Ceremonial/Church type knife

[Brian.Evans]

I've thought about whether to post this question for quite some time, mostly because I'm not sure how to phrase it. Has anyone here done a ceremonial knife or a church knife?

This is where it gets kinda confusing. I'm not sure what I mean by that. I have some kind of ivory or bone or fancy wood scaled knife in my mind. Like I said, it's kind of a confusing idea in my head, so if it is to confusing a post, I'll close it.

I suppose, now that I think about it that any of the "gentleman's fixed blades" you all post would work fine, but I'll go ahead and see if anyone has any other ideas.

 

[i4Marc]

What will it be used for? What kind of ceremonial duties will it perform?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

If you mean "used for ceremonies at a church", I would suggest a nice simple white handled cake knife or turkey slicer.

If you mean "butchering a goat" for a Druid feast...you will need a chalef type blade.

Giving us the specific use and requirements would help get a good answer.

 

[Perrin]

Oh please let him be talking about butchering a goat for a druid feast, but I think what he might be referring to something akin to a "dress" knife. Meaning a fancy knife to wear to church while wearing one's Sunday best clothes. I can kind of see it, a white or ivory handled affair with silver fittings.

 

[Hengelo_77]

Or Betlehem olive wood

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Like this:

 

[sideways]

I think there are religious undertones to some of the french regional knives. The cross on the laguiole for example.

A 'Shepherd's Cross' consisting of 6-8 inlaid metal wires forming a cross can be found on the handle of some laguioles from the end of the 19th century to the present day. This embellishment is a reference to a legend of Catholic shepherds in need of a cross for prayer during their seasonal migrations between the mountains and the plains. Far from any chapel or cathédrale, the shepherd would thrust his opened laguiole blade-down into the earth, exposing the visible cross on the handle for purposes of prayer

- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguiole_knife