretty close on this as far as the details are concerned. Unfortunately, this is a commissioned piece. :)
 
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