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M40's 'Bowkri'
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I’ve started a new project, and it’s a cross between a bowie and a khukri... a "Bowkri".
I did the original design in CAD. Here's the overall dimensions
(about 15 x 3 inches).
I had a bunch of blanks laser cut from ¼” thick 6150 spring steel (essentially
the same stuff as the leaf springs in a truck).
Here’s a rough ground blade next to a blank:
Here's some quick videos I took of the grinding process:
VIDEO 1: Rough Grinding a Blank - A 36 grit belt throwing a good shower of sparks.
VIDEO 2: Finishing up the Rough Grind - A couple hours into the grind, and it's shaping up nice.
VIDEO 3: Final Smoothing - Now it's starting to look like a blade!
If you're wondering what that little "hook" is used for, you've
apparently never been in the life or death wilderness dilemma of not being able
to open your beer.
I did a differential heat treating to give me an extremely hard cutting edge,
but retain the spring toughness along the spine. I did an inch or so at a time,
and each area saw multiple quick trips to austenitic followed by quench.
After heat treating, I went to finer and finer belts, and finally a buffing
wheel with jeweler’s rouge to bring out a nice mirror finish.
Check back... I'll hopefully be adding some final finishing videos soon showing the buffing process to bring out a mirror finish.
Here’s a nearly complete blade next to another khukri I’ve been working on. As you can see, the khukri’s can polish up nicely with some effort!
Finally, I’ve been trying a few different techniques for doing custom acid
etchings on my blades. Here's a flame and logo pattern I Photoshopped to test
my etching process:
Here's a blade, masked in vinyl sheet and ready for the ferric chloride bath:
The end results!
I'll be adding handles and sheaths real soon,
so check back for more pics and videos including some abusive and downright
destructive testing!
See BOWKRI PROJECT II !!!
-M40-
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