English vs French scalping knives

[teakmtn]

Yes ,the Frontier Folk website is still operational, however traffic is slow. Ken does and has produced some 1810-1830ish English Trade knives. I have a few. I think the main difference is that after 1810 the tang is full width vs the earlier knife had a partial width tang and the gap was filled with pitch and brick dust. Also, the later knives were more straight spined vs the classic up-swept blade on the Scalper/Fish knife.

 

[Rod Man]

Yes ,the Frontier Folk website is still operational, however traffic is slow. Ken does and has produced some 1810-1830ish English Trade knives. I have a few. I think the main difference is that after 1810 the tang is full width vs the earlier knife had a partial width tang and the gap was filled with pitch and brick dust. Also, the later knives were more straight spined vs the classic up-swept blade on the Scalper/Fish knife.

Could we get some pics please?

RM

 

[teakmtn]

Dang, posting photos here is not a skill I posses. Sorry.

 

[LRB]

Yes ,the Frontier Folk website is still operational, however traffic is slow. Ken does and has produced some 1810-1830ish English Trade knives. I have a few. I think the main difference is that after 1810 the tang is full width vs the earlier knife had a partial width tang and the gap was filled with pitch and brick dust. Also, the later knives were more straight spined vs the classic up-swept blade on the Scalper/Fish knife.

Unless new info or evidence has turned up, no 18th c. English relic scalper blades or surviving knives have shown any trace of pitch and brick dust having ever been used to fill the under gap.

 

[Rod Man]

I have and English Scalper blade from (Hawkeyes) Mr. Notch has helped me with the handle material and the little Boucheron from Mr. Wolf. Those knives or the "style" of knives should represent an impression through the 1830's right? I mean, I like knives and I certainly do not mind buying them .... but I do not want to spend money needlessly. My gear and clothing pretty much bracket me from 1800 to 1830 barely late 1830s.

I was thinking I was good.

What changes did occur around the 1830's? Was it the design of the tang or the general over all pattern of the blades?

Thoughts?

RM

 

[Dan99]

Hi all, I’m pretty new here, just wanted to mention I’m blown away by the amount of useful and interesting information and details on this forum.
I was reading over this thread because I’m working on a French scalper, and after posting some not completely correct knives on here lol, I’m finally understanding the focus on proper materials, style etc… my apologies for not noticing sooner.
Also I’m curious, could the red handle knives be Bubinga or “African Rosewood” it grows on the west coast of Africa?

 

[Dan99]

I am attempting to recreate an authentic English scalper based on the following drawings. Note that the tangs on the English are NOT tapered and are rather square on the corners. The French tangs on the other hand are tapered down to a paper thin edge and are very rounded at the end. So despite other reproductions I've seen of taper-tang English scalpers, I'm going to build mine as closely to these drawings as possible. Was there just a lot of variation/overlap with these scalping knives or something? Every time I think I've done something "historically correct", I end up finding new information that tells me something different. Anyways, I'll include a photo of the blank I'm working on of an English scalper that I am building and you can see how it compares to the drawing of the original here...

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Beautiful knife!
I wonder if the difference between the tapered tang and not tapered in the English scalper could be from the maker using a shorter piece of steel, hammering it thin at the end could make tang 1/2-1” longer then not tapering.
Curios if long blades are more likely to have tapered tangs, could be from limited long lengths of steel…

Most importantly, great job on the knife!

 

[Jaeger]

The blade on mine is just a tad too thick I think, so I'm going to thin that down a bit. Even though it started out at 3/32", it still seems a bit thick for an English scalper. Also the blade is a little too wide at 1-1/4" wide. I'm going to bring that closer to 1" or 1-1/8". Other than that, I think it's pretty historically accurate. What do you guys think?

The thickness may not be totally period correct, but that extra thickness will add a bit more sturdiness to the blade for general use. I'd leave it thicker.

 

[springfield art]

I am attempting to recreate an authentic English scalper based on the following drawings. Note that the tangs on the English are NOT tapered and are rather square on the corners. The French tangs on the other hand are tapered down to a paper thin edge and are very rounded at the end. So despite other reproductions I've seen of taper-tang English scalpers, I'm going to build mine as closely to these drawings as possible. Was there just a lot of variation/overlap with these scalping knives or something? Every time I think I've done something "historically correct", I end up finding new information that tells me something different. Anyways, I'll include a photo of the blank I'm working on of an English scalper that I am building and you can see how it compares to the drawing of the original here...

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Nice work! Any knife could be used to 'scalp' of course. The term became used for almost any type of general-purpose knife. Good post, thanks!