Iron Mistress. For the Bowie collector and user.

bwray · Jan 13, 2006

Worth a try so I called. They are indeed all sold out.

FullerH · Jan 13, 2006

I am sorry. I really love mine.

bwray · Jan 20, 2006

Yvsa said:
Hugh some of the guys here use mineral oil for that purpose and have had varying degrees of success, definitely worth a try.
Mixing the mineral oil with a bit of mineral spirits may help it to penetrate better.
And you're exactly right, the shrinkage is from the wood drying out.
We've all had, or perhaps I should say several of us have had, the same problem with some of the wood handles on the khukuris as well as the horn.
Any natural material not fully cured or seasoned will shrink to some degree.

The linseed oil being a drying oil doesn't work as well IMO. YMMV.

Thanks for the tip Yvsa. I had a khukuri with a full tang handle that had begun to slip just enough that you could feel it but not really detect it visually. Initially I tried multiple coatings of "lemon oil", concentrating on the edges of the metal/wood interfaces. No luck. Finally I immersed the handle for 12 hours in a 50/50 mixture of mineral oil and mineral spirits. That worked like a charm. No more slipage.

bwray · Jan 20, 2006

Yvsa, you and Hugh might both be interested to know that an Imperial Musso bowie is currently listed on eBay.

Ebay Url removed by Yvsa.

With one day to go on the auction the current high bid is $355. I had been watching the auction with the idea of maybe snagging a Musso at a price I can afford, but this one exceeds my limit.

Bill thanks for the info and the link but we aren't allowed to post active eBay links in BFC, sorry. Yvsa.

Yvsa · Jan 20, 2006

bwray said:
Thanks for the tip Yvsa. I had a khukuri with a full tang handle that had begun to slip just enough that you could feel it but not really detect it visually. Initially I tried multiple coatings of "lemon oil", concentrating on the edges of the metal/wood interfaces. No luck. Finally I immersed the handle for 12 hours in a 50/50 mixture of mineral oil and mineral spirits. That worked like a charm. No more slipage.

Bill I'm glad it worked but usually slipping on a Rat tail tang isn't due to shrinkage of the wood but of the laha. Now if you are talking about the Chiruwa tang with the slab handles then it would be shrinkage.
I've fixed loose bolsters and butt caps on the rat tail tang khuks by inserting a bit of superglue underneath them.
The superglue melts the laha and tightens everything up again nicely.

bwray · Jan 20, 2006

This was a non-HI Chiruwa tang that began slipping after I filed and belt-sanded the tang flush with the handle scales.

Yvsa · Jan 20, 2006

bwray said:
This was a non-HI Chiruwa tang that began slipping after I filed and belt-sanded the tang flush with the handle scales.

Okay, got it!

Definitely a shrinkage problem then and one of the reasons I don't care for the Chiruwa tang khuks. Strange as it may be though the old Atlanta Cutlery Army Issue

Khuk that I once owned never did have the handle slabs shrink.
It was a lightweight khuk but well hardened according to the spec sheet and I did a lot of work with it.
They're sure not top of the line khuks but for the money they're better than the tourist jobber with the lion on the butt cap.

jimbowie · Feb 24, 2006

I would really like to get a Musso Bowie also but I havent seen one on ebay yet

anyway...... I want to have a sheath made and have talked to kenny rowe and he seems like a good guy, I also saw an ad for this place that makes sheaths called jedcoleather. anyone have any feedback on them?

Svashtar · Feb 25, 2006

jimbowie said:
I would really like to get a Musso Bowie also but I havent seen one on ebay yet anyway...... I want to have a sheath made and have talked to kenny rowe and he seems like a good guy, I also saw an ad for this place that makes sheaths called jedcoleather. anyone have any feedback on them?

IMO you cannot do better than Kenny Rowe for leather work. The guy is an artist. I have one of his sheaths for my elephant ivory Bauchop alley cat in D2.

Norm

jimbowie · Feb 25, 2006

thanks:thumbup:

jimbowie · Mar 9, 2006

The one on top is my iron mistress, the one below is a hand made bowie made out of a leaf spring, the one on the left is a western bowie, and the one on the right is a horn handled bowie from atlanta cutlery.

jimbowie · Mar 9, 2006

Yvsa said:
Well it is indeed all a matter of taste. Some folks don't like the old Classic Bowies and some do and of course I am one who does.
Actually I think mine is prettier than the one pictured as the clip appears to be a little more gentle in reality but I don't know how it would look in a pic. Sometimes the parallax of the camera lens can throw off the true appearance of a knife.

I think the clip on mine is more "gentle" than the one pictured at imperial weapons also Yvsa here is mine

HELL OF A KNIFE!!!!!