Hand Forged Bowie Knife, Carbon Steel with Rosewood Handle

This is the plain working bowie of the batch, forged from 1095 high carbon steel with the hammer marks left on the flats. The blade is 10 inches of clip point, the knife 15 inches overall, with a rosewood handle over a full tang and a polished brass cross guard. People buy it because 1095 takes a keener edge than anything on the bench and comes back faster on a stone.

Specification

The blade

1095 is simple high carbon steel and it is what smiths reach for when the edge matters. This blade was moved under the hammer rather than cut from stock, so those dimples stay on the flats while the bevel is polished bright against them. At 10 inches it is a full bowie clip point. The concave cut along the top third pulls the point down in line with your hand, so the knife leads where you aim it. Carbon steel asks something back. It colors with use and rusts if left wet.

The handle

Rosewood is dense and oily by nature, which is why it has been going onto knives for as long as knives have had handles. It resists the drying and splitting that catches softer woods, and the dark grain runs its own way through every set of scales. The scales are shaped to fill the palm and pinned through with brass, over a tang of full length steel from tip to butt. The brass guard stops the hand moving forward onto the edge.

The leather sheath

The sheath is cut and stitched around this exact knife, so the 10 inch blade seats properly and stays put as you walk. Vegetable tanned leather, a wide loop stitched to the back for your belt, a snap strap over the handle, and a welt sewn into the seam so the edge rides on leather instead of thread. It is stitched by hand end to end. The face is hand tooled with a barbed wire pattern inside a carved border, cut into damp leather and burnished rather than printed on.

Who it suits

This is the practical choice in the batch. You get the size and shape of a bowie without paying for pattern welded steel, and 1095 is easier to keep sharp in the field. It is what we point people toward when they want something they will not be nervous about using hard. It is a user, not a display piece.

• Campers who sharpen their own knives
• Hunters who want a wood handle
• First buyers of a hand forged bowie

What comes in the box

• The 1095 bowie knife
• The tooled leather belt sheath
• A care card
• A free laser engraving quote on request

Every piece is different

Small runs, all of it done by hand. The hammer texture falls where it falls, rosewood grain and color shift from one handle to the next, and the tooling depth varies around the border. Yours will differ from the one photographed.

Looking after it

Wash and dry it by hand after use. The dishwasher is out, since that damage voids the warranty, and it should not sit wet in a pack. The gray patina that builds on 1095 is normal and protects the steel underneath. Oil it lightly for storage and dry the leather away from heat. Whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side, then strop. More on our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving costs 20 dollars per blade and is added here on the product page. About 30 characters fits across a blade, while longer wording sits better on the sheath. A proof image comes to you before the laser runs, and the work adds 3 to 5 business days. Clean line art engraves well, photographs do not. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is 1095 steel? A plain high carbon steel that takes a keen edge and sharpens easily.

Why the hammer marks? Forged under a hammer, with the texture left in place.

What does the clip point do? It drops the point lower so the knife steers and slices well.

Will this steel rust? Yes if left wet, so dry it and oil it.

Is it full tang? Yes, one piece of steel from tip to butt.

Can you engrave it? Yes, 20 dollars a blade, with a proof image first.

The Damascus camp knife in rosewood puts the same wood on a shorter blade, and the handmade bowie in buffalo horn pairs this steel with dark horn. Large knives sit in bowie and camp knives, plain carbon in high carbon 1095, and wood in rosewood handle knives.