Flea Market/Yard Sale Finds ( 10/29 All Knife/Sheaths Done )

[Pete44ru]

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My Green-eyed Monster & I attended Mooseup CT's annual town-wide yard sales (200 venues), with a flea market store or two also taking part in the sale-a-thon, today.

One that I jumped on @ $2, was this 6" unfinished Bowie that the seller had scavenged when cleaning out a former knife factory building (the other knives the seller had were unfinished steak knives).






As soon as I got back home, I ordered a brass cross-guard & a set of black micarta scales, and intend to polish the blade, then fit/finish the knife guard & scales soon.


I also lucked into this like new, un-used, luggage-style shotgun case for any double gun with barrels up to 30" long, for $20 !





I'm doin' the happy dance....


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[2ndovc]

Wow! That case is really sharp. Keys too!



jb

[Blaine]

Nice....
Did you do any research on that blade?
I found this:

http://fixedbladeknifereviews.com/?p=211

[Pete44ru]

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This blade has a very faint Colonial "anvil" stamp just forward of where the guard will go (bracketed by "Prov" & "USA"), and I've been inside the Providence (RI) Colonial factory many decades ago, in the late 1960's, when I was a business machine serviceman.

This blade isn't lightly etched with the "TUF-STAG..(deer head)....ULTRA HONED", it's deeply stamped.

I've seen the fake stag (ugh ! ) before on Colonial & Imperial knives - one of the reasons I decided to go with black Micarta ILO real stag for grip scales, because of the possibility that future viewers of the finished knife would pooh-pooh the real stag, thinking it was imitation.


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[Old Savage]

Nice!

[gamekeeper]

Two great finds, that case would fetch good money over here.....

[Griff]

[Bill in Oregon]

You had a good day, mister!

[marlinman93]

Both great finds! The case looks like one from Jeff's Outfitters, and that's not a cheap case! Way to go!

[Pete44ru]

Both great finds! The case looks like one from Jeff's Outfitters, and that's not a cheap case! Way to go!

Thanks - and, Yes, it was a good day !

The unmarked canvas & leather hard case I have appears to be identical to one made/marketed by CSMC (Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company, aka: Galazan's).

Which makes sense, considering I bought it @ a CT yard sale - most likely an instance of a gun owner passing on, and his clueless family selling off "stuff" for a pittance - sad, in a way...........


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[Ysabel Kid]

.I'm doin' the happy dance....
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I bet you are!

[Bulldog]

You stole that case! Great find!

[Chuck 100 yd]

Good job !

[Pete44ru]

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I got the crossguard, black Micatra scales, & a pack of rivets that I ordered from the CRAZY CROW TRADING POST for the yard sale bowie knife blade, yesterday.

Today, I started the rehab by filing/fitting the crossguard to the tang via enlarging the pre-made slot in the guard so it slides onto the tang.

I also started polishing out the blade, and will permanently affix the guard when the polishing is done.

(before a slight polishing)




(after a slight polishing)







When the final polish & guard install is done, I'll start on the scales.




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[Old Savage]

Nice.

[Griff]

Nice.

+1.

[Pete44ru]

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I did a little more work on my flea market bowie this past weekend............

I cut out the scales, then decided that I wanted to try a 2-piece look, with the front portion of the grip separated from the longer/rear portion by a brass spacer.

After inletting the scales for the tang, I attached them in their rough/as-cut condition first, then hacksawed off the extra/protruding portions of the brass spacer.





The next day, I worked the scales down to roughly the shape/feel I wanted, and riveted the scales to the tang with plain brass rivets.






The next steps I'll be tackling are a clean up of the blade, and the final sanding/polishing/etc of the grip & the brass guard, spacer & rivet heads - THEN start on a leather parfleche sheath for it.

A work in progress (to be continued)...........................



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[Ysabel Kid]

Very nice!

[Griff]

Very nice!

+1.

[M. M. Wright]

You're doing a great job of salvaging that old bowie. Good on you!

[Pete44ru]

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Thanks for the kind words & thoiughts, all !

Today, before I did the final knife finishing, I decided to start making the parfleche sheath for it.

This is what I'm working toward:




First, I made a paper pattern & cut it out so I could cut the leather only once.







Then, I used the paper pattern to cut out the leather & trial-fit the bowie into it.





Next will come finalizing the outer & belt slot shapes, then lacing/sewing the sheath edges together, before adding some brass tacking & warpaint


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[Pete44ru]

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I finally caught a break from re-working my home's kitchen cabinets to accept a larger, bottom-freezer refrig I bought, and started to work on my yard sale blade's sheath.

I had bought a Japanese-style 7" Santoku kitchen knife, that happened to have been supplied with a plastic blade guard.

Since the knife didn't need the guard (I have a knife block), I thought that I could use it as a sheath liner, to prevent the blade from eventually working through the leather sheath.





The blade guard was a tad long for my bowie's 6-1/2" blade, so I reworked both the guard's throat and the overall length.






Here's how it will lay, hidden inside the sheath:

(I have already sewed a beadwork Thunderbird device onto what will be the outer face of the sheath)





My next step(s) should be sewing a single belt loop to the rear/outside of the sheath, then sewing the sheath together before installing a line of brass rivets just outside the bowie's cutting edge, down the sheath from the throat to the bottom.

After that, I plan on testing my artistic ability by painting a Native American design onto the face of the sheath - I can only hope that I'll be up to it.


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[claybob86]

You do really nice work, Pete!

[Pete44ru]

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Thank you.....



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[Tycer]

Wow

[Grizz]

good inspiration for someone and motivation, or re-motivation...

thanks for the photos

[Pete44ru]

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A friend stopped by yesterday, while I was working on the sheath, and gave me nice-size hunk of tanned buckskin - soooooo,I decided to make a 2nd sheath from some of it, alongside the sheath I've been working on.


I cut out the buckskin just like I did previously, then laced the edge(s) closed (below, with the 1st sheath and a factory sheath I decorated last year for a Cherokee Bowie I have)




I drew up both sheath's outlines on a piece of paper, then made several copies of each, so I could (color) pencil in a few different designs, to make mockup's, to see how it might turn out.


This is what I came up with for the 1st sheath:




This is what I came up with for the buckskin sheath:




Whaddya think ? Suggestions ? ?


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[M. M. Wright]

Pre WWII Native American paraphenalia would have had a swastika for good luck. Even early cowboys and saddle makers carved them into leather before Nazis coopted the symbol.
You're doing a great job. Keep it up and thanks for letting usss share it with you.

[Pete44ru]

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I got busy & finished one of the sheaths today - the buckskin sheath.

I first drew an outline of the decorative pattern I wanted onto the leather.





I then applied some of the colors, and let it dry overnite.





After that, I decided that an orange/amber color looked better to me than the blue I had planned on.






The last thing I did was to clean up the black lines that separated the colors.






Now, back to finishing the other/original sheath..........


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[Griff]

[JerryB]

Looking real good!!!!!!!

[Pete44ru]

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Well........ Just about done

I still need to add leather lashing around the edge of my Yard Sale Bowie's sheath.......





Here's all 4 of my bowie knives, with their respective sheaths:(L to R: re-handled Cherokee Bowie w/re-worked sheath, re-handled Cold Steel Trailmaster Bowie w/CS sheath, re-handled Colonial Bowie w/new sheath, and an unknown pig-sticker w/new sheath)




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[Blaine]

Well done.

[jazman]

Nice work!

[Grizz]

looking real good and

real good looking

[Pete44ru]

Well........ I'm done - I finished lacing the 1st (AND last) sheath today, with suede leather lacing.




Thanks, all - for the kind words (they're appreciated, here)


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