Bill Bagwell bowie informational post.

by Lofty, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, 13:48 (3073 days ago)

While seaching google for something, stumbled across an old post here showing interest in Bill Bagwell's work. Thought I would update, add info etc for curious, likely will not be checking back on post for personal replies, and mainly for information amongst yourselves.

Bill is 72 now, I guess over 50yrs at the forge now, have seen a knife he made at age 12. What with heart problems and intervention, recovery etc, he is backlogged over two years, and currently running at 1/4 throttle and still forging knives this Texas summer. Due to his peak fitness took a week for a standard bowie, two weeks for a Hell's Belle (a week to forge a wootz guard, alone), AND him at anything but peak and self employed as for bills, insurance, retirement, etc, he has had to cut out orders of plain steel $2000 knives, which lack now even ability to put groceries on the table. So a prospective buyer is looking at $3000 wootz standard bowie and $4000 wootz standard HB.

As the only producing (and I think living) founder of the ABS (his Master stamp was #2), and considering Bob Loveless tried to charge broke 1978 college student Yours Truly $2000 for a boot knife which he sold for $150 in 1971, Bill Bagwell is a bargain.

He makes knives to order and asks all manner of personal questions, which vary depending, i think, on his perception of personal background, but be prepared to be asked which hand, glove and/or shoe size, height, weight, waist size, sleeve length, shirt size, collar size etc..

Knives vary such as a 6'2" 180lb youth buyer getting an 11.5" blade with 3/8ths" thick ricasso, or a little lady with 10" blade of quarter inch thick ricasso, to my own of 11 3/8ths" length blade which is 0.300" at ricasso, and 0.220" at clip origin. Everything will vary, depth, taper, clip length, weight. The weight of this one is 1lb on the nose.

That weight is only 1oz over this particular Model 14, and the knife is set up very much as the Model 1-8, and handles as one, including drop to blade relative to handle, bottom drop of handle towards rear, etc. Not apparent is sabre down/up curve to spine and edge.

Calling a knife LARGE is relative, and the Bagwell more a heavy butcher knife feel.