Sheath knife

“ A butcher knife of good make is one of the best and cheapest of sheath knives. The common mistake among amateur hunters is that of buying too heavy a knife with too thick a blade. Unless you expect to indulge in hand to hand conflicts, or cut brush, such a weapon is excessive. I myself have carried for the last seven years a rather thin and broad blade made by the Marble Axe Company on the butcher knife pattern. This [67] company advertises in its catalogue a knife as used by myself. They are mistaken. The knife I mean is a longer bladed affair, called a "kitchen or camp knife." ”

“ There were three empty wine-bottles, a hammer, a chisel, gimlet, and some other tools, also three or four fishing-lines many fathoms long. But what pleased me most were two knives, one shutting up, with a lanyard sheath to wear round the waist; and the other an American long knife, in a sheath, which is usually worn by them in the belt. Now, three or four years back, Jackson had the remains of a clasp knife—that is, there was about an inch of the blade remaining—and this, as may be supposed, he valued very much ”

“ It is fitted with a handle and guard, and is always carried in a sheath. It can be thrown with great precision by the old-time “knife-fighter”; but it is at close quarters that the true wickedness of the weapon comes to light.
In a fight with these knives death must surely result—many times to both antagonists; surely to one. One stroke does it; there is no need of a second if the first really gets home. A strong blow would sever a man’s head from his body!
Both the scout and Boyd Bennett were familiar with the use of the great knife. ”

“ The natives are singularly averse to parting with this knife. They will sell the sword, if a sufficient price be offered, but will always endeavor surreptitiously to withdraw the knife, so that, out of many parangs which have been brought to Europe, comparatively few have the knife attached to them. In one specimen in my collection, the weapon appears to be quite perfect, but, on withdrawing the knife from its sheath, it is seen that the Dyak has cleverly substituted a bladeless handle for the real knife. ”

“ Shoemaker, in 1915, as a specimen of an early Indian weapon. Sling-stone in place.
100. POCKET KNIFE CARRIED BY JESSE LOGAN. (1828-1917.) L. 5-1/2"
Originally a very cheap knife, of the sort sold by itinerant peddlers.
101. GERMAN HUNTING KNIFE, MIDDLE XIX CENT. L. 12"
Beautiful bronze hilt, ornamented in relief with guns, horns and other implements of the chase. Shell guard. Boar-head pommel. Quillions shaped like deer feet. Double-edged blade, in original sheath.
102. COLLINS HEAVY HUNTING KNIFE. L. 16-1/2"
Vulcanite grips, quillions and elephant-head pommel of some white composition metal. ”

“ Descended from his flint knife is the abounding variety of steel cutting tools all the way from the razor, concave on both sides, to the axe, doubly convex. As the arts have become more specialized, as artificial power has been introduced, the contrasts of the form of one tool with another have grown more and more striking. The bar which slices metal is stout of build, and rectangular in section, while a lancet is little wider or thicker than a [90] blade of grass. The knives which divide leather, rubber, and rope, differ much from one another ”

“ GUN SLING. Cutlery.
Knives.
Tools.
Do not be induced to encumber yourself with one of those ornamented, highly polished, useless abominations popularly known as hunting knives; they are worse than useless, and only serve to exasperate the owner. For general rough and ready work, nothing is better than a strong well-made butcher’s knife. The blade should be continued through the handle, which is formed by pinning two cheeks of hard wood or horn together. The hand grip should be long, and the steel sufficiently soft to be cut by a common hand saw file ”

“ The chief point being that a very sharp edge is to be kept on the knife, and that the burr is on the cutting edge. The knife is to be held in the right hand, placing two fingers on the top with the thumb underneath. The leather must be placed on a piece of marble, lithographic stone, or thick glass, and held tightly strained between finger and thumb of the left hand. Then by a series of pushes from the right hand, the knife takes off more or less according to the angle given. The burr causes the knife to enter the leather; if the burr is turned up the knife will not cut but run off. ”

“ It is very sharp at the point, and the fact of being made from the finest Razor Steel, Hand Forged, Nickel Plated, makes it a very durable knife for Carpenters, Farmers, or Wood-Workers. Price 75 cents.
“GOOD LUCK” KNIFE.
Given for new subscriptions amounting to 50 cents and 15 cents cash additional.
This is our Good Luck Knife; the cheapest and best ever made. It has two strong, hand-forged, razor steel blades; German silver bolsters; is brass lined; cocoa handle, round corners. This is a genuine “Boys” Knife, but is made from better material than most of the boys’ knives. ”

“ I have seen flint knives in outline very like Fig. 240 in the museums at Cracow, Moscow, and Kiev. Some are highly polished by friction and may have served as sickles.
It is difficult to assign any definite use to the British form of knife, but as the curvature is evidently intentional, and as probably it was more difficult to chip out such curved blades than it would have been to make them straight, there must have been some advantage resulting from the form. As both edges of the blade are sharp, it is hard to say whether the convex or concave edge was the principal object. ”

“ The blade is exceedingly sharp and honed carefully like a razor—the sharper it is the swifter it will do its work. [158] The blade must be securely fastened in the handle. The handle must be light, of comfortable shape and well balanced. In a few words, the knife must be able to get down and under the center, cutting the side segments as well as making the tough walls “fade away” easily.
DEVICES DESIGNED BY THE AUTHOR FOR KEEPING CUTLERY IN CUTTING FORM
The knives are made in stainless steel, in nickel-plated steel and in the ordinary and fine vanadium steel. ”

“ The housewife’s best method of sharpening or rather keeping the edges straight and keenly cutting is the steel. When the knife really gets dull it should be ground. The use of the stone or carborundum by the ordinary operator often wears the steel. However, if the use of the grinder or the stone or the carborundum is really known, time and money will be saved in the sharpening process. Sharp knives save temper, save food to a great degree, and therefore if you can’t sharpen knives yourself send them out to be taken care of once or twice a year. ”

“ Almost without an exception every scalping knife used in North America is nothing more than a common butcher’s knife, made in Sheffield for sixpence, and sold to the Indians at the price of a horse. After all, it is perhaps the very best instrument that they could use. One of my friends, an experienced hunter, said that he discarded all his elaborate and costly hunting knives, and preferred the Sheffield butcher’s knife, which combines the advantages of strength, lightness, and the capability of taking an edge like a razor. ”

“ It's forbidden to shecht a sick one because it improves [its value] . A gentile's knife that he sharped on his stone (see below #121 end) , or if it was fine and unblemished and he stabbed it in hard earth ten times and then shechted with it, it's permitted. If he shechted with it without kashering, he rinses the cut. If he trims off some, it's praiseworthy. ”

“ The men hardly had to be asked to surrender their knives. They gave them up voluntarily, so anxious were they to have their blades bright and sharp. The weapons were placed in a box that I had prepared for them. In order to delay matters I gave the grinder half a dozen cutlasses from my own cabin that were to be finished before the knives were ground. All day long, almost without a moment’s rest, the old knife-grinder tramped and sang as the rusty steel struck prickly stars from the whirring wheel. ”

“ The bronze objects, according to Dr. Forel (B. 462) , amount to 48, viz. 11 winged celts, two lance-heads, six knives, two sickles, 14 bracelets, two rings, five hair-pins, and six diverse objects. One of the knives, which is finely ornamented and one foot in length, has the peculiarity that the handle contains less tin than the blade (Fig. 17, No. 16) . Another knife was adapted for side-plates to be riveted on its handle (No. 11) ; while others were socketed and tanged (Nos. 17 and 18) . Some of the hatchets have a side loop, and others are devoid of it. ”

