La Brea Bowie Build (PRO PHOTOS ADDED)

scottishsmith24

scottishsmith24

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Sep 4, 2012
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Well I thought it was time for another WIP thread unfortunately my last thread was somewhat derailed by a family crisis and I still won't be returning to that knife for sometime, but since this build is somewhat interesting I thought I would share. Each year I exhibit at a trade show called Canoecopia (an event for all things canoe and outdoors) and each year I feel the need to up my game from the previous year. So I was wracking my brain for a suitable center piece that would (hopefully) really stand out. This is what I came up with:



I wanted to go BIG literally and figuratively in size and complexity, I decided on changing a couple of design elements later on in the process that I feel are much more pleasing to the eye, but 90% of the drawing is accurate. The biggest changes I made were the size of the blade (I ended up making it an inch longer) and the coined spacer which I removed from the middle of the spacer. I intended for the blade and fittings to be damascus and planned on making this my first frame handle take down knife. Now in concern to the name "La Brea" refers to the La Brea tar pits outside of LA where several mammoths were found so I will give you two guesses as to what the handle will be made out of. ;) But onto the build!

I wanted this knife to be a multi bar turkish twist so I started with a billet of crushed Ws and a billet of jelly roll damascus:





So each billet is 1084 and 15n20 measuring 2 inches x 3 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches so pretty beefy billets.

The crushed Ws will only be taken to two layers for a very drastic effect:



And the billet for the jellyroll:



Each billet was drawn down to 1 inch square by 12 inches long or so



And then cut into four pieces



So the billet is starting at 2 inches square x 6 inches and will be drawn down to a 1/2 inch bar. This resulted in 60 inches of bar.



And the resulting bar (this end cut is always a bit wonky but it is better further up.



Unfortunately, due to the length of the 1/2 bar when drawing it out I had to cut it into two separate bars in order to easily forge it so it would stop flopping around. This resulted in two bars that were extra and not long enough to make a six bar. But all of that aside I have now cut the 60 inches of bar into five 10 inch bars and two odd length bars.



Ready for twisting:



This was the first heating for twisting, I was aim for about 10 twists per inch and I ended up with twelve so not to bad. Then I squared them up and ground the mating surfaces clean.


Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the forging step on this knife (it was mostly stock removal anyway due to not wanting to disrupt the pattern) But here is the rough knife blank, frame, spacer, and guard components.



At this point the illustrious Karl Anderson was kind enough to have me over and help me by surface grinding the frame, guard, and blade while walking me through doing a take-down build for which I am infinitely grateful for his generosity in sharing his knowledge. After everything was surface ground the spine of the blade was sitting at just over .25 inch think and the blade measures in at 12 inches long. I did a small test etch of the tip to see what was going on in the steel and so far so good.



There is much more to this build and I will post more updates tomorrow as I finish up the spacer and guard, then on to heat treat!

Thanks for looking and all comments/ questions are welcome.

Robert
 
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Thanks Gary!

Here is the next round of photos:

At this point I am now fitting the frame to the tang:



Then I move on to fit the spacer and guard. At this point the guard is only partially ground to shape and the spacer has not been shaped at all yet. Hence the big blob in the middle of the handle...



Then I start roughing in the shape of the spacer to match the external curve of the mammoth ivory.





Then I lay out my scribe lines on the spacer and then use a small cut off wheel in a drill press to begin the cut on each scribe mark. I only just remembered this handy trick so for those that don't know if you want to easily lay out horizontal lines on a curved surface, take a dremel (or any rotatory tool) cut off wheel bit and put that in your chuck like a drill bit then just set your table height to the scribe line and instant grooves!





The two outer channels will have a bronze wire inlay and the two inner ones will be removed with a chainsaw file.



At this point I had also finished roughing in the shape of my guard as well.




And then a quick mock up of the blade with some of the ivory:



You can see in this picture where I intend to change my plunge lines and I still have to add in the slight bevel on the ricasso, but then it is on to heat treat and the rest of the guard fittings.
 
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Great work. Thank you for sharing. I will follow the outcome with big interest.
 
So glad to see you doing another WIP! It's cool that you were able to meet up with and pick up some tips from Karl "take-down master" Andersen.

Funny thing is, I vaguely remember him making some sort of, "multi bar turkish twist take-down bowie" not all that long ago, and apparently it turned out somewhat alright, so it seems you may have possible met up with the right guy for this project. :D ;)

Really though, thanks again for taking us along and sharing your process with us, I can't wait ta see more! BTW, everything is looking great, really lovin the style of this bowie! :thumbup:

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been quite a while since I've posted any new vids)
 
Super awesome work there.
Probably a dumb question, but what is and how do you do a Etch Test?
Thanks
 
Thanks for all of the comments everyone, Karl it was great to get to spend some of the day with you and thank you again for all of the time and patience. :) Ricflair the test etch is just a light etch in acid to bring out the pattern and make sure that it is looking how it is supposed to as the pattern changes drastically as you grind it I want to make sure it is right.

Here is today's progress:

Thanks guys! This is one of those builds that stays in your dreams at night, so I am glad others are enjoying it. Here is today's progress:

Today involved a lot of file work which, while tedious, I find quite enjoyable. My main goals for the day were to fully fit the guard and to do as much shaping of the guard as possible in the day. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the first step which was to reduce the arms of guard to their final width and to checker the now proud side of the guard. But following these steps I began the initial scalloping of the clam shells.







After the primary grooves are cut in then I add the "veins" with a small triangle file:



And the reverse side:



Then I begin contouring the back. I remove much of the initial material with a dremel and carbide bit, the clean up is done with a small half round file.



All contoured and sanded to 120 grit (The black dot you see is a small inclusion which I was able to get out by going back with some file work after this picture was taken.)



Showing the coining on the guard:



And now before I get to anymore shaping I need to finish fitting the guard:





And finally all fit and ready for the rest of the shaping. More to come tomorrow:

 
Very beautiful work there. I have never seen that kind of file work done before. I love the shell shape on the guard. It will be interesting to see more. Thanks for sharing!:thumbup:
 
I do love me a good WIP, and this is surely an excellent WIP. Thank you very much.
 
Thanks for all of the comments guys, this is a really fun build and it keeps getting more exciting as I go along. Now I did make one large design change or plan change. I have decided to not do this as a take down. I know I know its lame to change it at this point but when I saw Don Hanson's bowie he just posted I was sold and so I will be doing a hidden pin construction with a single domed pin instead of doing it as a full take down, as my plan for doing it as a take down would have looked to busy and made the flow of the knife feel "clunky". But all of that aside here is today's progress.

I started the day off shaping the rest of the guard, here is what it looks like after the initial hogging off of material with the dremel before I use the files.



Then it was just a rinse and repeat of what you saw yesterday, file, and the sand everything to 120 grit. I find if you get rid of the deep scratches when it is flat and soft it makes clean up when it is harder and awkward much easier.

Now to start the bend:



Then do the other side and check the fit:



At this point I also drilled the six holes to receive the hidden pins as you saw in the previous picture. I also wanted to tighten up the frame in a couple of places hence the two dimples. This was a trick Karl Anderson showed me and it works great.



And then onto heat treating all of the fittings. Thankfully there were no issues and now to temper them. Much more to come tomorrow. Thanks for following along!

 
Thank you for taking the time and effort to post this WIP! Now I get it! Fantastic!
 
This just looks incrediballs, I'm getting a ton of tips from your write up here! :thumbup:
 
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