Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 (edited) Hi Guys It's been an age since I've posted on here. I hope everyone one is well and navigating these very strange times that we find ourselves in at the moment. This is the latest Bowie to exit the shop and I hope you enjoy looking over her. All comments and critique always welcome. All the best Steve The blade for this D-guard Bowie is made from W-1 high carbon tool steel. The blade is 283mm long, 44mm wide and just over 5mm thick on the spine which has vine file work along its edge. There's a clay quenched temper line along its cutting edge and a Spanish notch at the heel. The overall length of the knife is 430mm just a tad over 17" long. There are three coined nickel silver spacers and a gun blued wrought iron bolster which has been filed around its circumference. The two sections of the gun blued carbon steel D-guard have vine file work on their outside edges rising up to a clam shell on the top. At the bottom of the guard one side pierces the other connecting the two with a forged finial. The back piece of the guard is filed to match the outside of the Sambar stag and is held in place by a gun blued carbon steel finial nut. The hand stitched leather Mexican belt loop style sheath is dyed mahogany brown and black with a front panel of python skin. There are a multitude of small round rivets around the sheath and frog as well as leather lacing, a brass patterned conch shell with brass cones, beads and horsehair tassels. This piece also comes with its own custom made display stand. Edited February 24 by Steve Nowacki 16 Link to post Share on other sites
Gary Mulkey 1,400 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Impressive work, Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Dougherty 1,243 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Wow! There is a lot going on there, but it is all very harmonious. That two-piece guard is very slick. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 Thank you for taking the time to look and comment gents. ATB Steve Link to post Share on other sites
Eric Morgan 98 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 All I can say is Wow! Beautiful work sir! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Charles dP 521 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Excellent piece Steve. Ticks all the boxes as well as a few more that it added. Good to see you back. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Larry Pyne 53 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Wow! The knife is beautiful and the leatherwork is on another level. I really like this piece! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Don Abbott 165 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 5 hours ago, Brian Dougherty said: Wow! There is a lot going on there, but it is all very harmonious. That two-piece guard is very slick. My thought exactly. This could easily be "too much" if it weren't executed perfectly, but you certainly nailed it. The blacksmith in me loves that little curl/hook in the D guard. Very nice. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Garry Keown 1,057 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Certainly adds another dimension to the d guard and so many other areas of the build as well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Christenberry 352 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Well I guess it's official. Gary Mulkey has ruined me for life!!!!! These danged Bowies are changing my mind about the style. Like'em more and more and this one has a certain "flavor" that I really like, but can't define. Excellent work, Steve. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
clint c 154 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 I’ll echo the above sentiments, phenomenal package and workmanship all around. The style and workmanship are obviously first rate, as is the piece of stag you used for the handle, which is something seems to be impossible to source here in North America anymore. Clint 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Thank you for your comments gents. I have to admit that this build has been all consuming for the last couple of months. You're not wrong about the Sambar Stag Clint. Trying to source it now is very difficult. I have a stash of this stuff that I bought may be 10 years back and I'm saving it for special builds like this. ATB Steve Link to post Share on other sites
Gerhard Gerber 358 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Steve, This is an amazing piece of work, difficult to pick favourite parts, but as far as craftmanship goes the guard matching the riffles in the stag stand out, and for design that joint in the middle of the guard. I've never seen anything like that, how do you come up with ideas like that...... Your creativeness is a pleasure to behold. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Guys I have some step by step photos of this build, but they're on my phone. I'll have to load them to the PC and then to the picture host. If you fancy I can show some more detail on the build of this project. ATB Steve 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Webster 69 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Wowsa! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Dougherty 1,243 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 4 hours ago, Steve Nowacki said: If you fancy I can show some more detail on the build of this project. They say there is no such thing as a silly question, but... 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Gilbert McCann 72 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 So many skills executed so well. Btw I add pictures directly from my phone with the add files. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Joshua States 1,862 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 I saw this elsewhere and already gave my praise. Here it is again. Splendorific work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Thanks for the tip Gilbert, every days a school day. These pic's just show the parts that go to make up the whole. The original parts to the guard were made from wrought iron, but small blemishes started to appear. It is just what's in the material, but if it's not right it's not right and my OCD just wouldn't allow me to keep them. I went quite away though before I binned the wrought iron and made them again in carbon steel. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 (edited) Here's a couple of more pic's guys, a little out of sequence but you can see how I draw everything out before I start to make it in steel. Edited February 26 by Steve Nowacki 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 These pic's show the the Sambar stag in its raw state plus the two parts of the guard. Up to this point the guard is still made from wrought iron, but as I said the material has inherent blemishes in it and it got to a stage where I just had to make another pair. If you look at the 4th pic the tine in the top left corner you can see some marks in the steel. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 These next set of pic's are now with the new guards that I made from carbon steel. I also changed how I wanted to join the two parts of the guard. Originally the ends were to pierce each side, but I changed it so only one side went through the other. I also changed the look of the finial as well. I feel the overall look achieved was much cleaner. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 Ok so here's a bit of a makers tip. Since the great Covid show hit town mine and the missus dental hygiene has gone right down the swanee. For the love of Ada guys keep up your dental visits. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Nowacki 187 Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Some more shots of this D-guard build as it comes together. What I like to see is how with the change in colours of the fittings how it seems to bring the knife to life. I treated the Sambar stag differently this time. I dyed it with Fiebings yellow oil dye and left it in that for about 4/6hrs, let it dry and then into potassium permanganate for about the same time. I really like the colours it produced. 5 Link to post Share on other sites
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