5"- Boot knife vs Push dagger

Scott Hanson

Scott Hanson

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5" long x1 3/8" wide x 1/4" thick 5160 double edge blade. Right now I'm thinking this is going to end up as a boot knife with a Scagel style hand but it could end up being a push dagger as well. My thought is right now that it might be a little on the heavy side for a push dagger.

Any suggestions or ideas?

So far this is the boot knife pattern here.

Screen Shot 2022-03-14 at 8.40.37 AM.jpeg

Same blade but in push dagger pattern.

Screen Shot 2022-03-14 at 12.39.01 PM.jpeg
 
Love both ideas, but I think the width of the blade speaks push dagger a little louder to me than boot knife. I'm sure it will be awesome either way!
 
shouldn't the second pic be the push knife pattern?
That said, I think that size translates better to boot that push.
 
1066vik said:
shouldn't the second pic be the push knife pattern?
That said, I think that size translates better to boot that push.
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Yes, I goofed up when I posted it, I'll get it fixed.lol
 
jlauffer said:
Love both ideas, but I think the width of the blade speaks push dagger a little louder to me than boot knife. I'm sure it will be awesome either way!
Click to expand...
I think the 1/4" stock is a little too heavy for either, 3/16" would probable be better, but a customer wanted a custom Bowie out of this steel so the left over steel is get turned into random ideas. The steel is reasonably priced so I can play around with it a little bit.lol
 
I think it's going to be a boot knife with most likely a stag crown, the photo is of a Mike Malosh a Behring made and two original Scagel knives. So far I think I like the top right corner handle style the best with the crown. A push dagger is on the short list of knives to build though.

Screen Shot 2022-03-15 at 9.43.42 PM.jpeg
 
Scott Hanson said:
I think it's going to be a boot knife with most likely a stag crown, the photo is of a Mike Malosh a Behring made and two original Scagel knives. So far I think I like the top right corner handle style the best with the crown. A push dagger is on the short list of knives to build though.

View attachment 1767709
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agreed, top right of that bunch...although if it were mine I want leather washers the whole way and no stag crown as the pommel. rather a brass pommel.....but thats me.
 
Like I said, whatever you do will be awesome, but I wonder about calling it a "boot knife". When I think of a boot knife, I think of something with a slimmer cross-section than most other knives so it tucks in tight against boot/body. The crown would be more bulky, so maybe just call it a dagger? Sorry, probably overthinking it...
 
jbmonkey said:
agreed, top right of that bunch...although if it were mine I want leather washers the whole way and no stag crown as the pommel. rather a brass pommel.....but thats me.
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A full stacked leather handle with a a brass or aluminum butt cap can be done, similar to a Randall Commando handle style like this.images.jpg
 
jlauffer said:
Like I said, whatever you do will be awesome, but I wonder about calling it a "boot knife". When I think of a boot knife, I think of something with a slimmer cross-section than most other knives so it tucks in tight against boot/body. The crown would be more bulky, so maybe just call it a dagger? Sorry, probably overthinking it...
Click to expand...
After taking another look at it I think you may be right. I think the crown might be a bit too much for a boot knife. What about maybe a Randall model 27 or a model 25 handle pattern?

I did go on line last night and look for quite a while and the older push daggers had a longer blade like this one. the older style daggers seemed to have a a bit narrower blades than the newer stuff as well. these are some of the things I seen last night, old vs new.

Screen Shot 2022-03-16 at 5.40.03 PM.jpeg

These are from Jantz, one of the knife supply houses on line.

Screen Shot 2022-03-16 at 5.44.50 PM.jpeg
 
I'm getting some good in put here from you guys, I think I'm going to crate a build your own thread. When I get a few more blades made up I'll post the blades and let you guys take a wack at what you would like to see in a handle.

What do you all think?
 
The Gerber Mark I and Mark II are a couple of my favorite blades ever.
Your design looks very similar to the Mark I.
With a Hanson handle it will be irresistable.
 
Mack said:
The Gerber Mark I and Mark II are a couple of my favorite blades ever.
Your design looks very similar to the Mark I.
With a Hanson handle it will be irresistable.
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Thanks Mack, I should have another blade done tomorrow, 9" dagger a little narrower with more taper, when it's done I'll post it
 
Unfortunately I'm not going to make it to the shop tonight to finish grinding this blade, I have too much other stuff to take care of and I have to work tonight. I will get this done in a few days when i'm off again.

This blade has only got the rough ground bevels done it still needs to be profiled. Right now it's 9" long and 1 1/4" wide and a 1/4" thick, and kind of resembles a double edge planer blade with a point on the end because it's edges are parallel 2/3 of the way to point. The red lines are going to be the finished dimensions. The German dress dagger is for comparison, it'a about 10" long and really thin and narrow about 3/4" wide and about 1/8" thick.

IMG_4687.jpeg
 
Got out to the shop and finish profiling the dagger blade. I let the ricasso area a bit longer so overall length is 9 3/16", Width is 1 1/4" and thickness is 1/4", I also left the termination areas of the choils a little bit proud so they a little bit of a flare to them. Once I figure out what I want to do for a handle I will most likely take the ricasso down 3/16" stamp the tang and ready for heat treating.IMG_4688.jpeg
 
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