Church & Son
Well-Known Member
(click to enlarge)
This knife came from the same bucket as the previous two but was in better shape. The handle was cracked in several places and was missing a couple of chunks so instead of re handling I soaked it in good old white glue to stabilize the cracking, added some rawhide to cover the missing wood, laid it on my table and looked at it a while. It is stamped Forgecraft Hi Carbon, can’t find much information on the company, but I have always been a fan of large Butcher knives, takes me back to hog killin’ time at my Grandpa’s place, why did we always do that on Thanksgiving morning? This one is 13″ overall with a 8″ blade. More I looked at it the more I thought how the Butchers knife has been a American staple for the last 300 years, Indians, Cowboys, buffalo skinners, mountain men, trappers, these people depended on their blade. I have pics of Blackfoot and Crow knives where the knife is completely worn out from sharpening. So that thought was the inspiration for this combo.
I added small tacks to the handle, wrapped some dyed and waxed hemp thread to the bolster area, gave it years of grease and dirt and called it good. The sheath is Blackfoot or Crow style with belt cutout, stitched with linen. The main body is from an old leather bag with a few tacks added. It covers an insert from the scrap box and the welt/ fringe was part of a worn out jacket. The cuff is a scrap of brain tanned and the bead pattern from a photo of a pipe bag. If you look closely you can see the remains of some red paint triangles across from the tacks, worn away during cleaning and greasing( I can’t help it, I give stories and personalities to all of them)
This is a big one, 13″ by 4 1/2″ with 8″ of fringe
Dead of Winter, maybe time for a couple more………..Randy
This knife came from the same bucket as the previous two but was in better shape. The handle was cracked in several places and was missing a couple of chunks so instead of re handling I soaked it in good old white glue to stabilize the cracking, added some rawhide to cover the missing wood, laid it on my table and looked at it a while. It is stamped Forgecraft Hi Carbon, can’t find much information on the company, but I have always been a fan of large Butcher knives, takes me back to hog killin’ time at my Grandpa’s place, why did we always do that on Thanksgiving morning? This one is 13″ overall with a 8″ blade. More I looked at it the more I thought how the Butchers knife has been a American staple for the last 300 years, Indians, Cowboys, buffalo skinners, mountain men, trappers, these people depended on their blade. I have pics of Blackfoot and Crow knives where the knife is completely worn out from sharpening. So that thought was the inspiration for this combo.
I added small tacks to the handle, wrapped some dyed and waxed hemp thread to the bolster area, gave it years of grease and dirt and called it good. The sheath is Blackfoot or Crow style with belt cutout, stitched with linen. The main body is from an old leather bag with a few tacks added. It covers an insert from the scrap box and the welt/ fringe was part of a worn out jacket. The cuff is a scrap of brain tanned and the bead pattern from a photo of a pipe bag. If you look closely you can see the remains of some red paint triangles across from the tacks, worn away during cleaning and greasing( I can’t help it, I give stories and personalities to all of them)
This is a big one, 13″ by 4 1/2″ with 8″ of fringe
Dead of Winter, maybe time for a couple more………..Randy
