Jimmy,

It's considered part of the flow of a clamshell to have the hollow on the "opposite" side, just like an actual half-shell in nature.

Some folks forge the hollow over a domed stake,( which can be a ball-pein hammer cinched up in a vise.) Some leave the hollow "as forged," others clean it out with a dremel tool and sand.

The dremel tool, with a small grind-stone tip, can be used to simply hollow out the recess, and sandpaper stretched over the end of a "popsicle-stick"-like sanding stick will clean up the recess faster than you'd think.

Here's a sample.

John

thanks John.

trying to google images of clamshell guards I came across Kyle Royers WIP on one of his knives that shows some details on how he made a clamshell.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/672722-Ring-Guard-Bowie-Progression/page5

As mentioned above there is a few ways to make a clam shell bowie. Below is the process I use to make a clam shell guard. This was taken from a work in progress I did a few years back:

Here is a pic of the dapping block and the top part of the guard. I have already forged the raised dome in this one and forged the bend into it.

This pic shows the guard right after I have started forming the lower dome.

Here is the raised dome.

Here is the S-Guard with the raised dome. Now I have alot of clean up and filework to do.

I got more shop time in today. I spent it all on the gaurd. I wanted to take some time and blend and contour the gaurd and domes a bit. I didn't want it to be too blocky and overwhelm the knife. I spent the better part of the morning grinding everything in nice and smooth.

Then I spent what seemed like a lifetime of cleaning the face and back of the guard back up from the mess left from forging the domes in. I sanded awhile took a deep breath and rememebred why patience is good then sanded some more and repeated this process over and over. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

My shop elf came into the shop and wanted to take a picture so I let him snap an action shot of me knocking the sharp edges off of the guard.

Here is the top clam shell bing filed in.

This is a pic of the lower clamshell all filed and polished back up.

Here I am cleaning the nooks and crannies of the clam shell prior to etching in the ferric chloride. Everything must be clean to get a nice even etch.

This pic show the guard suspended from my acid hanger. I have just did a quick dip in the acid and have pulled it out to make sure there was no spots from grease or anything. It was clean so back into the acid it went.

The knife know has the final assembly completed and I just took a few pics to show the different parts of the knife. this is the knife looking down the spine. Of coarse it is not focused, but look in the back ground at how sharp and crisp that elusive, hard to capture roll of tape is.

Here is a side shot of the guard to show how the profile of the guard evolved from the first few pics.

Here is a little better shot of the guard and handle. Tomorrow night I will remove the excess material from the buttcap and blend it to the handle.

Here is a pic of the completed knife

Hi Jimmy,

Here's another option for a clam shell. In all of art, you have a choice as to the amount of realism that you utilize. You can create a form of an object (shell, leaf, flower), or add detail to make it more closely resemble the actual object. I chose to make the shell finial on this guard resemble both the top and underside of an actual shell. Real shells are not flat, or simply dished out on the bottom. They are fluted on the underside and have a wavy, scalloped outer edge.

This guard is made from 3/16" mild steel. To create the shell, I first used burrs and mounted round stones to remove metal from the underside of the shell and create a cupped out area at the back of the shell. Then, I filed the scallops into the edges of the bottom side.

I then moved to the top of the shell and ground about 1/16" off around the outer edges of the shell to develop a curved upper surface. Next, the fluting was cut into the top of the shell, centering the cuts between the fluting previously cut into the bottom side of the shell.

This entire guard was mirror polished and then hot caustic blued.

Hello Craig and Steve;

Great posts! Photos help tremendously on showing how you achieve the task.

Thanks!

Russell

Wow. Thanks guys. I really appreciate the information.

Craig where did you get that dapping block. I have a small one I bought for doing domed pins but it is way to small for doing guards.

Steve amazing work.

Quick question, I am making a cutlass and am doing a carved D guard...How did you attach the bottom of the guard? I have and have watched the "Making a D guard bowie" from Harvey Dean...Is it a similar process? I want to do this to the best of my ability, figured this is a good place to get information.

Sorry , just realized i was hijacking this thread...I will start a new thread about it...

Thanks

Mike

I got that dapping block from Harbour freight. I think it was like $30.00 or so.