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Bob Gaddis wrote the following article for the Randall Knife Society newsletter #17, February 1993. Gaddis's great book about Randall knives is still available from Nordic Knives and the Randall shop.
Best regards,
Rhett Stidham
GADDIS: THE RANDALL BRASS BACK BOWIES
Now that the book is through editing and in the hands of the printer a number of subjects come to mind which, for one reason or another, were not included in the manuscript. One of these is the topic of the brass strip along the top of bowie blades. This optional extra feature was available right at the start of Randall's bowie knife offerings, in the 1953 catalog insert page. "Add $4.00 if the Brass strip welded along top of blade is desired", was how Bo termed it on this orange insert sheet.
When the 20 cent catalog of 1954 was being readied, the first three bowies were added to the growing list of knife designs as the MODEL 12, and this brass strip was included with the other extra features on pages 12 and 13. It was now noted as "BRASS STRIP; thought by some to be an authentic feature of a Bowie. Welded along top of the blade". The knives, illustrated on page 7 of this early catalog, were described as:
*BOWIE--11" blade, 2-1/2" wide, of 3/8" stock. A replica of the famous Bowie Knife of a century ago. Fitted with 4 1/2" brass lugged hilt. 5" leather handle. Duralumin butt cap. (Wt. 32-36 oz.)
*BOWIE--11" blade, 1-7/8" wide, of 1/4" stock. A lighter version of the knife above. (Wt. 18-22 oz.)
*BOWIE--9" blade, 1-7/8" wide, of 1/4" stock. Made to meet the demand for a heavy-duty knife between our model 5 (8") and the Bowie (light weight model) illustrated above. (Wt. 16-18 oz.)
The names of Smithsonian Bowie; Confederate Bowie and 9" Sportman's Bowie were not given to these knife styles until a number of years later. The Brass strip could be added to any one of them as an extra feature.
This "welded" brass strip was actually not welded in the normal sense of steel welding. It was a large bead of brass brazing skillfully laid into a shallow cavity ground along the top of a forged and rough ground blade. A difficult portion of this brazing torch work was to have sufficient extra material in the brass bead so that both sides and the top cold be ground off smooth during the finish grinding of the blade. During all the years this extra feature was offered, the Randalls were able to find only one man who had sufficient skill as a welder and brazer, that he could do the job to their satisfaction.
The name of this master artisan with a torch has been almost lost to the dust of time. When Gary, Pete and a couple of other "old timers" in the shop discussed it during mid-December 1992, the best they could come up with was a Mr. White. And they weren't exactly positive about that name. But they clearly remember that he was working at the Gator Airboat Company, on Old Winter Garden Road when most of these blades were given their brass backs. Gary and Pete said that Bill Platts used to take the modified blades over there to have the brazing done by Mr. White, and then go back again when they were ready. In the 1950's and 1960's the traffic in Orlando wasn't much of a problem for short trips like this. Those were the more relaxed days before Mickey Mouse moved to central Florida.
How Bo Randall found Mr. White in the first place was never documented, but if one were looking for a top-flight welder/brazer an airboat fabrication company would have been the best bet. These folks were in the business of making strong and rugged structures out of thin walled tubing and sheet metal. Bo seemed to have a knack for finding just the right craftsman when he needed him.
This was sort of a mid-1950's equivalent to his locating Al Marchand in 1936, to get his first blades forged from the proper steel. Anyway, he located the one man around who could consistently do a bang-up job of getting that brass on the back of Bowie Knife blades.
Gary is quite sure that Mr. White was the man who did all of this brass brazing work for Bo, right from the earliest "Iron Mistress" knives in January 1953. The second bowie entry in Bo's shipment journal is dated January 30, 1953 and the big knife is noted as having a "brass strip". About half of these earliest Randall bowies, from the first half of 1953, are recorded as being ordered with the brass strip, or rib as it was sometimes termed then. Many also were made with stag handles. Year after year Bo and Bill kept on taking the modified blades for their brass back bowie orders to Gator Airboat for Mr. White's brazing work because his workmanship was so good.
Finally he retired from Gator Airboat, at about age 75. This was probably the early 1970's, and he moved out of town, about 20 miles east of Orlando. In our telephone conversation Gary remembered the rest of the brass back bowie saga quite well: "After he retired I had to take the brass backs out to him about twice a year. He was the only guy who knew how to do it. He could braze enough brass on the top, and get it humped over enough so we could grind it down, and still not crack the blade. He told me one summer he was going north for the summer--but he never came back". Gary went on to explain that the blade cracking he spoke of was the development of small cracks in the corners of the hollow ground into the top of the blades to receive the brass strip brazing material. The blades, which Mr. White did the brazing on, did not develop these cracks.
After Mr. White didn't return that fall Gary and Pete tried two or three other well recommended welders for this work, but without success. They would end up with bubbles or pits in the brass strip, or cracks in the blades. Occasionally they would find all three problems when the blade was ground smooth. They even tried using the heli-arcing process, but that wasn't successful either. Sometimes the heat would be so great that the blade steel and brass melted together at the intersection of the two. Gary said that every once-in-while one of these "melted brass backs" is sent in for refinishing at the shop.
