Post by grizz1 on Dec 23, 2010 19:56:11 GMT -5
I mentioned on Campfire Chat that my neighbor had found an old knife which turned out to be one I lost 39 years ago, well here it is.
This is it in the foreground in it's primitive looking state, it had some of those characteristics when I made it though. I had little knowledge as a teenager on how to make a knife, still no expert by any means but have learned to appreciate good work in other knives knowing how time consuming and difficult it can be.
I confess I built this knife from a push tang Bowie blade that I purchased and an antler from a deer I had killed.I had no good way of drilling through the antler and fastening the blade with a nut so cut the tang off, drilled from both ends, inserted the tang then filled the hole with an epoxy that was meant for wood filling. I wrapped an old bowstring strand around the knife where the blade met the handle and used a glue of some kind to make it stay in place. The handle has a split on the bottom side but other wise is in good shape. No chew marks from rodents can be seen so either they have left it alone or it has been buried for those many years.The string and epoxy have weathered well but the blade has been damaged the most. Much of the belly on the blade is gone making it appear to have been used for many, many years. I lost this knife within the same year I made it, now thinking back we believe it was 37 years ago not 39 as I originally thought.
Chris found the knife while deer hunting in a creek about 50 yards downstream from where I should have lost it. I had been hunting upstream on the farm I grew up on and one of my relatives shot a deer across the fence on the neighbor. There is a huge, deep ditch between our properties and sometime between helping with the field dressing, dragging the deer across the ravine, under the fence is when the knife was lost. We went back looking for it but could not find it. It makes me wonder if I dropped it in the creek and it was stepped on and buried on the very day it was lost.
Chris said there was some silver showing on the blade when he pulled it from the creek but within five minutes it was solid rust.He thought he had found a valuable artifact until his father saw the Dacron string on the handle and knew it could not be very old.
This is a pic of my hunting knife collection; from the bottom to top; The old Lost Knife 2) Cowboy Hall of Fame knife from Medora ND 3) NRA 4)Bone handle tree brand from Germany 5)Handmade knife my brother made for me, all hand made and tempered. Antler is from a deer I shot with Hawken .54 cal BP 6) A Randall Made drop point 7) An Alaskan made Caper 8) Shrade Skinner9)Western Skinner 10) US Navy knife from WWII -11) On the right side is a pocket ULU Alaskan made folder with Mammoth Ivory handle 12) A buck Folder signed by Chuck Buck
13) An Old Timer that my father carried until he passed away in 88.
On the left side is a NWTF and a Winchester folder.
I gave Chris a new Camoflauge folding Buck Drop Point knife in exchange for my old knife. He wanted me to have it back for a Christmas present and I thought it only right he should have a reward for finding mine so he has a new knife to carry in the woods while deer hunting and if he drops it, well it'll be dang hard to find with the Camo handle.
This is it in the foreground in it's primitive looking state, it had some of those characteristics when I made it though. I had little knowledge as a teenager on how to make a knife, still no expert by any means but have learned to appreciate good work in other knives knowing how time consuming and difficult it can be.
I confess I built this knife from a push tang Bowie blade that I purchased and an antler from a deer I had killed.I had no good way of drilling through the antler and fastening the blade with a nut so cut the tang off, drilled from both ends, inserted the tang then filled the hole with an epoxy that was meant for wood filling. I wrapped an old bowstring strand around the knife where the blade met the handle and used a glue of some kind to make it stay in place. The handle has a split on the bottom side but other wise is in good shape. No chew marks from rodents can be seen so either they have left it alone or it has been buried for those many years.The string and epoxy have weathered well but the blade has been damaged the most. Much of the belly on the blade is gone making it appear to have been used for many, many years. I lost this knife within the same year I made it, now thinking back we believe it was 37 years ago not 39 as I originally thought.
Chris found the knife while deer hunting in a creek about 50 yards downstream from where I should have lost it. I had been hunting upstream on the farm I grew up on and one of my relatives shot a deer across the fence on the neighbor. There is a huge, deep ditch between our properties and sometime between helping with the field dressing, dragging the deer across the ravine, under the fence is when the knife was lost. We went back looking for it but could not find it. It makes me wonder if I dropped it in the creek and it was stepped on and buried on the very day it was lost.
Chris said there was some silver showing on the blade when he pulled it from the creek but within five minutes it was solid rust.He thought he had found a valuable artifact until his father saw the Dacron string on the handle and knew it could not be very old.
This is a pic of my hunting knife collection; from the bottom to top; The old Lost Knife 2) Cowboy Hall of Fame knife from Medora ND 3) NRA 4)Bone handle tree brand from Germany 5)Handmade knife my brother made for me, all hand made and tempered. Antler is from a deer I shot with Hawken .54 cal BP 6) A Randall Made drop point 7) An Alaskan made Caper 8) Shrade Skinner9)Western Skinner 10) US Navy knife from WWII -11) On the right side is a pocket ULU Alaskan made folder with Mammoth Ivory handle 12) A buck Folder signed by Chuck Buck
13) An Old Timer that my father carried until he passed away in 88.
On the left side is a NWTF and a Winchester folder.
I gave Chris a new Camoflauge folding Buck Drop Point knife in exchange for my old knife. He wanted me to have it back for a Christmas present and I thought it only right he should have a reward for finding mine so he has a new knife to carry in the woods while deer hunting and if he drops it, well it'll be dang hard to find with the Camo handle.
.. NICE COLLECTION YOU HAVE THERE ALSO.. THANKS FOR SHARIN ,, 