Wagon Bowie- history and performance

[jkf96a]

I just finished up this knife that features wagon themed historical material. The blade is wrought iron wagon wheel and 1084 san mai. The wrought is from my grandmother's grandfather's wagon out of Spicewood, Tx. The guard is wagon wheel from Vega, TX. The spacer is an 1836 half dollar, to commemorate Texas Independence and the pioneer spirit of the western travelers. The handle is ash wood from a Springfield Wagon Company wagon tongue. Springfield made wagons from 1873 to 1951. The blade is 9.75", and the overall length is 15.75". Flat ground, with the spine at a bit over 1/4" inch thick.
This knife is not just art, it's a piece of high performance cutlery. I used it in a cutting contest to commemorate the opening of the James Black School of Bladesmithing at historic Old Washington, AR. Here's a link to a video of the knife at work cutting a 2x4. After this test, the knife maintained its sharpness through four other cutting tests.
2 by 4 chopping video
Thanks, Jim, for the great photo.

 

[Kevin Zito]

I just finished up this knife that features wagon themed historical material. The blade is wrought iron wagon wheel and 1084 san mai. The wrought is from my grandmother's grandfather's wagon out of Spicewood, Tx. The guard is wagon wheel from Vega, TX. The spacer is an 1836 half dollar, to commemorate Texas Independence and the pioneer spirit of the western travelers. The handle is ash wood from a Springfield Wagon Company wagon tongue. Springfield made wagons from 1873 to 1951. The blade is 9.75", and the overall length is 15.75". Flat ground, with the spine at a bit over 1/4" inch thick.
This knife is not just art, it's a piece of high performance cutlery. I used it in a cutting contest to commemorate the opening of the James Black School of Bladesmithing at historic Old Washington, AR. Here's a link to a video of the knife at work cutting a 2x4. After this test, the knife maintained its sharpness through four other cutting tests.
2 by 4 chopping video
Thanks, Jim, for the great photo.

Jason,
Cool story behind this knife, and that thing will chop! i bet it feels amazing in the hand. I have a question concerning the coined spacer. In the photo, there seems to be a darkened area maybe 1/4 the way down from spine. I think it’s buffing rouge maybe? It’s funny because when you zoom in a little, it almost looks like a missing tooth hehe... but it’s also blurry. At any rate, do you have a photo of that area cleaned up? Thanks. Kevin

 

[jkf96a]

I think it's glue or just general gunk. It wasn't as prominent until Jim shot such nice detail pictures, lol. Here's a cleaner closeup, although it's not a very crisp picture.

 

[Kevin Zito]

I think it's glue or just general gunk. It wasn't as prominent until Jim shot such nice detail pictures, lol. Here's a cleaner closeup, although it's not a very crisp picture.

Thanks! Do you have a clean pic of the other side?

 

[jkf96a]

 

[Kevin Zito]

The other other side lol.