Best blade grind for Bowie knife?

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y53p

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May 11, 2022
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I might be getting a custom Bowie knife in elmax with an 8 inch blade. I’ll use it for pretty much everything from chopping to batoning to food prep and I was wondering which blade geometry would join together toughness with slicing capability (btw it’ll have a secondary bevel and not a convex).
Hollow is out of the question because it’s frail and bad for chopping, so it would be between a high sabre grind and a full flat.

IMG-4819.jpg


IMG-4820.jpg

A regular sabre will likely be too blocky on slicing tasks but I’m up for debate on either one of these types of grinds above.
 
Does is Have to be stainless?

If you are going to be super hard on using it, I'd probably rather have 3V, or Cruwear for something in between.

* I'm voting for full flat grind, it will make the blade lighter, and more lively feeling.
 
For something like a 8" bowie I'm with Crag here & will suggest a steel like 3V, or a low alloy steel like 52100 or 80crv2.

Historical Bowies were mostly flat ground, those were designed as fighting knives. If you want something more along the lines of a camp or hunting Bowie, Id suggest going with a shorter blade, maybe 6-7". Sabre grinds look sexy & are sturdier, but wont slice as well as full flat. Your call entirely. Hollow doesn't have to be fragile at all, depends on the thickness of the steel behind the V bevel & how aggressive the hollow grind is.

A high sabre in combination with a subtle hollow is a great combination in my opinion. The best Makers will seamlessly transition the hollow to a flat or even convex grind towards the tip for reinforcement. If you're going to do lot of chopping & batoning, a Bowie isn't the best place to start anyway. The clipped, acute tip is intend for thrusting, but may prove to be fragile for wood work. You can mitigate that by making the clip an unsharpened swedge, but then whats the point of going with a bowie?
 
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Crag the Brewer said:
Does is Have to be stainless?

If you are going to be super hard on using it, I'd probably rather have 3V, or Cruwear for something in between.

* I'm voting for full flat grind, it will make the blade lighter, and more lively feeling.
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I’d be going with elmax. Would it be fine too or is it too brittle?
 
y53p said:
Hollow is out of the question because it’s frail and bad for chopping, so it would be between a high sabre grind and a full flat.
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Hollow is better for batoning though (thicker spine). The swedge is bad for batoning and chopping, you want more weight in the front. 8 inch is small, more of a general purpose knife. Do you really need a huge guard (not ideal for wood and food prep work) ? Swedge and guard are primarily for fighting, so think about it.

Most important questions are budget and steel (stainless vs not) first, IMO. The best knife I have for chopping and kitchen in that size is this one, I guess:

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The wide belly is really useful to grab the blade for various wood and kitchen tasks. And the steel is near stainless and much tougher than Elmax (which is not bad).

Roland.
 
y53p said:
I’d be going with elmax. Would it be fine too or is it too brittle?
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I think elmax is fine if you want slicey and sexy? great for a camp knife or edc/fighter/something

I wouldn't want it for a big, beefy Brute that is a smasher prybar type edged tool.

If you stick to lite battoning, you should be ok, just don't go too crazy.


If you want a Brute Monster Id personally use 8670, 15N20, 3V, 5160........ AEB-L if it HAS to be stainless.
 
A little shorter than what you are after but I would think this one would perform well in the areas you’ve outlined. I just received mine and although I haven’t done anything with it yet, the build quality is outstanding. It’s one heavy duty bowie that is extremely sharp and passes the shaving, paper and paracord tests with flying colors

 
rlewpolar said:
A little shorter than what you are after but I would think this one would perform well in the areas you’ve outlined. I just received mine and although I haven’t done anything with it yet, the build quality is outstanding. It’s one heavy duty bowie that is extremely sharp and passes the shaving, paper and paracord tests with flying colors

Click to expand...
Love the 124. The only reason I wouldn’t buy one is that it seems overpriced for the steel used and the blade length. Also many people experience the pommel scales getting loose after even moderately hard use (there’s both threads and videos about it). Also, a pet peeve is the fact that it has a ricasso that is not only too small to serve as a choil but also doesn’t give “extra life-span” to the blade, as it’s receded into the tang, meaning the knife has less material than it should and is already “shrunk” as if it had been used and sharpened for a while already, which is why I prefer knives with a well pronounced choil instead. It’s a very pretty knife though, I might add it to the collection eventually (huge fan of Buck’s).
 
y53p said:
I might be getting a custom Bowie knife in elmax with an 8 inch blade. I’ll use it for pretty much everything from chopping to batoning to food prep and I was wondering which blade geometry would join together toughness with slicing capability (btw it’ll have a secondary bevel and not a convex).
Click to expand...

My opinion is if you make it thick and tough enough to stand up to that sort of use it will need to be too thick to be a good slicer and cutter. Elmax is not a tough or strong steel by any means. I guess it's Ok for stainless steel but but I sure wouldn't expect it to hold up to hard use unless it is by my standards uselessly thick and blunt. If you want a higher carbide stainless for wear resistance you would be better off with something like Magnacut. It's probably better off corrosion resistance wise too.

Then there is also the 420hc/12c27/13C/AEB-L class of stainless at lower hardness which can be made pretty tough. I'd go with Magnacut myself if I absolutely had to have a stainless knife.
 
y53p said:
I might be getting a custom Bowie knife in elmax with an 8 inch blade. I’ll use it for pretty much everything from chopping to batoning to food prep and I was wondering which blade geometry would join together toughness with slicing capability (btw it’ll have a secondary bevel and not a convex).
Hollow is out of the question because it’s frail and bad for chopping, so it would be between a high sabre grind and a full flat.

IMG-4819.jpg


IMG-4820.jpg

A regular sabre will likely be too blocky on slicing tasks but I’m up for debate on either one of these types of grinds above.
Click to expand...
I have full size Bowie knifes with flat grinds and a secondary bevel. This seems to be the sweet spot for outdoor work. The secondary bevel makes batoning wood easier than a full flat grind. I've never tried a saber grind with a secondary bevel. That could work well, but it wouldn't be as good for food prep or finer work. One of the things that keeps me from buying the Cold Steel Trail Master or Recon Scout, is that they are full flat grinds. That type of grind is more likely to get stuck in wood when batoning. For chopping, a full flat grind may be advantageous.
 
DDDYLN said:
That looks like a very nice full tang knife, with nice handle scales, and it's made from a quality carbon steel. The price is a bit higher than I'm willing to pay, but you always pay more for custom knives. I would do some more research, especially on the heat treat. Knives can look great, and have the specs you want, but the heat treat is key.
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Bill Siegle is the maker. He has been making knives for over 30 years in Oregon and specializes in camp/wood working tools. The steel is zone tempered 5160 which works well for this application. 5160 is a carbon steel primarily used for suspension and springs on all manner of vehicles. It holds up well to repeated impact, holds a good edge, and is corrosion resistant. I have a few of his knives and they work great. The knife I linked above is one of a kind. He tends to make his knives individually, so the shapes and designs are constantly changing. He likes to experiment and is always coming up with new knives.

Here is his sub-forum on Bladeforums, where you can see the types of knives that he likes to make:

Siegle Knives

Designer and builder of quality, affordable cutting tools meant to be used. http://www.siegleknives.com
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

N2s
 
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