First off the pictures are not up to my standards, but there was no way to fit this big guy in my light box!
This is the second hidden tang knife I have ever done, and I really wanted to push myself. It has a bunch of features I have never tried before.
It has a crested spine that transitions into to the clip. The handle is dyed elk antler, and all the fittings are blued mild steel. I tried an etched and 1000grit hand rubbed finish. I also made a matching frog (another first) for the sheath and am waiting on some snake skin to complete the sheath.
It is not perfect, but I learned a lot along the way.
OAL is 19.5", the blade is 13.75" of 5160.
Any and all comments and critiques are welcome!
Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben, that's my favorite of yours. Looks great. Congrats!

Chris

QuoteOriginally posted by akaboomer:
Ben, that's my favorite of yours. Looks great. Congrats!

Chris

I agree 100% with Chris!

Allan

That big boy could done some serious trail clearing. I really like it, The trim is my favorite features. How do you do the textured surface on the guard and such? I like that about your knives.
OH, whats the "frog? for? To wrap a thong around and hold the knife in?
Well done,
CTT

I love that butt cap!

WoW Ben!  Most impressive!  This is by far my fav of yours so far!  All kinds of great detail on this knife!  Did you use the Burchwood-Casy products for the Blueing?

Steve
--------
Potomac Forge

That brute is a beaut!  Nice job once again, Ben.

Rusty

This is one of my favorites of yours too and not because it's a big knife. It has some things that showed you are not taking the "easy way". The contrasting textures for one. The hidden tang construction another. I bet soon you will be making more of the through tang fastening procedure. Done right, they are very strong.

Well done!!  Excellent bowie!!

Very nice package. That frog is too cool. It seems like we've been allowed to follow your progression in this forum and your getting closer and closer to the top with every piece you build. Congrats.

Absolutely outstanding Ben! Your patience really shows in this one. My fav of yours by far

Great work and kudos for pushing your skills. Excellent job on the texture and overall aesthetics of it.

Thanks guys for the kind words!

I started making knives mostly because of this forum, this is sort of a culmination of what I have learned so far.

Lin, I do plan on doing more hidden tangs and hope to try a takedown soon. This one is actually internally fastened with a threaded tang and "washer" set into the antler.

QuoteOriginally posted by Two Tracks:
That big boy could done some serious trail clearing. I really like it, The trim is my favorite features. How do you do the textured surface on the guard and such? I like that about your knives.
OH, whats the "frog? for? To wrap a thong around and hold the knife in?
Well done,
CTT

Thanks Chuck! The texture is done with various ball peen hammers, I just peck away at the steel until the surface is totally covered. It is time consuming, but I really like the effect.
The "frog" will be attached outside sheath so you can slip the sheath under your belt and it will catch on it. I have seen lots of cool custom ones on various high end knife/sheath combos. This was my first try at one, I am pretty pleased at how it came out!

Thanks for the reply Ben.
It looks better each time I come back to see it.
Very nice.

CTT

I really like the varied textures and use of materials

Very nice

Yep that is a dandy Ben, I'm with Karl, that butt cap is nice!

Thanks Doug, I have been having fun using the small wheel on my grinder. This was my first go at a pommel with it.

This is the closest to a Bill Bagwell bowie I have seen. I really REALLY like it.

Thank you sir, that is a huge compliment!

Update one the sheath.
I received a beautiful western diamond back snake skin from Charles (Snakewood3) today and got a good start on the sheath. This will be the first inlay sheath for me, so we will see how it comes out. Next up will be about 4 feet of hand stitching!! lots of fun.  :eek: