Bowie Knife Restoration 

who else just loves it when people don’t put crappy music on them restoration videos

Of all the restoration videos I’ve watched, I’ve never seen anyone actually fashion a sheath for the restored item, good job!

I stumbled across this video, and it was amazing. Flawless craftsmanship. I love the style of video, you don’t speak, reminds me of Primitive Technology’s videos. The lack of speaking I think allows the viewer to focus more on your work, and that is pretty awesome to observe. Keep it up, love the vid.

Absolutely amazing video. No talking, no music, just straight into restoring the knife

Big respect for rebuilding the leather stack handle from scratch and filing that brass down. Great job

I've seen some restoration videos but this one is definitely one of the best ones I have seen. I originally clicked on the thumbnail because I found a semi-buried kbar knife while deer hunting as a teen and wanted to get ideas of how to restore mine. I want to restore mine and pass down to my son. Then I saw the description of how this was your father's knife and you restored it as a sentimental project. To top it all off, you even made a sheathe for it! Most restoration videos never make (or show) making a sheathe. Great video!!

The leather handle is such a nice colour!

Blows my mind that so many people would have disliked this video. This is craftsmanship at it's finest.

The way the camera shook when you were hammering made it so intense

Your father would be proud. This video it's just awesome.

that is some astoundingly gorgeous craftsmanship there. Glad I took the time out of my day to watch this.

NO idea why anyone would give this a thumbs down. This vid is lit well, clear and concise, and at a good speed. (Oh yeah, not to mention, no background crappy music!) Not to mention, this guy is nailing the restoration. GOOD JOB MAN!!!

I juast watched your restoration of your fathers knife and sheath. It was so good I had to watch it a second time. I'm proud that you are honoring your father and I bet he would be honored to. Good job man . Stan the man

17:25 I love the dramatic zoom on the hammer blows. Cinematographic brilliance or bad camera mount?

Absolutely top notch work. Beautiful restore I love watching your craftsmanship.

Your love for Dad is embedded in every gesture. Hats off, gentlemen!

Finally! An actual restoration video! None of that putting a different looking handle with different materials and spikes. You made it the way it was originally designed. And bonus points for the awesome sheath!

The leather handle took so much dedication to make it so beautiful, and i love how he went the extra mile by making a new handel. GORGEOUS

This is fascinating - the way you did it, you took what COULD have been a long, boring project and presented in a way that held my interest, gave me a great look at every step. And I am proud of you for restoring something that was your Dad's. I wish I had something of MY Dad's left, sadly, his drunken friends stole everything out of his house while he was dying in the hospital, even his photo albums, so I just have memories. But you did good!

Another beautiful piece of history brought back to life by Will Matthews!

A PURE LABOUR OF LOVE... Well done 👏👏👏 Dad would really be proud ‼️

Well I ve seen all these fancy knife restorations..this one is the best.

Such a satisfying video, so much skill! I inherited a sheath knife much like this in 1962, aged 10. Stabbed a steel coke can (no ring pulls/ali cans in '62). Blade glanced off can, neatly piercing my hand 1" deep between thumb/forefinger. Much red stuff, awesome! Went to hospital, got stitched up, still have scar. Net result? Lifelong love affair with sharp knives, a link with _all_ our forefathers back to the stone age-knives largely explain the Ascent of Man.

The making of that sheath was incredible. Amazing work all around brother.

What excellent craftsmanship, your Dad would be very proud of what you have done for his memory!

Hi, great video and well thought out project. It reminded me of the first sheath knife I had 65 years ago in Africa. An Indian blacksmith showed me how to make a Bowie knife from a car leaf spring. We made the handle the same way but included the local copper coins spaced in between the leather (the coins already had holes in them). You made a better sheath, but I did enjoy making a knife from the start and never forgot the experience and the hard work that went into it. Thanks for bringing that memory back.

Clearly a labor of love. That handle looks amazing

Outstanding work ! Men have always loved sharp, shiny things ! My great grandfather (a blacksmith as a young man and later a machinist) and father (a machinist) made hunting knives as a hobby so this brings back some dear memories. I still have a knife much similar to yours. It began its life as a file, then hand ground to a sharp work of art that field dressed many a deer in the mountains of Utah. Keep up the art and hopefully this video and your skill will serve to inspire and train the next generation to follow.

Im on the toilet after workingout about to head in the shower and stumbled upon this video and ended up watching it from beginning to end and now i can't walk because there's no blood in my legs XD. Great video

so much craftsmanship on this video.

Excellent!! Enjoyed every minute of watching this restoration!

