Southeast Alaskan Bowie Knife

The Tongass Historical Museum commissioned us to make a knife for one of their displays. We were given creative freedom over the design and method of creation. Our goal was to make something inherently unique, utilizing locally sourced materials with their own rich Alaskan history.



The blade of the knife was forged from the outer ring of a roller bearing assembly. Originally from the flagship vessel of Alaska's state ferry system, the MV Columbia, which has been in service for over 40 years.



The guard material is hull platting from one of Alaska's two new ferries, the MV Hubbard and Tazlina. The ferries had bow and stern loading doors but several ferry terminals on their route can only accommodate vessels with side loading doors. So additional doors had to be cut into the ferries so that they could be deployed.



The thick spacer below the guard is copper taken off of the USCGC Acushnet, homeported in Ketchikan. The ship served durring WWII prior to joining the Coast Guard and was eventually retired in 2011.


The handle is made from a Sitka Blacktail deer's antler, a staple material in our shop. The Blacktail are a local species and we often get the antler from hunters who are looking to get a custom knife made or just need to clear out space at home.


The inlay on the end is a piece of green beach glass, found at Mt. Point, that was flint knapped and then set into the crown of the antler.The copper bezel was cut and shaped from a pipe that came out of the Ketchikan Pulp Company mill, which closed down in 1997.



Sheath is made from cow leather, hand stitched and dyed.



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