Bowie Knifemaking

Make your own custom Bowie Knife. This is a course for people who want to make a BIG knife.

Suitable for anyone who has forged at least five knives before. This course will teach you the pitfalls and secrets to success behind making these iconic outdoor knives. Ideal for bladesmiths looking to invest in their skills.

“That’s not a knife…”

During this challenging two day course you’ll forge your own large Bowie Knife (up to 340mm) using 1075 carbon steel.

You’ll be going home with a rugged knife that carries a lot of edge. It is a blade well suited to practical tasks encountered whilst fishing, hunting, and camping.

This course requires that attendees posses basic knifemaking skills - you need to have forged at least five knives before. If you meet this pre-requisite, you'll find that this course will provide you with some valuable skills in a very short period of time. An ideal course for knifemakers looking to invest in their skills and take their work to the next level.

This course goes for two days and you’ll learn how to:

• forge hidden-tang Bowie profiles
• grind secondary false edges
• form heavy duty brass crossguards
• heat-treat 1075 carbon steel
• design and construct contoured handles

The course begins with an overview of the process of making Bowie knives. This includes time to design your knife and choose handle materials. It also covers blade theory and design, forging and heat-treating steel, and workshop safety.

The first day is all about getting steel in the right shape and metallurgical condition. First-up you’ll be in the forge where you’ll shape your steel by hand using a hammer. After this, you’ll normalise the steel to remove internal stresses and head to the grinders to profile and bevel your blade prior to heat treat. At the end of the day you’ll heat treat your blade and put it into the tempering oven.

The second day is all about post-heat treat grinding, handles, and surface finishing. You’ll spend a bit of time hand sanding, get your grind right, then make and fit-up your handle. At the end of the day, you’ll walk away with a razor-sharp handmade Bowie knife and the knowledge needed to get started making them on your own.

You do all the work yourself, our job is to guide, instruct and help you recover from any mistakes.

Cost includes tuition, insurance, materials, use of tools, workshop consumables, safety gear, morning and afternoon tea.

You’ll need to bring lunches, appropriate clothing and enclosed footwear, and make sure long hair is tied back.