“ With knives like the corrugated types, there are often metal wire handles drawn out on them. The corrugations on these blades are to obviate tearing and reduce, some think, the pressure necessary in cutting.
Handles themselves are made of various things,—woods, rubberoid, celluloid, metals, stag and in the case of table knives, mother-of-pearl, shell, silver over nickel, etc.
The kitchen knife handle must be able to stand all heats, be impervious to hot water, be smooth and comfortable in shape, and must be nicely finished so as to give the worker a feeling of worth-whileness in his job. ”

“ These knives are usually about eighteen inches long, with a broad, sharp, murderous blade. The handles are of tortoise or ivory, often carved richly, or inlaid with figures of the Virgin, the Saviour, or the crucifix. The knife is kept open by a curious little wheel, between blade and handle, and is used indiscriminately, to slice a melon or lay bare a quarrelsome neighbor’s heart. ”

“ The only protection against this is either to entrust the knife to a man of known carefulness and integrity, or to stand over him while he does it. If the knife be ground under the owner’s eye, no fear need be entertained, because it is easy to insist upon the use of plenty of water.
The grindstone used for section knives should be of fine grain, and it should run true and be very straight across the face, otherwise it will be impossible to grind the knife true, and this, as we have seen, is a necessity. ”

“ Such a rifle should be a breech-loader, as the advantage of loading quickly while on horseback is incalculable. Hunting-knives should be of soft steel, similar to butchers' knives; but one principal knife to be worn daily should be of harder steel, with the back of the blade roughed and case-hardened like a butcher's steel, for sharpening other knives when required. ”

“ Two men will be required to work the instrument promptly,—the one to bind the condemned, the other to drop the axe. The bascule is so arranged that the whole weight and length of the trunk will rest upon it, leaving the head and neck free, and when prone it will reach to the grooves, leaving space for the knife to pass below it. The knife itself is short and wide, with a bright concave edge, and a rim of heavy steel ridges it at the top; it moves easily in the greased grooves, and may weigh forty pounds. ”

“ Most larger skins need thinning with a special tool, though an experienced hand can manage to thin a heavy hide with a common draw knife.
An empty lard tub, a half barrel or a large earthenware jar to hold the tan liquor, a fleshing knife and a fleshing beam are necessary to begin with at least. Any smith can make a knife of an old, large file or rasp by working both sides to a blunt edge and drawing the upper end out in a tang for another handle. A piece of old scythe blade with cloth wrapped around the ends will do, or a dull draw knife, either. ”

“ It should have a handle easy to grasp, a long, thin, sharp, pointed blade, and be of a size adapted to the article to be carved and to the person using it. A lady or a child will prefer a small knife. Be as particular to have the knife sharp as to have it bright and clean; and always sharpen it before announcing the dinner. It is very annoying for a person to be obliged to wait and sharpen the knife, or to turn the meat round to get it into the right position. Never allow a carving-knife to be used to cut bread, or for any other than its legitimate purpose. ”

“ Some persons prefer to turn the knife over, drawing it first from the left hand and then toward it, sharpening each surface alternately on the same edge of the steel. This is more difficult to do, as you cannot so surely keep the blade at the same angle,—and this is the most important point. If held at any other than the proper angle, either no edge is made, or it is taken off as soon as obtained. ”

“ The steel called common steel is employed in making the very common articles; but for the greatest part of table knives which require a surface free from flaws, shear steel is generally preferred. That part of the knife termed the blade, is first rudely formed and cut off. It is next welded to a rod of iron about 1⁄2 inch square, in such a manner as to leave as little of the iron part of the blade exposed as possible. A sufficient quantity of the iron now attached to the blade, is taken off from the rod to form the bolster or shoulder, and the tang. ”

“ Such knives were by no means an uncommon decoration of the table at the period when this was designed: it is now a branch of art utilised until all trace of design has gone from it; for we cannot accept [9] the slight scroll work and contour of a modern silver knife-handle as a piece of art-workmanship, when we remember the beautiful objects of the kind produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gorgeous in design and colour, and occasionally enriched by jewels or amber. ”