Competition Bowie

LongRifle

LongRifle

Joined
Apr 5, 2000
Messages
2,017
This knife has an odd history :).

The blade, as forged, looked nothing like it looks now. It was a massive south west bowie. As I was finishing out the blade on the anvil I accidently put the blade on the corner of the anvil and put a fine pock mark in the blade. As soon as the blade cooled enough to handle I knew the knife was scrap. I decided to grind the blade out anyway; I wanted some practice grinding south west bowies. The practice actually came in handy on a small south west I am working on now. So after I profiled and rough ground the blade I chucked it in the scrap pile.

I pulled this blade out of the scrap bin when Greg Covington told me he needed some guys for the SOFA cutting comp this Friday. I had no intention of finishing this blade out, but I knew I didn't have time to get a knife together otherwise.

This knife is smaller than I would make for a competition; the blade is 9.5"x1.75"x.27. I would have taken advantage of the 10x2 limit if I had time.

I have really been working hard on developing hamons lately so I decided to use this blade for practice and see if all my note taking would pay off. I think it did, and I can finally produce these results consistently.

I am anxious to see how this knife performs at the competetion, so far I've been pretty happy with it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this knife after the competition; the knife has grown on me, but until I put a handle on it I really didn't care for it, in fact I friggin hated it. I'm still not crazy about it but I'm pleased with the results.

I finally made some headway in the sheath backlog department and only have another one to make. I'm also working on my last order now. It feels pretty good to get things cleared out.

The first shot is the knife cleaned up. The second and third are shots I took after cutting through quite a bit of card board and 2x4 (obviously before final clean up;)). As things usually work out the best lighting today was when the blade was scratched and dirty :). If things clear up I'll post a couple nicer pics.

Black linen handle, 416ss fittings, forged 1065 blade.

Just thought you guys might like a peek :).

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Matt
 
Where the ding? I can't see it.

You shouldn't keep that knife, you're right. Instead, you should send it to me, away from your eyes...
 
Joss, you can see it in the last pic. It's right above the hamon and utsuri. It looks like a little white spec. I don't even like thinking about it. What irritates me more than anything is how happy I was with the forged blade. My heart absolutly sank when I saw the mark.
 
Joss is right - I'd be most happy to receive any other scrap like this that you have lying around. :p

Seriously though, that turned out really well - I like the active hamon and the crisp blade profile. Letus know how it performed in competition.

As for size, I generally agree with going for the maximum allowable dimensions in competition, but I do recall that Burt Foster won a cutting comp. at Bowie's Hammer-in with an 8 1/2" blade camp knife.

As a complete aside, if funds permitted I could really get into adding a group of competition cutters to my bowie collection - I get a kick out of seeing the different design approaches taken by makers and like the lean and mean functional look of these knives as a group.

Keep up the great work Matt.

Roger
 
You could always say that was a Rockwell test mark! ;) :p :D

Seriously, that is still one heck of a knife, and I would be proud to own and use it. :)
 
Very nice piece Matt. I really like the hamon.
Have you started on the "five" yet? If so I'd like to see some pictures.

Later,
Chris
 
It looks really good Matt.I hope someone is able to get some pics of the competition.Make sure you get a lanyard on that handle. :eek:
 
Stan, I'll bring my camera with me. The cutting comp is mostly a demonstration I think. Hopefully there will be more cutters than just Greg and me. I only put a 400 grit hand finish on the handle, it's still a little slick, I might take it down to 320. By the way, if they relax the size limits I'm going to use your bowie-- I chopped through a 2x4 in six chops with it :).

Chris, I haven't started working on any JS knives yet. I still need to take the performance test. I'm planning on taking the JS test June 2007, right before I take the damn bar exam ;).
 
If you don't mind me asking, what size stock did you start with and where did you get it from?
Thanks,
Mike
 
Mike, I started with 1.5"x3/8". I forged the thickness down to about 5/16" though, I wanted to make a slightly faster bowie. I buy it from Pacific. I think Admiral sells it as does Kelly Couples. I think Kelly's prices were actually the best the last time I looked.

Matt
 
I've used some 1065 from Kelly a couple years ago and was happy with it, though at the time he only had 1/4 inch in stock. I've made my last few cutters with w2 that was a bit over 1/2 inch by 1 inch wide. Thats just two much work for me to forge most of the time. I have to be in just the right mood to tackle it. I'll give Pacific a call. Thanks
 
LongRifle said:
...... right before I take the damn bar exam ;).
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Just as I was starting to like you ......... :D :D

Seriously Matt, your work continues to impress, and these hamons you are pulling off are first rate. I would love to see a full sized comp knife from you!

Cheers,

Stephen
 
Stephen F said:
I would love to see a full sized comp knife from you!

Cheers,

Stephen
Click to expand...

Exactly how big is full sized? Doesn't this knife have close to a 10" blade? :eek:
 
Danbo said:
Exactly how big is full sized? Doesn't this knife have close to a 10" blade? :eek:
Click to expand...

Hey, half an inch here, a quarter in there can make a hell of a difference ..... its also pretty useful on a knife! :D :D
 
This is a genre of knives that interests me very much.

I don't think that I have ever seen a hamon on a cutting competition knife before.
 
Keith, I've never seen a comp knife with a hamon either, that's partly why I put one on this blade :).

Stephen, the only other big knives I had in the scrap bin were either way too big or too small. This one was the closest to fit the bill. I supposed I could have put the guard a half inch down the tang :) and go for the exposed shoulder look :).
 
My last 3 cutting comp knives, as well as my js performance test knife, were differentially heat treated with clay, though none were polished out to show any activity. BTW , exceptional looking hamon Matt. I've been able to get nice activity using W2 but never with the 10 series steels. Very impressed with what you've done with 1065.
 
That is a great looking knife and I would like to buy one like it for my forged blade collection.

I would want a double guard, though.
 
Matt-

I'm really starting to hate you.

If you were another dumb knifemaker like me, and pulling off work like this, I'd only hate you mildly.

Throw in the fact that you are studying law... and I just despise you! :mad:

Just kidding... I am EXTREMELY impressed though!!! (for serious :D )

Keep 'em coming Matt.

BTW- that hamon is making me think about finding another hobby. :eek: wow!
 
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