Unusual "tradesmans" knife??

[alpinecorps]

Hi guys, I wonder what this might be? It looks to me like a tradesman's knife of some description, but any idea's would be appreciated!

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/au...9/lot-14584961

[Ishrub]

I think it is a corn shucking knife for removing the husk from dried corn. They come in many forms/shapes but usually have a half glove with attached blade/s.

[not2sharp]

How is this supposed to work? It looks to me like he is wearing that backwards, that the knife should be worn in the palm rather then the back of the hand.

n2s

[Mahoney]

It is reminiscent of the ankle knives used for cutting corn stalks. The item is described as a "sheaf knife", perhaps as in "sheaf of wheat" An internet search turned up the following from billhooks.co.uk

"Sheaf Knife: A small curved knife use by thrashers to removes the binding of the sheaf before feeding it into the thrashing machine. Often found with a hole in the handle for a loop of string to go around the wrist so that it would not drop into the machine when the sheaf was being separated. US makers produced a leather glove with a cutting blade attached."

I agree that the knife should be worn on the palm. If worn on the right hand this would keep the knife in a good position for grasping with the fingers for a pulling cut

[germania]

A German cutler's early 1950s sales catalog is illustrating this image:



The German term Garbenmesser in English is 'sheaf knife'.

regards
Germania

[alpinecorps]

Thanks for the thoughts guys...I think you nailed it on the head

[Billman1949]

As the author of www.billhooks.co.uk I can confirm this is a sheaf knife, worn on the palm of the hand, to cut the binding string on sheaves of corn (wheat) before they are fed into the threshing machine. The feeder had to cut open the sheave and feed it equally across the opening into the thresher. Another type of knife used was a small serrated blade with a wrist loop. It was important not to lose the knife as a) it could damage the thresher and b) it would halt threshing..