A Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade created by James Black in the early 19th century for Jim Bowie, who had become famous for his use of a large knife at a duel known as the Sandbar Fight. A pattern with a murky history but certainly can be connected to the blades used widely in Europe for centuries.
This is a reproduction of a confederate D guard bowie heavily inspired to the original John Logan from www.irontreeforge.com fixed a handle for and did a general restoration on.
The general idea was to create a blade that one would see on the belt of a confederate soldier, or on a quirky trapper in the old wild west chasing down a deer in the woods...just next to his black powder revolver. can you see it now? i hope you do...
This blade was entirely forged to shape from 1075, measures in total 50 cm, with a cutting edge of 36 cm. D guard forged out of mild steel, as the double ferrule.
The finish on the blade is obtained with mustard, just to give it that lives look.
The profile is full flat with a drop to a convex edge, sadly to local laws the clip isn't sharp.
The handle is made out of curly maple and was then dyed with brown leather dye. It's a thru tang construction, with the terminal peened over to ensure a mechanical fastening, but i also used a high quality epoxy to ensure a long lasting fit.
Heat Treatment
The heat treatments were all done to ensure a high performance and durable blade.
Thermal cycling after the forging to refine the grain structure, and later one hardening, temper and drawback of the spine to ad a bit of sturdiness to the whole blade.
All the processes are done with a electric pid controlled oven to ensure the right temperatures during this important process.
Leather work +extras
As always i also do my own leather work. This time i went for a more classic look.
The leather is veg treated and dyed with eco-friendly dyes to limit the use of toxic chemicals, all hand stitched.
the button is a piece of WW1 artillery shell i recovered on the old battlefields during my explorations, combined with a loop that wraps around the sheath for an additional carry option.
Comes in a rustic wooden box lined with canvas, perfect to place in that empty space you have on a shelf.
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