The Anachronistic Bowie Completed
The blade is inspired by a couple of late nineteenth-century blades claiming to be somehow related to David Bowie. My design is a fusion that combines all of the “classic bits,” including a ricasso, clipped point, simple brass cross guard, flat ground blade, and a utilitarian handle. The main body of the blade is wrought iron from a historic grain elevator, erected in 1885, with modern 1070/1074 high carbon steel forge-welded on for a cutting edge. There is a hidden tag within the marblewood handle.
In early November 2021, on the last nice weekend we had, the bowie started as a round wrought iron bar roughly 1.5″ in diameter and about 9″ long. You can just see it poking out of my gloved hand in the photo below. From there, the forging commenced, first down to a square bar, and then drawn out to a rectangle so I could weld on the steel for the cutting edge.
Once the bar was drawn out, there was enough material to make two good-sized blades. I find that working on two blades at a time allows me longer heats, as while I’m working on one, the other is in the forge. Once the forge-welding process was complete, I focused only on the bowie, leaving the other blade as just a bar, to be finished later.
As part of the challenge, I set up a camera and filmed the process from start to finish. The forging session took about three and a half hours, from lighting the forge to cleaning up at end of the day. The video is a short set of heats that contain most of the main steps in the process. You can watch the shadows of the trees drift across the lawn for an approximate time scale.
Once the rough forging was complete, all of the blade’s profiles were in place: the tang, ricasso, profile and distal tapers, and the clipped tip. After a photo op, the last step of the day was to bring the knife back up to critical temperate and let it cool overnight in vermiculite to anneal everything.
I used few power tools on the project. The forge scale was removed with a 4.5″ angle grinder with a hard stone, and then I used a 1″x30″ belt sander to finish flattening the main bevel.
The next step in the process involved hand files, to finish the profile, to cut in the shoulders by the ricasso, and to refine the tip and false edge. Then I chose to draw file the blade to remove the grinder marks.
Heat treatment was an oil quench. With the dissimilar metals, I find it more reliable to use oil instead of water or brine. Then I put the blade through two tempering cycles in the oven. My goal was to produce a tough blade as opposed to a very hard edge, so if it’s even used as a fighting knife, there is less risk of a chipped or snapped blade. Post heat treatment and tempering, I like the look of the blackened ricasso and top edge as they contrast nicely with the brass guard and handle.
The false edge on the back of the clipped point is also highlighted by the black spine.
I didn’t think to take pictures of the process of making the handle, but everything was worked by hand. The marblewood handle was shaped with a drawknife and finished out with a carving knife. The beautiful grain was a nightmare, as it wanted to tear out and changed directions all over the place. I burned the tang into the handle and epoxied it for additional strength. I applied a simple polyurethane high-gloss finish to the handle. The cross guard is marine brass brought up to a high polish.
The last steps were to sharpen and clean up the surface of the blade. I like the look and the texture that draw filing leaves, and it pairs well with the rough grain of the wrought iron and shows the contrast to the steel on the edge.
A short video to demonstrate that it is sharp and can both slice and stab.
One of the things I had to learn during the challenge was how to take better knife pictures. Here are a few more shots showing different views:
Knife Measurements:
Total weight: 316.5g or 11.16oz.
Center of gravity: 1/4″ in front of the ricasso toward the tip.
Dimensions:
- 8.25″ from tip to ricasso.
- 9″ from tip to guard.
- 4.75″ guard to end of handle.
- 14″ tip to end of handle.
- 1.5″ widest point on the blade.
- 5/16″ thick at the ricasso.
- 3/16″ thick at the start of the clip where the false edge is
Documentary views of the blade:
A bit about me:
My main focus in blacksmithing is Anglo-Saxon smithing, roughly 600-800CE. I make a variety of items ranging from woodworking tools like chisels, plane blades, and blacksmithing tools such as hammers, chisels, and tongs, to more general goods like hinges, large rings, nails, and small every-day carry knives. Most of my tools are reproductions of historic finds. The hammer I used for most of the forging is wrought iron with no steel faces. The lighter hammer used for forge welding has steel faces and a wrought iron body. The hot cut chisel is also plain wrought iron, hence why I could cut on the main face of my anvil without worrying about damaging the anvil (the plan was to not cut all the way thru). The tongs I used are modern steel, but would be recognizable to a smith from just about any time period. I use a modern hammer for the spring fuller to minimize the damage to the face of the wrought iron hammer. The spring fuller, London pattern anvil, and propane forge are modern, or relatively so when compared to the 9th century.
To complete the challenge, there were a lot of things I needed to learn or apply for the first time:
- A blade longer than about 3″ or 4″
- A ricasso
- A cross guard
- A clipped tip
- Simple digital video editing
- Photographing a knife
I had a good time making the bowie knife. This was definitely a stretch from what I normally make, and I learned a lot. As with any project, there are things that I would do differently next time. Although there are things I’d like to improve upon, overall, I’m pleased with the final blade. It looks good and feels good in the hand.
Peter's SCA Woodworking Projects 