Bo and Gary finally decided that all this effort wasn't getting any satisfactory results, and that they'd have to discontinue the brass strip option. The last catalog in which this was listed in the Extra Feature section was the Twenty sixth printing. It was received from the printers in May of 1982, but the Price List insert for January 1, 1983 noted that this extra feature was "Not-Available". The brass back bowie knives quietly became part of Randall Made Knives' history. ////// Bob Gaddis
Best regards,
Rhett Stidham
GADDIS: THE RANDALL BRASS BACK BOWIES
Now that the book is through editing and in the hands of the printer a number of subjects come to mind which, for one reason or another, were not included in the manuscript. One of these is the topic of the brass strip along the top of bowie blades. This optional extra feature was available right at the start of Randall's bowie knife offerings, in the 1953 catalog insert page. "Add $4.00 if the Brass strip welded along top of blade is desired", was how Bo termed it on this orange insert sheet.
When the 20 cent catalog of 1954 was being readied, the first three bowies were added to the growing list of knife designs as the MODEL 12, and this brass strip was included with the other extra features on pages 12 and 13. It was now noted as "BRASS STRIP; thought by some to be an authentic feature of a Bowie. Welded along top of the blade". The knives, illustrated on page 7 of this early catalog, were described as:
*BOWIE--11" blade, 2-1/2" wide, of 3/8" stock. A replica of the famous Bowie Knife of a century ago. Fitted with 4 1/2" brass lugged hilt. 5" leather handle. Duralumin butt cap. (Wt. 32-36 oz.)
*BOWIE--11" blade, 1-7/8" wide, of 1/4" stock. A lighter version of the knife above. (Wt. 18-22 oz.)
*BOWIE--9" blade, 1-7/8" wide, of 1/4" stock. Made to meet the demand for a heavy-duty knife between our model 5 (8") and the Bowie (light weight model) illustrated above. (Wt. 16-18 oz.)
The names of Smithsonian Bowie; Confederate Bowie and 9" Sportman's Bowie were not given to these knife styles until a number of years later. The Brass strip could be added to any one of them as an extra feature.
This "welded" brass strip was actually not welded in the normal sense of steel welding. It was a large bead of brass brazing skillfully laid into a shallow cavity ground along the top of a forged and rough ground blade. A difficult portion of this brazing torch work was to have sufficient extra material in the brass bead so that both sides and the top cold be ground off smooth during the finish grinding of the blade. During all the years this extra feature was offered, the Randalls were able to find only one man who had sufficient skill as a welder and brazer, that he could do the job to their satisfaction.
The name of this master artisan with a torch has been almost lost to the dust of time. When Gary, Pete and a couple of other "old timers" in the shop discussed it during mid-December 1992, the best they could come up with was a Mr. White. And they weren't exactly positive about that name. But they clearly remember that he was working at the Gator Airboat Company, on Old Winter Garden Road when most of these blades were given their brass backs. Gary and Pete said that Bill Platts used to take the modified blades over there to have the brazing done by Mr. White, and then go back again when they were ready. In the 1950's and 1960's the traffic in Orlando wasn't much of a problem for short trips like this. Those were the more relaxed days before Mickey Mouse moved to central Florida.
How Bo Randall found Mr. White in the first place was never documented, but if one were looking for a top-flight welder/brazer an airboat fabrication company would have been the best bet. These folks were in the business of making strong and rugged structures out of thin walled tubing and sheet metal. Bo seemed to have a knack for finding just the right craftsman when he needed him.
This was sort of a mid-1950's equivalent to his locating Al Marchand in 1936, to get his first blades forged from the proper steel. Anyway, he located the one man around who could consistently do a bang-up job of getting that brass on the back of Bowie Knife blades.
Gary is quite sure that Mr. White was the man who did all of this brass brazing work for Bo, right from the earliest "Iron Mistress" knives in January 1953. The second bowie entry in Bo's shipment journal is dated January 30, 1953 and the big knife is noted as having a "brass strip". About half of these earliest Randall bowies, from the first half of 1953, are recorded as being ordered with the brass strip, or rib as it was sometimes termed then. Many also were made with stag handles. Year after year Bo and Bill kept on taking the modified blades for their brass back bowie orders to Gator Airboat for Mr. White's brazing work because his workmanship was so good.
Finally he retired from Gator Airboat, at about age 75. This was probably the early 1970's, and he moved out of town, about 20 miles east of Orlando. In our telephone conversation Gary remembered the rest of the brass back bowie saga quite well: "After he retired I had to take the brass backs out to him about twice a year. He was the only guy who knew how to do it. He could braze enough brass on the top, and get it humped over enough so we could grind it down, and still not crack the blade. He told me one summer he was going north for the summer--but he never came back". Gary went on to explain that the blade cracking he spoke of was the development of small cracks in the corners of the hollow ground into the top of the blades to receive the brass strip brazing material. The blades, which Mr. White did the brazing on, did not develop these cracks.
After Mr. White didn't return that fall Gary and Pete tried two or three other well recommended welders for this work, but without success. They would end up with bubbles or pits in the brass strip, or cracks in the blades. Occasionally they would find all three problems when the blade was ground smooth. They even tried using the heli-arcing process, but that wasn't successful either. Sometimes the heat would be so great that the blade steel and brass melted together at the intersection of the two. Gary said that every once-in-while one of these "melted brass backs" is sent in for refinishing at the shop.
Bo and Gary finally decided that all this effort wasn't getting any satisfactory results, and that they'd have to discontinue the brass strip option. The last catalog in which this was listed in the Extra Feature section was the Twenty sixth printing. It was received from the printers in May of 1982, but the Price List insert for January 1, 1983 noted that this extra feature was "Not-Available". The brass back bowie knives quietly became part of Randall Made Knives' history. ////// Bob Gaddis
