Weldon's Bowie Knife - Step by Step

[Weldon47]

Hey folks,

Thought you might enjoy taking a look at my first bowie. I have made a few folders but never a fixed blade so, here it is: 11 1/2 overall with an O1 blade & bolsters, a 1018 guard & ivory scales. I chose Nimschke style embellishment with some sculpted accents on the blade and a contrasting deep relief sculpted engraving for the guard. The finish is French Gray. I have not decided what's going on the bolsters however, I am leaning toward something in the western art genre...something along the lines of the Colt I did with the raised gold Indians & buffalo. I still have some mulling over to do before I come up with a final decision on that so, I'll put it aside & work on another project while it jells (in my little pea-brain).
As for the guard, instead of pushing all the scroll around with a punch, I used a combination of metal removal along side displacement to effect the sculpting. Though it won't be nearly as exciting a Phil's work, I'll add some pics in a step by step so you can see what I mean.

Thanks & hope you enjoy,

Weldon

 

[Weldon47]

Here are the first four steps of the guard engraving. In photos 1-4 we see the design go from drawing (on the guard, done in pencil) and progressing. First, the initial pattern is cut with a 120, then an onglette is used to outline, leaning into the background areas and finally the background is removed using a flat chisel.

I'll continue with the next several steps.

WL

 

[Weldon47]

Here are the next four steps: After removing the background with a flat I have gone around a second time with the onglette to deepen the background a little further, then the flat is used again to remove and flatten the area. Once the background area is taken down to a uniform depth, I used a background matting punch (shop made) to texture the background. In the last shot preliminary shaping has been done using a flat chisel & some fingerprint ink has been added to the background so the depth can be seen.

I'll post the remaining steps next,

WL

 

[Weldon47]

Here the last four pics in the sequence show the guard with some more of the shaping initially done with a flat chisel & then the sculpting after I have gone over it with a punch to smooth out the wrinkles. I added a couple of pics from different angles so you could get a feel for the depth.

Thanks & hope you will be encouraged to give it a try!

WL

 

[ClarkAndAddison]

Great post! The tidbits of information I get from the forum are priceless! I really appreciate everyone's tips and tricks