I want to make a Musso type bowie knife. Can anyone tell me the correct way to make the brass strip for the spine? Lin, I found your prior post on Don Foggs forum and answered most of my questions. Is the strip soldered to the guard? And if so, what did you use to solder brass to steel?
Dennis, I used low temp solder. I dont solder the guard to the blade much anymore, but that's the type of solder. It works fine, but I take care not to heat any more of the spine than I have to. I also keep water and some wet cloths handy. I form the brass, which is about .050 thick, around the blade spine a little at a time, annealing it from time to time for the next session of forming. It has to be a good fit because you're probably going to have to do a little light draw filing on the outside to true it up after the solder job. Be careful where you apply flux because you'll have to get it off later if it's outside the boundary.
Thanks for the response Lin. I'll give it a try.
