OT Got Knives?

[Ultradog MN]

Any of you folks have a favorite old knife?
I've had this one for 30 years at least and have used it and used it.
I've gotten so fond of it that I'm afraid I'd starve if I didn't have it to help prepare my dinner. It's light, thin and holds an edge like no other knife I've ever used.
And balanced too. I can slice and dice with it almost as good as Geena Davis in the Long Kiss Goodnight. Well not quite...
The handle's been replaced once. Long before I got it. I'm thinking it needs another one soon.
Be nice to dignify it with a nice handle. Bone or horn would be too heavy I think.
What would be a nice wood to put on it? And what kind of rivits?
Looks like Maple and steel rivits now.
Someone gave me a couple of Wusthof-Trident ones for Christmas a few years ago but they don't hold an edge like this one and mainly sit in the drawer.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Pins make this a very old knife.I use applewood,maple and walnut.A little epoxy will help on the handle to blade joint and keep it clean.I see brass or copper pins used.Wrap the cutting edge with masking or duct tape while working on it.

 

[Janicholson]

I like the Apple Idea. Use a branch just the size W/O bark, cut it in half with a hack saw to keep from removing a bunch of material. Spray through the holes to mark them for drilling, then drill through the wood on both halves. Use new brass welding rod for rivets, and don't pound on them, just Gorilla Glue the whole thing together rivets sticking out some. When cured (five hours) sand the rivets flat to the wood. Round the corners and use it well.
I have a nice kitchen knife made from a walnut burl with a 1" wide industrial reciprocating hacksaw blade (Lennox) sharpened for the blade.
JimN

 

[Russ from MN]

We had a couple like that when I was a kid, don"t know what happened to them, as I remember it said (OLD HICKORY) on the handles. Looks like yours has been in the dishwasher too many times, they sure are hard on wood handles!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Put the same type of wood back. 30 years hence you can make the decision again?

We have our old favourites,mine was an axe, beautiful balance, over the years I had replaced the head once and handle 5 times.Don't know where it is now.

 

[moonlite 37]

Some of you fellows send him a piece of hedge apple (aka osage orange or Bos'd arc} I saved a piece from a limb I picked up in Linn, County, Missouri. Most likely the hardest wood found in USA

 

[IH2444]

I have had a Swiss army knife pocket knife for about 30 years. The single handiest tool I have I guess. I have worn the swiss army emblem off of it.

 

[dave guest]

Looks sorta like one I made with hockey stick handle. Couple I made a work with nylon handles, blades from balancer springs. Guess I really like knives, got about 25. Quit buying. Carried one since 7 or 8 years old. Boy scout was one of the first. A little pen knife also was given to me when I was sick in bed. Waited till nobody was watching and promptly stuck a hole in my mother's good fringed satin pillow. Only a little kid knows why. Got a 1943 us bayonet, had it for 50 years. Born in 43 so I had to have it. Beautiful 6 inch Barlow down a rabbit hole when local fuzz stopped me on motorcycle.

 

[GeneMO]

i fixed up the same type of knife about 35 years ago by using some walnut. I thinned it down by hand. I used copper rivets,but brass would be better. Copper is what I had. Still have the knife. It was my grandmothers.

I have ready access to Hedge ( AkA osage orange, etc. if you want)


Gene

 

[Nancy Howell]

If you want bois d'arc let me know. Hubby cut some down about 2 months ago and I'm sure I could get you enough to make a handle. The heart wood is bright yellow. Don't know if what he cut is old enough to have the yellow heart wood. It is extremely hard wood. Termites don't even try. It you want some, send the measurements.

 

[J.C.in AZ.]

Im know Osage Orange. Our farm in ILL.has a back fence row populated with very old growth but I think Arizona "Iron Wood" is probably harder of the two. IMHO any way.JC

 

[greygoat]

My grandpa made knives that looked like yours.
He used bandsaw blade from a big commercial
sawmill. they were 8 inches wide. I don't know
how he got them cut down. It was super good steel
and they really hold an edge. Handles were made
from some kind of bone. Smaller ones, paring
size, used deer horn handles.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Thanks for the ideas and kind offers folks.
I remembered I have a couple of pieces of maple flooring around here somewhere and will use that.
Use some brazing rod for the pins.
Still too cold to be out working on tractors here but it might be a good Saturday afternoon project here inside where it's warm.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well, freakin' elm doesn't split!
By the way - Bois de arc is French term for bows that shoot arrows. Indians used that wood for their bows. Limbs grow in an arc close to a bow shape and they hold tension pretty good. One of those God-given signs.

 

[Anonymous-0]

My Mom has a similar knife that she has used all my life. Her father made the knife as a winter shop project sometime in the 20's, out of an old file or rasp. My Dad put a new handle on it in the 60's and it could use a new one now. I think he used Oak, because that was what he had.

The knife will hold an edge better than any of Mom's other knives. She uses a lid to a ceramic cookie jar to hone the edge, but I don't think she ever has sharpened it otherwise. When Mom passes, that knife will be mine.

My Grandfather was a pretty good mechanic and blacksmith. He enjoyed making and fixing things. I think he made quite a few knives, but Mom thought the one she has was the best butcher knife he made. It must have been quite a bit of work to form the knife and thin it, and then to get the temper just right. I wish my Grandfather had lived long enough to have taught me about blacksmithing, but he died when I was just a little kid.

Neat knife, treasure it!