I took a commission on another historical Bowie knife that I thought that you may be interested in the progression of. The original of this knife may well have the best prominence of any known Bowie knife as to actually belonging to the Bowie family. It is typically known as The Schively/Perkins Bowie as it was made by Henry Schively for Resin Bowie who eventually gave it to the Perkins family.
I started with a 5" piece of 1.5" round W1 steel. This knife has a 10.25" blade with a distal taper, thickened bolster area and stick tang.
The handle or hilt of this knife has a section of nickel silver between the thickened ricasso/bolster and the checkered ebony handle as well as a nickel silver pommel. There will be three visible iron handle pins in the ebony with silver washers.
Ebony works well for checkering but does require very sharp tools because of the density of the wood.
This checkered handle will eventually be beveled on all four corners to match the bevel on the bolster area and pommel.
I'll try to keep you updated as I progress with this one.
That's a nice one Gary. I always enjoy the history surrounding the piece too.
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That's a nice one Gary. I always enjoy the history surrounding the piece too.
Thanks, Lin. No one will ever know for sure but it is thought that the original knife was ordered from Henry Schively by James Bowie for his older brother Resin while on a trip to Philadelphia in February, 1828 just four months after the famous sandbar fight. It now resides in The Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, MS.
I got the last of the components roughed out today. This first photo will show me cutting out the handle pin washers from some 1/4" N/S rod:
I've yet to do the final sand & polish before assembly but this will give you an idea of what the knife will look like:
Gary
Thanks for your WIP. I enjoy seeing the pictures, and how you go about and decipher the build. Are you planing on constructing a sheath?
Anthony
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Gary
Thanks for your WIP. I enjoy seeing the pictures, and how you go about and decipher the build. Are you planing on constructing a sheath?
Anthony
Thanks, Anthony. I'm glad that you enjoyed the trip through this one. I've made an all metal sheath for this knife before but this time the customer for this one ordered it without a sheath.
Here's the finished knife:
That knife looks great, Gary. Thanks for taking the time to put this post together.
