knife building

[crockett]

SATX- Thanks for the input. I focus mostly on the Green River Mountain Man with goods from St. Louis so my perspective might be limited. I didn't know Spain had copper and brass rivets/pins however I have seen a photo of a Spanish penny knife (no spring) from the 1600's with brass bolsters. You had to look twice to realize it did not have a spring.
Sheffield made great knives but cutlery from Spain was also second to none.
As I said, I'm not sure how the original pins were installed. If they were peen hammered it seems a nail punch type tool would be needed, other wise the hammer might hit the scales. On the cheap Sheffield trade knives, they were mass produced and for some reason I figured the pins were somehow driven in by a tilt hammer or machine of some sort.
I've spent a lot of time trying to find out exactly how Sheffield did things but haven't been able to find answers in a lot of areas.
The other thing is I assumed no epoxy glue was around back then but cutler's rosin dries hard as a rock. If the pin was roughed up in the middle and driven in to place with cutler's rosin- maybe some sort of mechanical lock could be obtained. The Sheffield fixed blade knives had tapered half tangs and two scales- the angles don't match and there is a void. I've tried to find out if the void was filled with cutler rosin or the void became filled with dirt over the years- again, I haven't gotten an answer.
I took a lot of photos of Texas knives on my recent visit but the reflection off the display cases messed them all up. Did San Jacinto, The Alamo, Waco-Ranger. Lots of great stuff.

 

[buffcreekforge]

I hand peen iron and brass pins on every knife I build. I stick the pin into a vice with about 1/16 inch of the pin sticking up and use the ball end of a small ballpeen hammer to make a head. Short, gentle blows is the key. Keep your eye on the pin and try to shape a small head on the pin. Then, I pull the pin out of the vice and put it through the scales on the knife handle. I usually just take an end nipper pliers and cut the pin off which leaves about 1/16 inch of pin above the grip. Then, back to short, gentle blows with the knife on a significant hard surface (I use one of my anvils). The pin will flare out and a head will begin to form. When it looks about flush with the handle, I sand things to final dimensions. This works great on all scale materials EXCEPT bone. With short, gentle blows, if you miss a little once or twice, you most likely won't break the scale. With bone, one miss-hit and you will be saying @#$%&*@@@! and making a new scale for that side. I always tell customers bone grips are expensive for a reason. Sometimes you end up making 2-3 extras. As always, my advice is free and possibly not worth the cost. I remain your humble servant.....

Just Dave

 

[b737tvc]

Dave, Thanks so much for the step by step guidance .

This will help out !


Chris

 

[satx78247]

IF you want to be HC/PC for the early days of New Spain, the Southwest & Mexico use an adhesive like hide glue, fish glue or cutler's rosin or another "old-time" adhesive for your scales, rather than epoxy.
(I've never bothered to research the formulas for fish/hide glue or cutler's rosin, but someone here once posted how to make those adhesives. - Once the scales are on & the epoxy cures, I really don't think that the glue that you use is visible or makes a dime's worth of difference.)

yours, satx

 

[satx78247]

A further note on Robert Potter's "fancy" fighting-knife": It is believed by local historians in Northeast Texas & Northwest Louisiana that his "Notorious Blade" was made about 1825 by gunsmith/goldsmith Sterling R. Long, whose shop was in Captain Shreve's Port (Now Shreveport), Louisiana.

Also, the only written description of 1LT Bonham's fighting knife (that I know of) sounds more like a Roman Gladius, than it does a typical sheath-knife. - The blade was double-edged, about 18" long & 2.5 inches wide.

yours, satx

 

[Mad Professor]

I've used Tracks rivets without a problem. But did trim them for narrow handles.

But I'm still a novice knife maker