A WWII Nichols Style Fighter

Greg Covington

Greg Covington

Joined
Oct 28, 1999
Messages
1,563
This is a knife I have wanted to try for sometime. I am sure some of you guys have heard of Floyd Nichols. His fighting knives that he made during WWII had a Persian flair to them. He was a metal sculptor also and worked with alot of bronze. His knives had forged guards, bronze pommel and a bronze or steel welding rod wrapped handle.

I used brass for my handle in lieu of bronze. The blade is handforged 1084 and is 7" long. Guard is mild steel and has the Nichols style curled ends. On many of his knives, he had steel rings passing thru the loops and a leather lanyard attached to them.

The 1/8" brass rod starts in a small hole behind the guard and is wrapped all the way to the butt (pommel is silver soldered in place) and then the end is silver soldered together. This was a pain in the rear! The brass likes to spring back during the wrap and I found that a few hammer taps would keep it there.

Seeing that a real Nichols will set you back about $3000-6000, this wasnt too bad to do! I think I will make a Alfred Cornish style sheath to go with it and complete the package.

Odd isn't it?

nich.jpg


Greg Covington
Bladesmith
 
I always thought Nichols made some of the best looking knives of WWII. Yours looks like a real good representation.:cool:
 
She looks great! One question, hows the ballance? I've seen his knives befor, never had the pleasure of handling one, but every metal handled knife I've handled has been too heavy and I was wondering how this one felt?
 
Will,

The balance lies about an inch behind the guard. Brass is heavy stuff. I have handled about 2 Nichols over the years and was always impressed with them. I like the feel, although not an ideal handle, it was really unique.

A special ops vet friend of mine told me that he worked with a guy named Nichols on some special project in Taiwan. The guy was a nephew of Floyd Nichols and carried one of his fighters.

John Wayne is seen carrying a Nichols fighting knife in the movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, I believe.
 
WOW!!! :eek: Oh man, you just blew me out of the water, that is beyond cool. And thanks for the additional Nichols info, I don't know much about him. I hope you do more like this and show them off too!

Dave
 
i think i'm weird. i like looong handles on knives (those whose butts go 3 inches past the bottom of my fist). i also like 'em heavy. yeah, i like metal handles. and the only reason why you'd want a fully-insulating handle on a knife that costs $1,000 is because you're too lazy to call an electrician.
 
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