Slide of the Month extra Bowie knife

October 2018

Time to make: 3 hours

Original design: Bobby Duke Arts 


Modified version: Bill Macfarlane











I happened on to Bobby Duke Arts You Tube channel and how he made a small knife from a stainless steel bolt. Hmmm...I think I could do that.

First a word of warning, stainless steel has chromium, molybdenum or both in it and if you want to try this slide, do it outside were the fumes are dissipated. Please do not do the forging in a closed area.

Following the video, I used a 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch stainless steel bolt and ground off the head of the bolt.  Using a propane torch and vice grips to hole the bolt, I heated the bolt to a cherry red color.  Using a hand sledge and a small anvil I began to pound the the bolt flat. Once I got it to a 1/8 inch thickness I smoothed the surfaces to remove the hammer marks. Next I found a picture of the legionaries Bowie knife and printed it out. Using an xacto knife, I carefully cutout the knife for a pattern. After the pattern was glued to the bolt, I used a permanent marker to trace around the pattern and when the marker was dry, I removed the pattern. Instead of using an  angle grinder to cut the shape, I used a dremel tool with a cutting wheel. Lots of time sanding with the dremel and file work to get the shape and bevels right. I chose black walnut for the handle, epoxied the wood to the knife and drilled the holes for the brass pins - also glued in place. More sanding to shape the handle then finally to a polishing wheel to finish the knife. The sheath is made some scrap leather and I added a leg loop so I could add a lower loop for the neckerchief.

It came out really well and turns heads when others see it. To answer the question I often get, yes it is sharp ... really really sharp.

Slide of the Month - Dutch Oven Diner

 October 2018

Time to carve: 2 hours

Finishing: 1.5 hour

Boy's Life - November 1983

Design: Kenneth Koob








There is nothing as good as a Dutch oven meal at Scout camp! My first time having anything from a Dutch oven was a peach cobbler at JLITC training at Camp Rotary. (Remember how much it rained that week Mike Ryan?) When it was done, there was a hole in the middle and a round stone next to it. One of the adults thought the stone had been placed in the center of the cobbler when it was being cooked. (It turns out that the center had been cut out when it was done to cool it down.)

Some good Dutch oven recipes

Beef Stew

Pizza

and a Troop 8 favorite

Black Forest Dump Cake

I made the Dutch oven from Oak because the grain gives the oven a cast iron look. The beef is a piece of maple, the onions are carved from matchsticks, the potatoes are wooden skewers, and the carrots are the ends of toothpicks. The lid and pot handle is a piece of beading wire, and the feet of the oven are also toothpicks. Everything is painted with hobby paint and finished off with a couple coats of poly.