Copper bollstered bowie WIP

Von Gruff

Von Gruff

KNIFE MAKER
I put a pic of the pair of skinners (a mini and a thumbrest) along with the copper bolstered bowie on my FB page (Von Gruff Knives) and one of the gunshops here that carries my knives ordered that same trio so have got them made and sharpened this morning all ready to ship off but during the making of the bowie I thought that some of you may like to see how the bowie comes together.
I had the local engineer make me a mandrel for the drill press that I glue 80 grit emery paper on to match the 2 inch diameter section of steel tube that I mark the curve backed bolsters with
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I clamp a piece of 2 inch x 3/8 copper to the tang and drill one hole then put a slip fit steel pin in the hole and drill the second hole. I can then mark the tang dimension on the copper, scribe in the curve back and cut it out roughly with the hacksaw followed by sanding the curve to shape and the front square to the top line. This is then clamped to another piece of copper and the process repeated and with them pinned together that can both be made identical with the front edge polished so it does not have to be touched when the handle is shaped. The copper rivets are spun in the drill press and filed to be a easy slip fit in the drilled holes.
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The pins can then be inserted and riveted heavily so they fill out right through the length of the hole s and make for an invisible surface when all is sanded to shape later
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The riveted pin heads are cleaned off on the grinder and handle wood chosen and in this case it is a nice set of tambotie scales were chosen.
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I use the 2 in dia guide to mark the curved front of the handle and make sure the orientation of both scales is the same and carefull use of the belt grinder bring it into close engagement with the copper bolster and then finish the fit with a fine file. It can then be set into the little bolster clamp which holds it all in alignment so I can drill the holes for the handle pins
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You can see where I have marked the outline of the handle so the bandsaw can be used to cut to the center on the line when both scales are done the handle is epoxied and pinned in place.
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with the knife on it back the shaping lines can be drawn in using the pattern I have for this handle
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And cut it to shape on the bandsaw, or at least up to where the copper is and that is ground to match the taper.
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The pommel shape is drawn in
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and the general rounding starts on the belt grinder with the 12 inch wheel for the majority and then the 1 1/4 inch wheel is used for the bolster curve
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When it gets to this stage the it is into the knife vise and the hand shaping is done. All together the copper bolster adds quite a bit more time to the process but the result is well worth the effort and extra cost.
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Thanks for the kind words guys. I think the width of the bolster is what makes it look reasonablly good. I want to try some bronze at some stage just for something different but the copper does finish nice although the wood being used for the scales needs to work with the copper colour.
 
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