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Posts Tagged ‘bowie knives’

Bowie knives are as intimidating to sharpen as they are in most other respects. The blade on these knives is at least 6 inches long and, oftentimes, around twice that length. The blade is also heavy and curved, which presents additional challenges. Sharpening a Bowie, however, is really no different than sharpening any other knife.

There are several characteristics of Bowie knives that make sharpening them a tough job. They have long blades, which makes them unwieldy on a stone. They also have curved blades, which requires that the proper sharpening angle be maintained, for all intents and purposes, while turning a corner. The knives are also thick-bladed, which means they won’t fit correctly in many all-in-one devices. Because these knives oftentimes are made of very fine steel, they deserve to be maintained with the correct tools and the correct technique.

Some devices allow users to hold their Bowie knife in a vertical position while they sharpen it. These devices usually have slots that hold the blade in the correct position. Some of the devices use a mechanical apparatus to grind away the metal instead of the user drawing the blade against a stone. These devices sometimes produce good results, sometimes not. There is enough variation in Bowie knife design that a device may work splendidly for one particular knife and not at all for another.

Bowie knives need to be honed to get the best possible edge. This is done on a finer grit stone. Simply repeat the process and, with very little pressure, hone the burr down on the edge of the blade. With the proper angle, one will be left with a razor edge. If the knife is of a high-quality steel, the edge can be incredibly sharp, sometimes sufficient for shaving!

Remember to always use oil when sharpening Bowie knives on a whetstone. Without this lubrication, the blade can be completely ruined. If one has no experience sharpening knives, it’s best to practice on an expendable blade before setting to work on a high-quality knife. On some Bowie knives, there’s a notch at the hilt of the blade. This is called a “Spanish notch”. Many knife owners use this as the indicator of where to begin sharpening the blade. The easiest way to keep the bevel of the blade even is to draw the knife along the stone on one side and then repeat the process on the opposite side. Alternating in exact proportion ensures an even edge on the blade.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie knives store featuring SOG bowie knives as well as humidors for storage.

Being able to carry your personal belongings with you when you travel is of the utmost importance. Why wouldn’t you be able to carry your bowie knife with you on an airplane? Well, after the backlash of 9/11, it seemed that you couldn’t carry anything aboard a plane, without being suspected of terrorism. However, the TSA has eased some travel requirements. So, can you carry that bowie knife with you on a plane?

First, you will need to make sure that your bowie knife is not packed in your carryon luggage. While you can take bowie knives aboard planes, your carryon bag is most certainly not the right place for them. Where can you put them? The only place that the TSA allows bowie knives is in your checked baggage – your suitcase, for example. This type of baggage is checked at the ticket counter, and then sent down a conveyor belt to be loaded in the belly of the plane. While this will certainly keep you apart from your knife for the duration of the flight, it does allow you to travel with your weapon.

However, the news is not all bad. The TSA does allow you to carry a bowie knife with you if it is packed in your suitcase, so long as that suitcase is checked at the ticket counter and is not a carryon item. Of course, there are a couple of further caveats to this, as well. Your knife must be securely packed, sheathed and safe. It cannot be left loose inside your suitcase, nor can you pack it without its sheath. Interestingly, the same rules apply to swords, razors and other knives. If this seems a bit inconvenient, remember, you shouldn’t have any need for your knife during the flight, so packing it away before hand should be no issue.

What if you are not taking any checked luggage? If you’re only going for a short trip, or just like to travel light, it’s pretty common to only take carryon baggage with you. If this scenario sounds familiar, you should consider shipping your knife ahead, through UPS or FedEx. However, you should check the freight carrier’s weapons policy before attempting to ship that bowie knife ahead.

As you can see, taking that bowie knife with you is not as difficult as you might have thought. Of course, these rules might pose a problem if you were only going to take a carryon bag and didn’t intend to have any checked baggage. In this case, consider shipping your knife ahead to your destination if possible.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie hunting knives store featuring the Cold Steel training knife. Additionally, Dylan is also the President of an online humidors store.

Sharpening a Bowie knife is much the same as sharpening any other knife. However, you will need to know how to go about the process in order to achieve optimal results. What process should you follow? Actually, you will have some choices to make before you even get started with the sharpening process. What is your first decision? First, you will need to determine what sort of sharpening system you want to use. Do you want to use a system that offers you edge guides? On the other hand, you might prefer to use a simple whetstone and control the angle of the edge yourself. This is an important consideration and should not be rushed.

Generally, novice knife owners opt for the all-in-one type of system, as this allows them to control the angle of the blade, without having to do so by hand. However, those more familiar with the sharpening process often choose to use a series of whetstones or a whetstone and a strop. This results in a much better edge, though it takes considerable practice before you can call yourself an expert. As a note, if you choose to go it alone, practice with some inexpensive blades before you attempt to sharpen your Bowie knife, or any other knife that might represent a considerable investment.

The process of sharpening a knife is all about removing metal from the blade, but doing so in a controlled pattern. The angle at which you hold your knife will determine some of how much metal is removed, as will the duration of the sharpening process. If you choose to use a sharpening system, make sure that it offers several different angles in the guide, so that you can achieve the sharpness and blade shape that’s right for your knife.

Holding one side of the blade against the stone, draw the knife either heel to tip, or you can grind it in circles over the stone (some knife owners prefer to use two stones, a coarse one and a fine one). Once you have raised a burr on the blade’s edge, you should flip the blade over and repeat the process until there is a burr along the entire edge of the knife blade.

Once you have ground down one side of the blade and raised a burr, you will need to flip the knife over and grind the other side. This will raise a burr all the way down the blade (including the tip of the blade). Once the burr has been raised, you should use a fine whetstone or a strop to remove the burr and reveal the true edge of the blade. Further stropping or honing will polish the edges, as well.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie knife store featuring sog bowie knives. Additionally, Dylan is also the President of a specialty butane lighters store.