I'm super happy with this knife, but mostly for what it represents rather than the actual knife itself. It's basically a culmination of the last 2 months, and everything I've learned since joining the ABS. This makes the 15th blade I forged in the last 2 months, but its the 1st one to meet my personal standards and make it to completion. It represents some major accomplishments as well as some firsts for me. Since joing the ABS I have taught myself how to forge in a tip without fish mouthing or cutting, I taught myself how to forge bevels, and I learned how to freehand grind. I also learned the process of forging a Bowie, and the last 8 blades I forged were all Bowie knives. I actually think the Bowie is now my all time favorite blade, kinda like a Shovelhead, its classic, sexy, and a part of American history. 

This blade has its issues, but I'm still pretty proud of it. It's forged from 1084, has a 9.5" blade, handmade brass guard and bocote handle. Although I've wanted to for a while, this is my first time leaving a forged finish on the flats and I really like it. Also my first time working with bocote, and I really like the contrast so I definitely will be using it more in the future. I'm not all that happy with the handle, but I was working within my limits of the block I had and the angle of my tang, but its super comfortable in the hand. And then my guard...this is the second time I have fit a guard and the previous knife was a perfect fit. This one though...I got a little heavy handed while filing and the press fit quickly turned to a slip fit. 😳 Also, when I bent the brass the ends twisted just a hair out of square so that's something I will be paying attention to from here on out. I hand sanded it up to a 500 grit finish, and after I took this pic I applied the 1st coat of tung oil to the handle. I had plans of sharpening this knife and just literally abusing it in my backyard, but this morning I decided that I'm not going to sharpen it and instead it's going on my bookshelf. I don't have the first knife I made, so the first fully forged knife is better imo. It will be something for me to look back on as well as a way of gauging my progress. This was a lot of fun, but I'm already thinking about the next build...I have the blade forged, yep its a Bowie, and I want to incorporate a spacer between handle and guard...Until the next one, Thanks for checking it out!