Any of these work?

pipascus · Thursday at 10:59 PM

Howdy.
I have a few old knives and wondering if any would be suitable for a French and Indian War, or earlier, used by someone living with the Abenaki or similar tribes.
I am still really new to this, so I welcome input.
I'm partial to 1, 5, 6, 7 and 13 & 14. Maybe a handle change on 5, 7. and 14.
Thank you.

2 shots · Thursday at 11:17 PM

maybe # 8??

Brokennock · Thursday at 5:00 AM

There are a several people making really good French boucheron knives. I can put you in contact with one who is working from artifact originals in his possession.

Any of the knives pictured will need to have the scales replaced (and not with maple) in order to make the pins correct.

French Colonial · Thursday at 8:08 AM

Brokennock is correct, the pins are wrong for the time period and most of the blade shapes.

Look up English trade knives or French trade knives or "boucheron" on this sites search function or the internet for examples.

pipascus · Thursday at 6:57 PM

Brokennock said:
There are a several people making really good French boucheron knives. I can put you in contact with one who is working from artifact originals in his possession.

Any of the knives pictured will need to have the scales replaced (and not with maple) in order to make the pins correct.

Thanks. Yeah I would like to know about the knife maker.

Brokennock · Friday at 8:05 PM

pipascus said:
Thanks. Yeah I would like to know about the knife maker.

Okay. I'll get you his direct contact info and send it in a PM

pipascus · Friday at 12:36 AM

Thank you!

Loyalist Dave · 2025-03-15T10:13:27-0400

pipascus said:
Howdy.
I have a few old knives and wondering if any would be suitable for a French and Indian War, or earlier, used by someone living with the Abenaki or similar tribes.
I am still really new to this, so I welcome input.
I'm partial to 1, 5, 6, 7 and 13 & 14. Maybe a handle change on 5, 7. and 14.
Thank you.

View attachment 391123 View attachment 391125

So "work" as in looking the part, right?

Just speaking of aesthetics..my opinion is,,,,. # 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and11 are Old Hickory knives with those infernal grooves stamped into the blade at forging. You could use them in a camp kitchen when not doing a cooking demonstration but you don't want to carry them as you "long knife".

#1 the pins are the right size, but the handle is a bit 19th century.
#6 would work, if you replaced the grips and used small pins for all three pins, or even used two.
#13 works but there are too many of the small pins, but not likely anybody would notice much. I have a couple similar knives. I've carried one very similar with a reworked blade. The guy I got it from had ground off some of the original blade, (black line gives you idea of how it looked when done) but I'm not sure that you need to do that.

Number 14 would work with proper a proper handle using small pins.

LD

French Colonial · 2025-03-15T11:22:54-0400

@pipascus, what are you trying to achieve here?

Like your other thread regarding the gun you are going to rework to get it "close enough", is that the goal here as well?

I have lost count of the reenactments that I have been to and many of them juried events starting with Mansker's Station back in the day. I do not put on demonstrations and really just am a participant and have never been accosted by a thread counter or someone who wanted to count the number and size of the pins in any of the knives I carried.

That being said, I do try and get my kit as close to HC/PC as I can, but, I do that for me and for my satisfaction not for a busy body who would be ill advised to criticize.

So, assuming you are wanting to get "close enough" once again look at some English and French trade knives by doing a search on this site.

Ditch the Old Hickories, replace the slabs on #6 with some boxwood if you can find it or walnut or similar and look at English trade knives for pin placement and relative size.

#13, I would grind the top edge down to flatten it to make it appear closer to an English trade knife and use the handle as is, it is "close enough".

As long as you use them for your own enjoyment and do not represent them as being HC/PC you will be fine.

Others will differ.

pipascus · 2025-03-15T11:32:42-0400

French Colonial said:
@pipascus, what are you trying to achieve here?

Like your other thread regarding the gun you are going to rework to get it "close enough", is that the goal here as well?

I have lost count of the reenactments that I have been to and many of them juried events starting with Mansker's Station back in the day. I do not put on demonstrations and really just am a participant and have never been accosted by a thread counter or someone who wanted to count the number and size of the pins in any of the knives I carried.

That being said, I do try and get my kit as close to HC/PC as I can, but, I do that for me and for my satisfaction not for a busy body who would be ill advised to criticize.

So, assuming you are wanting to get "close enough" once again look at some English and French trade knives by doing a search on this site.

Ditch the Old Hickories, replace the slabs on #6 with some boxwood if you can find it or walnut or similar and look at English trade knives for pin placement and relative size.

#13, I would grind the top edge down to flatten it to make it appear closer to an English trade knife and use the handle as is, it is "close enough".

As long as you use them for your own enjoyment and do not represent them as being HC/PC you will be fine.

Others will differ.

I was just wondering.
For the knives I will likely just eventually buy more correct ones, as I will with the flintlock.
I don't think it's worth the trouble on these.
There comes a point where it just isn't worth the effort, and it also kind of waters down the whole point of reenactment.

LRB · 2025-03-16T11:40:59-0400

2 shots said:
maybe # 8??

Not with the large brass head rivets. IF, you want to be really correct. Most events are not as picky as others may be. Many details are overlooked at common events. HC/PC are often simply personal goals. Great if you are hard core, but then there is also just good enough to not be embarrassed by a tourista at an open event. Daddy is that fire real? Are those real guns? Do you really sleep in these tents?

LRB · 2025-03-16T11:58:31-0400

French Colonial said:
@pipascus, what are you trying to achieve here?

Like your other thread regarding the gun you are going to rework to get it "close enough", is that the goal here as well?

I have lost count of the reenactments that I have been to and many of them juried events starting with Mansker's Station back in the day. I do not put on demonstrations and really just am a participant and have never been accosted by a thread counter or someone who wanted to count the number and size of the pins in any of the knives I carried.

That being said, I do try and get my kit as close to HC/PC as I can, but, I do that for me and for my satisfaction not for a busy body who would be ill advised to criticize.

So, assuming you are wanting to get "close enough" once again look at some English and French trade knives by doing a search on this site.

Ditch the Old Hickories, replace the slabs on #6 with some boxwood if you can find it or walnut or similar and look at English trade knives for pin placement and relative size.

#13, I would grind the top edge down to flatten it to make it appear closer to an English trade knife and use the handle as is, it is "close enough".

As long as you use them for your own enjoyment and do not represent them as being HC/PC you will be fine.

Others will differ.

Beech wood was the most common followed by exotic reddish woods from rain forest countries, and boxwood, a most wonderful wood to work with. Multi pin rivets began to be seen in early and later in the 19th c.

Any of these work?

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