Sitting here in awe of the entire restoration process . Simple but beautifully done . I learned a couple things as well and for that...I say , "Thank You ".

Love what you did here brother. Feels good to take an old piece like this and breathe new life into it huh? ESPECIALLY considering the fact that it was your pops’ knife! Love that! Thanks for uploading it for all of us to enjoy too!

This kind of videos should be play at the mall when the wife is doing the shoe shopping

I have this same knife. Also my fathers, from when he was in the scouts. Late 60s to early 70s. Im not sure when, but at some point he was actually living in Japan (Okinawa) while my grandfather was stationed there. Ill be doing the same to mine when i have the time. I have the original sheath for it but it needs to be restitched. Beautiful work man.

I feel like not a lot of people get what restoration is and instead kinda take their own creative liberties with stuff to make them look, I dunno, cooler? You, however, kept faithful to the original thing without any sort of change in the handle's material or anything fancy. It's gorgeous. Your father would be proud.

Incredible, stunning work. Thank you for taking the time to document the process and share it, really enjoyed watching it. Time to go binge the rest of your videos and I look forward to more in the future.

No joke, thought it lasted 4mins lol.. it was 20 lol, amazing work

That was awesome! The leather handle was my favorite part. Respect

Very nice. Im in the middle of the same kind of project with a knife of my grandfathers. He raised me and passed just over 4 years ago. Awesome job man, very inspiring.

Top man restored amazing 😉 Everyone should read the description ❤️

Можно бесконечно смотреть на три вещи : 1) Как горит огонь 2) Как течёт вода 3) Как работает профессионал! 👏👏👏

I carried this exact knife when I was younger that my boss gave me as a gift but like this one the handle rotted away because it was over 30 years old but I loved it.

This is just pure craftsmanship. I always get depressed after I watch stuff like this, because I know that even on my best day I could never come close this level of work...

My dads got one of these, he’s carried it around with him since well before I was born I’d love to see it restored.

Your father would be proud of what you have done with his knife, and in all probability even prouder of the different skills you have mastered. The best video I’ve seen in hell of a long time.

Nice work! Only thing missing, a belt loop. Great work

That's beautiful. I have partially restored an old Woodsman Bowie that I bought for .25 at a yard sale. You just answered a lot of questions as to how to completely dismantle it without ruining it. Thanks for sharing.

I've got the very same knife and you've inspired me to restore it. Fantastic video, great skills. Thanks for sharing.

Left handed sheath. An awesome job.

Excellence in Craftmanship, was great to see you bring the Bowie back to life. Regards

Medicine should do that to parts of our lives. What wouldn't I give for that... Brilliant work, craftsmanship and inspiration!

I’m sure Your Father is happy to see his son restore this memory of him for your future use! BTW, I got one just like it in the PX in Asia back in ‘69 (I think). Still have it.

You sir are an ARTISTE!!! I got teary eyed watching this! God bless you and your talent!

Loved watching you work, brother!

Brilliant craftsmanship... Both with metal and leather .. well done

Great Restoration, Excellent Video... Your Father Would Be Proud!

Unbelievably great restoration of the knife, beautiful job on the stacked leather handle, and superb sheath!!!

Watching videos while sharpening my knives...loved this one! You really need to make more videos, people dont seem to know all the work involved in making/refinishing things..

You brought it back to life. I had one like it when I was a kid. It ended up in worse shape over time. Wish I still had it to bring it back life. Great video.

This is level 10 leatherworking, level 5 blacksmithing. It's amazing how you take hours doing something a game character can finish in a second. Great video and keep up the good work.

When I was going overseas in the Marines I saw a WW II Navy Mk II K Bar in a flea market but they wanted more than I as a PFC wanted to spend. I mentioned it to my parents a few days before my leave ended. As I was leaving the house with my father to catch a plane to Hawaii and points west my mother gave me the knife she went down secretly and bought, and said " Stay safe, have fun, and don't bring home a Oriental bride". I carried that K Bar for 8 years and still got it

Only improvement would be to make it able to attach to a belt

You sir are a true craftsman. Excellent job and your dad would be so proud of the finished product. Wonderful video.

pure skill, dad is looking down proud, very nice work!!!

Thats a hell of a story in the description. I'm glad it ended up working so well for you. It might not be the most expensive knife, but its certainly something you can be proud to hand down again if you wanted to. As an aside I do think a lighter stitching on the sheath might look nice, perhaps matching the handle would be a safe bet, but I doubt you'd want to go back to sewing and as it is now still looks great.

