You're off to a fine start. That is really nice. Nice job working from a drawing too. It's a short hop forging to a pattern made from your drawing.

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You're off to a fine start. That is really nice. Nice job working from a drawing too. It's a short hop forging to a pattern made from your drawing.

thank you sir I appreciate your reply.....

Nice bowie Rob, especially for a first. I agree with Lin, good with working from the drawing and the handle template. You are welcome on the advice. One question, is there anything you would do differently on the next one? Like ways of building it.

Good work.

Brion

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Nice bowie Rob, especially for a first. I agree with Lin, good with working from the drawing and the handle template. You are welcome on the advice. One question, is there anything you would do differently on the next one? Like ways of building it.

Good work.

Brion

Thanks Brion , appreciate the compliment.....as far as a different approach.....for material I would have liked the blade itself to of been just a tad wider but that was the widest piece I had at the time and this one being stock removal I was limited to width of blade, the next one will be forged and I should have control over the width......as for the build itself my next one will be a hidden tang with a single pin, just to trry it. I do like how the ziricote spacer blends right into the guard, not for everyone I know but its very comfortable in hand........

the next one will have the guard blend into the handle , sorry not sure of the terminology.....

because of the width of the blade I went with a 1/4'' thick guard where I would have liked to have used 3/8'' but again that will be on the next one.........probably stainless

thank you again

all the best

Rob

Looks great, especially for a first bowie.

From a critical point of view, I would thin the guard down, seems a little thick. I would also lower the back of the handle a bit so that it doesn't go above the spine. Those are of course just my opinions though, and like I said the knife looks great.

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Looks great, especially for a first bowie.

From a critical point of view, I would thin the guard down, seems a little thick. I would also lower the back of the handle a bit so that it doesn't go above the spine. Those are of course just my opinions though, and like I said the knife looks great.

Thanks Justin for your comments........guard thickness overall ? or top and bottom to be thinner ?

Maybe a little of both. It could be the wood spacer, but it makes the handle look to thick there. I posted a blade here some time back and got some very good advice, basically that the front of the handle should line up with the ricasso. That advice alone made a huge difference with the design of my knives (thank you Ed Caffrey). Looking at your knife I think the handle maybe does, but because the spacer is the same material as the handle makes it look wider. Look at the knives of JS and MS's and you will see what I mean.

I hope this makes sense and is helpful. It is difficult to criticize someone else's knife, I want to be helpful, but I don't want to knock your knife. Overall I think it looks very good, especially considering it is your first bowie. Far better than my first attempt.

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Maybe a little of both. It could be the wood spacer, but it makes the handle look to thick there. I posted a blade here some time back and got some very good advice, basically that the front of the handle should line up with the ricasso. That advice alone made a huge difference with the design of my knives (thank you Ed Caffrey). Looking at your knife I think the handle maybe does, but because the spacer is the same material as the handle makes it look wider. Look at the knives of JS and MS's and you will see what I mean.

I hope this makes sense and is helpful. It is difficult to criticize someone else's knife, I want to be helpful, but I don't want to knock your knife. Overall I think it looks very good, especially considering it is your first bowie. Far better than my first attempt.

no harm my friend it's all good, I joined this forum to gain knowledge in my opinion from the best group of knife-makers around,....yes there are other sites available but the resumes of the members on

here is second to none. I appreciate all comments and hope to learn from all walks of knife-making perspectives and opinions......hence my signature on the bottom !!

Rob

Rob, to follow up on Justins comments. The blade looks great, but something in the guard handle area looks awkward. Could be the handle is too big and over powers the blade. Not the length, but the thickness. Too many transitions going on. Not really the guard to handle transition, but too many shape changes in the

handle in a small space. If that makes sense. A slimmer handle would flow better with the blade. That is a design choice and just my opinion. For a first bowie however, great.

Brion