Best bowie by a maker very few know.

Danbo

Danbo

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I am going out on a limb here, but I would say that this is one of the nicest bowies by a maker that very few of you know. B.R. Hughes knows this man, as he wrote a 3-4 page article about him in the 1977 Gun Digest Book of Folding knives. The maker's name is Russ Andrews, and he has been making knives since the 60s. The man is good! This particular bowie has a 9.25" blade of forged, flat ground 52100 with a convex edge. Handrubbed to about 1200 grit. Heat treated stainless fittings all around and a gorgeous piece of primo ironwood for the handle. This bowie won the award for Best Bowie of Show at a local St. Louis custom knife show a few years ago. I was lucky that the man is a friend of mine, and was able to talk him into selling it to me. The glare from the light is deceiving, as there are NO marks of any kind on that blade.
 
Holy Moly ~ ~ that is absolutely wicked ! :D

The spine on that bowie is perfect and greatly complements the rest of the blade, guard and handle !

Congrats
 
I have seen a few of Russ's knives over the years, but this is a particularly nice one. Just looks like it was made for a fight on a sandbar.
 
A really nice knife obviously. Personally I'd like a little more "belly".., but we all have our preferences. Could you give more detail about the entire process and concept? (i.e., stock thickness.., tooling., etc.)

Thanks for the picture..., a very nice piece.


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
I'm stunned at how good your taste is! ;)

Absolutely gorgeous...great lines, beautiful grind/clip, superb finish, and simple yet elegant handle... WOW!!! :)

Thanks for sharing,
Nick
 
Not sure what you mean by "Tooling"? I do know the blade was forged, not from a ball bearing, but from the vacuum melted round bar 52100 sold by one of the major distributors. Hand forged in a 3 burner gas forge. Multiple annealings and normalizings. I dont know if the blade was multiple quenched, but I do know this particular blade had clay packed on the spine, and you can see a visible temper line. The blade was not etched, but you can still make out the temper line. Flat ground pretty thin, all the way to the spine. I have seen a few of his blades that were ground up past the spine, and I'm not sure whether or not he does it on purpose. Some makers do grind up past the spine. I do know that every blade I have seen him grind is about as close to perfectly ground as can be.

Russ does not have a milling machine, so any guards and fittings are cut out and fitted by hand. All guards are soldered on with much precision. No pin holes or big globs of solder. All sheaths are done by hand. No drill press to make the holes either. Since he is sort of teaching me how to make knives, he gave me a set of leather working tools that he made himself. I have a tool for poking the holes that has a piece of stag on it nicer than on some knives.

Although Russ has been grinding and forging blades for a long time, he just recently joined the ABS. He is planning on coming to Atlanta this year and taking his Journeyman smith test.
 
That's a nice little bowie! It looks beautifully executed.

Danbo, do you know how much it weighs and where the point of balance is?

I look forward to seeing Russ's work at Blade.

Thanks for turning us onto him,

Mario
 
Not sure of how much it weighs, but I doubt if it weighs a pound. And the balance is so good that it feels even lighter. Balance point is just behind the guard.
 
God, what a knife! I am another one of those bowie fanatics.

Russ Andrews, eh??! I shall remember that name.

Russ' blade skills are obvious in the beautiful finished product.

Congrats, Danbo. What a catch! Now that's one that didn't get away. :)
 
I've started to gravitate towards folders, but this is one sweet looking bowie!! WOW!

Thanks man..:cool:
 
He is listed in the new Knives 2002 annual. As for the edge holding of his blades, I cant tell you about this one, as I am not about to use it. Normally, his hunters are ground from 440V or Vascowear, so edgeholding is quite good. I think he is the only guy I know that handrubbs his Vascowear blades to over 1000 grit.
 
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