Off cuts of steel tubing can be hammered to suit the shape you want to cut and then sharpened with a file or on the grinder,will easily cut leather or rubber. Cheap,simple and very effective way to make the leather discs. I keep all bits of pipe in my useable offcuts box just for jobs like this. A bit of scrap power steering tubing was perfect for the inner holes when making a similar handle for a pukko that I made from scratch. You made a beautiful job of this knife. old scrap chefs knives cut down to make nice knives when given a handle like this.

You clearly know what you are doing, your dad must be proud of the skills that you've mastered, i would call this art Best vid iv'e seen on youtube in a looong time

Beutiful restoration, I made my first several sheaths much like you did using the rivets and just the 2 pieces of leather and found that after some use the knife will cut through the leather and glue and expose the rivets to dull the pee out of my blades. I have since began using a welt on all my sheaths and giving the blades generous spacing on the cutting edge just for this reason. It seemed the rivet on the top side closest where the knife enters always the first to be exposed and thus dulling most of the length of the blade. Btw, you could add an attachment for a belt simply by making 2 vertical 1.25 to 1.5 inch cuts under where the handle sits with the knife sheathed and use your punch on either ends of the slit to allow a belt to slide in and hold the knife securely

stunning, painstaking work. You are a credit to your profession and your fathers memory - he will be proud. If you don't mind me asking, how much for a restoration of this quality? great work - keep it up.

Whaou, magnifique travail ! Félicitations. A ce niveau, on appelle cela de l'Art.

You can tell when you see a master at work. They take something that is very difficult and make it appear to be very easy. Good job man, I hope to be as good as you one day.

5:27 I was wondering when gloves or a band-aid would come into play lol

I wanna find Will's address and just start mailing him intriguing, complex, deteriorating things to restore. His latest update was 10 months ago. I require the vicarious satisfaction of another person doing something I wish I had the skill to do.

You even made the leather holster! That is a OP GG in my book!

Not only did you do a fantastic job! It's better than new! Mighty fine leather working, and restoration of the blade itself!!! Great job!

Nice man simple but a lot of work involved... liked the way you integrad leather you know your stuff

That is beautiful. How many hours did you put into the restoration?

Did.. Did you just shave a portion of your forearm just to show how sharp it is? That's cool. Imma subscribe.

This is simply one of the best restoration videos I’ve seen. It shows virtually every step and your obvious skill at this craft. The way you worked the stacked leather for the handle and the sheath is a thing of beauty. I suspect that I could never master what you just made look effortless, no matter the equipment or time at my disposal. Your father would be touched that you cared so much that you spent tons of time and materials to bring his knife back to mint condition as a way to honor his memory. Truly well done! Please keep these quality videos, I am a fan!

Beautiful great job

That is effing gorgeous!

Great job :) A wood chisel might have been useful for punching the holes in the leather patches for the handle.

Very cool, I love how you left the rusted markings on the blade. Great way to keep its old past incorporated.

Nice knife , nice video , nice old Stihl chainsaw that you should make a restoration

Bravo dude, better job than the factory

Belt loop?

In my opinion the making of the knife sheath was my favorite part. Great job! Very impressive!

that was beautiful, but the holster is missing a hole in order to attach it to your belt for instance.

You are creative in your work my friend

Забыли 2 вещи. 1. отверстие для отвода влаги, чтоб нож не ржавел. 2. крепление на пояс.

I'm usually not a fan of these types of videos because a lot of workers just clearly don't give a damn about the item. They end up making these major modifications and giving it their 'personal touch'. Not you. You've given this knife a restoration actually worthy of the name. You've returned this knife to a wonderful state and displayed great workmanship in doing so. There's definitely a few things that I would probably have done differently, but overall you're giving most of the people making these kinds of videos a run for their money.

Can you put up a shelf that's level, though??? On a serious note... That was some seriously impressive stuff!!!! Your father would be proud!

16:38 R.I.P. the dude in the background.

Why no belt loop on the sheath?

I knew the restoration would be fun to watch, but the construction of the sheath, from scratch, was almost more entertaining. Nice surprise, and a fantastic result.

Can't help but think that gluing at that point was a huge mistake. First of all you could have removed most of the excess material on the woodturner, save some time and energy. Second of all that huge amount of glue completely removes the upsides of using leather. It wont form to your hand and the hard glue actually decreases the average life span of the handle. Loved the video, cheers

Que buen trabajo!!! Muy buena la restauración, saludos

Good job looks nice 👍😃

Thank You 😊 for sharing your getting an old knife and created a beautiful knife 🔪 to a wonderful artist you are!!! I am so proud of your ability, and using your talent doing this and videoing is to all of us to see this video again and again and again....... 👩‍🍳🇵🇱🇺🇸