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My first Bowie knife

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 11:24 pm
by pratik_mahale
After making few small knives this is my first attempt of a big one
Total length is almost 12” & Handle length 4”
Specially took very much effort in making the Brass Bolster
Bowie.jpg
Handle-1.jpg
Handle-2.jpg
Handle-3.jpg

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:34 am
by kshitij
The appeal of big brutish knives has got you too :D
Cool bowie-cleaver :cheers:

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:41 am
by airgun_novice
Dear Pratik,

One word for your creration - "laa-jawaab". After polishing the blade thoroughly it will be a delight to behold (and hold, if you let me :-) ) :cheers:

regs
A.

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:15 am
by essdee1972
God Pratik!! This is awesome!! Jim Bowie himself would have been proud to use this blade!!

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 12:06 pm
by kshitij
@pratik,
What steel have you used for this one? It doesnt seem to have come off a saw blade.

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 12:19 pm
by pratik_mahale
Thanks guys
Yes kshitij it’s not a saw blade I brought this raw knife and gave a Bowie shape
Not very hard metal easy to work on it
Need to be harden but unfortunately don’t have any resources to do it
@AGN
There are lots of hammer marks on it some are very deep not possible to remove it
Next I will try with the car pata which you gave me long back

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:33 pm
by kshitij
If it was already a knife before you gave it the bowie shape, it should already have had some kind of heat treatment. The only way to find out is to put it to use ;)

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:49 pm
by TC
Lovely job Pratik,
Love the Old West look. John Wayne carried one like this in one of his famous movies.... it was on protecting a fort.... can't remember the name right now.

:cheers:
TC

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:51 pm
by pratik_mahale
Thanks TC
@ kshitij
You can’t drill a hole in saw blade using normal drill machine because it was harden but this knife metal was very easy to drill & very easy to file

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:00 pm
by pratik_mahale
Some pic of original knife
Original Knife.jpg
After cutting.jpg
Final shape.jpg

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:30 am
by astronomy.domaine
nice one Pratik!
can u elaborate a bit on the bolster? what starting material (brass plate??) did you use, tooling details etc..

cheers

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:10 am
by pratik_mahale
Yes used 4 mm thick brass plate for making Bolster
first drills the holes use needle file so the tang can go in perfectly than used dremel cutting wheels & sanding band to give the shape. Also used three 6 mm round brass rod as rivet in wooden handle & I put 6 layers of red cloths between wood, tang & bolster gives very nice impact

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:39 am
by brihacharan
Wow!!!
Great job Pratik :clap:
Can see a lot of hard work --after seeing the original raw blade :D
Congrats man (y) (y) (y)
Briha

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:39 am
by pratik_mahale
brihacharan wrote:Wow!!!
Great job Pratik :clap:
Can see a lot of hard work --after seeing the original raw blade :D
Congrats man (y) (y) (y)
Briha

Thanks Sir

Re: My first Bowie knife

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:59 am
by kshitij
pratik_mahale wrote:Thanks TC
@ kshitij
You can’t drill a hole in saw blade using normal drill machine because it was harden but this knife metal was very easy to drill & very easy to file
Pratik,
I doubt it is the drill machine that matters. Use a hard carbide tipped drill bit to drill the saw blade steel and it should work.

As for the hardening, cant it be done on a normal fire in a metal box? May take longer to reach the desired temperatures but it should work just fine right?