A Little Shop Time With Bill Bagwell Some Informal Testing And Rare Hunter

[Joe Paranee]

Back in December when I was out hunting with Bill I had some time on my last day to spend with him in his shop.

Bill had decided to make the Ranch Manager Harrell a hunting knife as a present for the good time he showed us.

Fantastic gesture on Bill's part and Harrell is the type of guy to put a handy knife to good use.

Bill does not do many small blades these days and prefers to concentrate on what he is known for. Bowie's.

He had a small billet of his cable damascus so as soon as he had his forge hot he had at it and I was amazed at how quickly it started to come together. At least the forgeing out and shapeing part.

We where pressed for time due to only being able to post 10 pics on a post this is going to go quickly

Here we go
Bill by his forge
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It was in the 20's that day and Bill's shop is not heated
Rven forgeing out this small blade quickly buried the thermometer in Bill's shop
I did not take this pic for a few minutes after the forge was shut down so it was on it's way down

I can not imagine working in the Texas heat when this room must get unbearable
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Here is the finished piece pictured with one of Bill's Sharp's and a cartridge belt
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[Joe Paranee]

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We had a little more time before we had to go to the airport and Bill happened to have an 11 inch or so Bowie blade that when he made his mark the stamp jumped so with a smile he said ya want to beat it up a bit.

So we had some informal testing

Here we hammered it thru a penny
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It still shaved in the same spot the penny was cut with
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Then we played put a big pipe on the knife and give it a pull
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Again guys this was all just for fun and that I had in spades on this trip

Thats me on the pipe and when I let up on it the knife returned

Thanks Bill and thanks for looking

[Kevin Jones]

Great stuff as always Joe.
And a rare hunter in deed.
That's hotter than the sauna at my gym. :eek:

[Rob Connally]

Really cool...and really hot! Looks like great fun. Thanks for sharing the pics and the experience.