James Bowie

[Notchy Bob]

Top knife is not period in the least, it is a John Greco made knife. John Greco is well known for his fighting knives. The blade is 1/4" stock from 8670 steel and is bead blasted with a lacquer finish. I told John that I wanted a fighting knife that was a cross between a Bowie and a USMC KaBar but with a stag grip. I told him I wanted a knife strong enough to open crates and punch a hole in a car door, and this is what he came up with. The blade is 8 1/4".

The second knife is a skinning knife made for me by Ray Fincher who has since passed away. The seahorse is his makers mark, and the pommel cap and fingerguard are nickel silver.
View attachment 110881

Jeez, Gunny! Those are both great knives, but you could peel a brontosaurus with that seahorse skinner! Looks like about a 7" by 1-1/2" blade (?). The makers did a fine job on both of those. The same could be said for the cutlery @Einsiedler has shown us. I have some old trade butchers, but nothing like those.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[user 48702]

Jeez, Gunny! Those are both great knives, but you could peel a brontosaurus with that seahorse skinner! Looks like about a 7" by 1-1/2" blade (?). The makers did a fine job on both of those. The same could be said for the cutlery @Einsiedler has shown us. I have some old trade butchers, but nothing like those.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Man, you're good. I had to go measure it, but the skinner blade is 6 7/8" long and 1 1/2" at the widest. Ray had never made a skinner before, so I took some original drawings from M.H. Cole's Skinning Knife Book and he used one of Mr. Cole's drawings for the blade pattern. I had him add a small fingerguard so I wouldn't cut myself and keep my hand from slipping. I've used it on three deer so far, two does and one buck. He made some very nice damascus blades during his day and had a nice old hammer forge.
Here is a link to a local publication that did an article on Ray Fincher's shop Discover St Clair/Ray Fincher
Sadly, Ray passed away in 2018.

Notchy Bob, you take care and a Merry Christmas!

Regards,

Richard

 

[JamesT]

Actually he did not invent the Bowie knife, even though he received credit for it. The original style for the knife origin is from Europe.

Please expound.
James

 

[stephenprops1]

Reading all this,reminds me of a story of a Great Aunt, Jessie James mom, she sold off Colts and S& W revolver's claiming he carried them well after his death.

I heard she also sold pebbles from Jesse's gave to tourists. Every night she would go to the creek and replenish the pebbles on the grave, so they never ran out.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Actually he did not invent the Bowie knife, even though he received credit for it. The original style for the knife origin is from Europe.

In the middle ages, that knife would be called a seax.