Large Knives

(Archive)

The knives on this page are ones I made since I started and are shown for reference purposes only...

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ARCHIVE PHOTOS OF VARIOUS KNIVES I MADE TO DATE

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DAMASCUS PERSIAN STYLE KNIFE

DAMASCUS PERSIAN STYLE KNIFE IN RED DEER ANTLER AND CAMEL BONE WITH NICKEL SILVER SPACERS AND BLACK LINERS.  POMMEL CAPPED WITH CREAM COW HORN.  THE BLADE IS 7.75"" LONG.

DAMASCUS SHEFFIELD STYLE BOWIE

DAMASCUS SHEFFIELD STYLE BOWIE IN KINGWOOD WITH BLACK BUFFALO SPACER BETWEEN RED LINERS. BRASS BOLSTER AND POMMEL CAP.  THE BLADE IS 9.5" LONG.

DAMASCUS SEARLE TYPE BOWIE KNIFE

MIXED ANTLER HANDLE WITH SCALLOPED BRASS BOLSTER AND POMMEL.  THE BLADE IS 9" LONG.

DAMASCUS RANDALL STYLE BOWIE

FULL CORONET HANDLE WITH SCALLOPED BOLSTER. THE BLADE IS 7.5" LONG.

The Damascus Bowie

At 7 1/4", the blade is just about right for me.  It's 3/16" (4.8mm) thick and has a robust stick tang, which I drilled with two pinholes for extra security.  The knife over all length is 13 1/2" and beautifully balanced.

The handle is composed of a single Coronet Stag Antler and black buffalo horn near the brass bolster.  The whole lot is epoxied and further secured by 5mm brass pins and a 6mm mosaic pin. 

The Sheath is from 3.5mm veg tanned leather with quite a bit of figure work and fancy stitching over larp thonging.  It's fully lined with red fibre sheeting. The leg strap is of larp thonging with a horn toggle.

Damascus Bowie

The Sheath configuration of this Bowie is such that it can be worn on either side of the body.

This is my own Tanto set that I handled with white speckled Corian because I wanted the knives to have a clean look about them and yet still be very attractive, especially as I used Mosaic pins.

PAUL CHEN CUSTOM

OUTRIDER BOWIE

This is a favourite Bowie of mine, which originally had a plain chequered hardwood handle, a useless cutting edge and came in a rather odd non-descript Sheath. Just the sort of knife that I could customise, hence buying it in the first place.

I have several nice Bowies in my collection, but this is for real! It's a bit of a monster in both overall size and weight, but it's just right somehow in looks and functionality. I love it anyway!

I gave it a proper cutting edge, the handle is carved Red Deer Antler and the Mountain man type Sheath made from 4mm thick veg tan leather that is quite in keeping with this type of knife.  

My hand forged Bowie made for me by

Csizmar Szilard

My large custom Damascus Bowie

This is quite a hefty beast with a 250 mm long blade made from 6mm thick Damascus steel.

If I had to, I'd be quite happy using this Bowie to work with because just because it's pretty, it doesn't mean it's not as good a working knife as any others I have. But let's just say it's on the 'too large' side for the little bit of Bushcrafting and wilderness living I do in the UK! If I went to the USA, then it would not be too much out of place.

The only aspect one must bear in mind with owning and using knives made from Damascus steel, whatever the composition except for Damasteel, is that they need looking after and treated as if they were made from any carbon steel. If neglected, staining and/or rusting will soon be apparent and in bad cases, the knife is totally ruined.

I personally wouldn't even store such a knife in the long term in its Sheath even though I'm fussy and regularly inspect, clean and oil my knives as necessary. Leather Sheaths absorb moisture and will have an adverse effect on a carbon steel bladed knife. In some cases, even stainless steel knives will stain/rust if neglected! I learned this the hard way when I used to Dive regularly. I once dropped a diving knife overboard at the mooring, but I couldn't find it because of the summer dense weed growth. Come winter though, the weed died off and I was able to find it. But, I was shocked to see how badly rusted it was - so much for believing that stainless steel is foolproof!

Szilard is a true artist at heart and he expresses himself very well in Blacksmithing...

Sometimes I catch myself behaving like a child in a sweet shop, all very tempting, but which one could I have? Well, now that I can indulge myself a bit my choices are a little broader when it comes to knives. I've always favoured large knives, Bowies in particular and at last I've managed to get one made specifically for me by a Romanian master smithy by the name of Szilard.

When I first contacted him and explained what I was after, he wasn't keen on making anything for me because he reckoned that he could not match my high standards. The man is definitely humble as pie! I eventually did get him to agree on the premise that he has a free hand as long as he observes the main dimensions.

The Bowie, in it's various forms tends to dominate when it comes to large manly knives. I tend not to worry too much about a certain Bowie shape being historically correct or not; but on the other side of the coin, I won't thank you for a Rambo style one. I try to take the middle road and if I like a particular Bowie that is within the realms of reality and reasonably practical, then I'll most probably admire such a Bowie and possibly buy it as well. Alas I'm not very strong willed when it comes to deny myself the pleasure of buying knives; there's always that special knife that I feel is a 'must have'.

