Hi everyone
I'm in Illinois for a while because my Mother is sick. Since I'm here, I have a basement workshop to play in so this is where I work on putting scales on store bought blades.
Track of the Wolf sells a Cumberland Bowie knife. It is effectively a HEAVY DUTY Chef's knife.
I didn't originally like the way that it looked and wanted a Natchez blade, but they're out. I'm also working on both a 5 inch and 7 inch more traditional Bowie, hand filing the guards to fit is taking time... After receiving the blade, I'm VERY impressed. It appears that it will be a very useful knife to carry while hunting etc. It's heavy enough to use as a cleaver.
Being named a "Cumberland" Bowie knife, I would guess that it's of an earlier vintage than a tradition clip point Bowie. My guess would be that it is an early knife, well before the Old West time period. I suspect that a Curly Maple or Birds eye Maple handle would be the most authentic to the blade, BUTTTTT (a large but), I don't really want to put Maple on it because Maple usually needs to be stained. Would Walnut be authentic also? I ASSUME that Mesquite would not be, but it sure would look good.
Thanks