Anyway, Szilard gave me a rough estimate as to how long it'll take him to make me my Bowie blade blank and I left him to it. He was recommended to me during a BB get together and as a result I consider myself really lucky to learn about Szilard; a real traditional smithy from Romania.

Well, after a few weeks Szilard got back in touch and told me he's finished my Bowie blade blank and he'll have it in the post soon after I paid. True to his word, a few days later I received it and what a delight it was for me to tear open the packaging and feast my eyes on a wonderful work of art. I couldn't have wished for a better Bowie at ten times the cost! My job now was to make it up into something a little out of the ordinary; a poser's knife even! Well, as busy as I've been, I always managed to put in a bit of work on this gorgeous Bowie and the end result is as you can see above. As it happens, in my enthusiasm I might have gone a little over what I had intended, but I'll live with it for a while and see how it holds up. In all probability I'll be re-doing that handle and make something more traditional. So what's the handle made of then?! It's a composite of Buffalo horn, Red Deer antler, Turquoise and Mosaic pins over white and black fibre liners. The more I look at it, the more I admire Szilard handiwork. I'll enjoy it as it is for now...  

303 Rifle Bayonet

in Yew and Leather Scabbard

I was given a bare 303 Bayonet by my best mate Big Kev.  I made the handle from some Oliepod off cuts I had left over and the Sheath from an 8mm thick by 60mm wide piece of Yew glued and stitched to a chrome leather backing.  Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it proper justice.

Seki Damascus Field Knife

Red Deer Antler and Black Buffalo horn.

First time for me to work with Raw Billets.

I got the original Seki billets from the USA. Just to be sure of their quality, I then sent them off to Denmark to my friend Brian Sorenson to have them professionally evaluated and if the steel was of good enough quality, make them into suitable blades.

The blades you see above is the result of this one-of exercise.  The Damascus pattern is amazing on these blades, as is the cutting scandi grind.  Ideal as a general Field knife... 

The Blade - is full wide hidden tang made from 125 layers of ‘Birds Eye' patterned Damascus steel composed of 1084 and 15n-20 high Carbon steel.

Some other examples...

Spalted maple Burl.  Bolster and Pommel in solid 3mm brass.

Red Deer Antler with Black Buffalo and Camel Bone spacers. Bolster and Pommel is green dyed stabilised Curly Birch. 

Corian in two colours with Blue fibre liners in between.

Some of my early efforts...

These knives represent my first efforts at producing finished knives of decent quality or shall I say to the best of my ability at that time.

Obviously I have other knives as well, some of which are very nice indeed. They're bog standard, but prime examples of their type nevertheless...

MOD Type Survival Knife

Originally a bog standard issue MOD Survival knife. I had two, so i decided to customise one and as can be seen, it made up into a very nice usable heavy duty general purpose knife.

White Stag Antler and Horn Bowie

Full tang 200 Layers Damascus 3/16" steel throughout, 11 1/4" Over all length. Blade is 6" long, 1.5" at its widest.  Handle is 5 1/4" long made from Stag Antler with full crown and White Horn insert over Purple heart wedges.  Three brass rivets spaced accordingly.  Pommel end is finished  with Purple heart insert to augment crown, which is further strengthened by a brass lined lanyard hole.  Handle is well seasoned and sealed with oils and waxes. Bolster is set at an angle for a more natural grip and made from solid brass. One of a batch of blades purchased from the USA.

Crown Stag Antler & Black Goat Horn 

The 200 layer Damascus Bowie

Damascus Bowie Knife

with Purple Heart & Yew handle.

Damascus Bowie Knife with Crowned Stag Antler and Bone Handle.

Damascus Bowie Knife with Crowned Stag Antler and Ebony handle.

Damascus Bowie/Skinner Knife

with Stag Antler and Rosewood handle.

The Harlequin King Damascus Bowie

in Antler and Black Buffalo

Two Harlequin Dukes

in Antler and Black Buffalo horn

The Harlequin Duke blade is 115mm long by 25mm at its widest and 3mm thick. Overall the knife small hunter knife is 230mm long.

The Harlequin King & Prince

in Bone and Black Buffalo horn

The Harlequin King Bowie shown above is 200mm long by 45mm at its widest and 5mm thick.  Over all the Bowie knife is 350mm long.  The other knife in he picture is my Bearing steel PFK1, which is 225mm (8 3/4") long overall.

Below it is the Harlequin Prince blade is 160mm long by 36mm wide and 3.5mm thick.  Overall this medium sized Bowie is 290mm long.

Rob Rocket's Bowie - Sept 2011

This is for a good pal of mine. It's a full tang Bowie in 440c stainless steel with a natural cross cut Olive wood handle.

I made two Sheaths for it, one fixed loop and one in the Mountain Man style.

It's a shame that some folk tend to ignore the excellent qualities of stainless steel, 440C (also referred to as Surgical steel) in particular. It's tough, takes and holds a great edge and is practically maintenance free!  

Adam Surdyk Damascus Bowie - October 2011

This rather large Bowie was made up from a blade that was sent to me by Adam. The photo doesn't do it justice as it turned out quite nice.