Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

[Trubetzkoy]

Recently I found this interesting little guy online and decided to buy it, as I still had the criollo knife itch and it was pretty cheap after all:

It seems to be a German-made verijero. The handle is mother of pearl with nickel silver mounts. The scabbard appears to be nickel-plated nickel silver. The blade has seen better days and has the tip broken off, but that should be an easy fix with the belt sander. The scabbard will also need some work.

Though one should always buy the knife, not the story, according to the seller, this knife was brought from Germany after WW2 as a war souvenir. That would suggest that it was made in the early portion of the 20th century for export to South America but didn't get to be shipped before the war -- or perhaps someone in Germany liked it and decided to keep it for himself.

I'll post more pictures after I do some work on it.

Edit: It seems the scabbard is nickel-, not silver-plated.

 

[kamagong]

This thread is getting harder to visit. I need Maxi to finish my knife!!!

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

You'd have to tell me the exact minute/second of the video mate.



I hadn't seen that version of the Nieto Gaucho model, only the full-tang one. Is the blade saber-ground, or is it full-flat-ground? I like it anyways -- the shape is very Uruguayan.

As for the second knife, it's almost certainly Brazilian, probably made by Hercules. Usually there are several like it being sold on Ebay as gaucho knives or boot knives. How long is the blade? Regarding the sheet glued onto the scabbard, I'm pretty sure you could get rid of it using some acetone.

Starts at around 2:30.. I believe he might just be lining up the spine of the knife to the folded edge of the leather, it's right before he starts to mark the outside line with a pen. He seems so rough in his estimate with the extra space he marked to the outside of the blade too, yet it fits so perfect at the end.

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Starts at around 2:30.. I believe he might just be lining up the spine of the knife to the folded edge of the leather, it's right before he starts to mark the outside line with a pen. He seems so rough in his estimate with the extra space he marked to the outside of the blade too, yet it fits so perfect at the end.

Yeah, he's just using the knife itself as a template to fold and cut the leather, eyeballing the distance from the edge of the sheath and the extra room for the spine. I guess one can allow oneself some sloppiness, since the sheath is going to be wet-formed and will naturally stretch anyways. If you watch the second video I shared (the one of the dagger scabbard, in English), however, you'll see that that guy is much more meticulous.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Yeah, he's just using the knife itself as a template to fold and cut the leather, eyeballing the distance from the edge of the sheath and the extra room for the spine. I guess one can allow oneself some sloppiness, since the sheath is going to be wet-formed and will naturally stretch anyways. If you watch the second video I shared (the one of the dagger scabbard, in English), however, you'll see that that guy is much more meticulous.

Will do just that Some great insights to be had for sure.

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Update on the pearl-handled verijero I got recently: I had to take the knife apart as one of the pearl scales was loose. I turns out the tabs which held it against the bolster and pommel had broken, and the wooden core was pretty rotted out and the tang quite rusty. Some pictures of the restoration process:

 

[CelloDan]

Update on the pearl-handled verijero I got recently: I had to take the knife apart as one of the pearl scales was loose. I turns out the tabs which held it against the bolster and pommel had broken, and the wooden core was pretty rotted out and the tang quite rusty. Some pictures of the restoration process:

Very nice !
Good to see how you fixed the tip. One of the pearl scales looks like it chipped a little. I am sure you already thought of how to fix it
Very much looking forward to the finished result

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Very nice !
Good to see how you fixed the tip. One of the pearl scales looks like it chipped a little. I am sure you already thought of how to fix it
Very much looking forward to the finished result

Indeed. Fortunately, however, the only parts that were chipped were the tabs for holding the scale under the ferrules, which are not visible. I superglued the pieces I could fit together and sanded them flush. Here's a picture of the final product:

I decided to refinish the blade, as it wasn't exactly original anymore having reshaped the tip. Still, I left most of the pitting and some previous sharpening scratches, to preserve its character.

Edit: Picture updated.

 

[RayseM]

Incoming from Maxi

Deer antler handle - I can't remember what length blade I asked for Either 10" or 12", in any case it's a long one.



With the requested button top ~

 

[CelloDan]

Incoming from Maxi

Deer antler handle - I can't remember what length blade I asked for Either 10" or 12", in any case it's a long one.

View attachment 2216369

With the requested button top ~

View attachment 2216370

Wow !
Spectacular Ray !
Great work maxipescie

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Incoming from Maxi

Deer antler handle - I can't remember what length blade I asked for Either 10" or 12", in any case it's a long one.

View attachment 2216369

With the requested button top ~

View attachment 2216370

Beautiful! I love the botones (both).

 

[kamagong]

Incoming from Maxi

Deer antler handle - I can't remember what length blade I asked for Either 10" or 12", in any case it's a long one.

View attachment 2216369

With the requested button top ~

View attachment 2216370

Beautiful knife Ray. IIRC you had a 10" on order.

ME TOO - asked for a 10" blade. I'll go backwards if I like this one and have 2 smaller ones - maybe a 7" and a 4", if maxipescie will go that small - maybe 8" and 6". I would love a somewhat matched set. These will be kitchen knives for me. As much as I love those beautiful sheaths I'm going bare bones on the first one.

 

[RayseM]

Ha Ha - Thank you Christian - I appreciate your paying attention for me and for your appreciation of my new knife.

 

[kamagong]

Heard from maxipescie today and he let me know my knife and sheath have been completed. He cruelly sent me some pictures to make the wait even more hard to bear!

 

[RayseM]

We shall bear this burden together kamagong

 

[cbach8tw]

Me too!!!

 

[kamagong]

Me too!!!

Looks like our knives were finished around the same time.

 

[cbach8tw]

These should be 1070, CelloDan’s was 1095, I think overall the average user should not see a really big difference between them. I like my size at it will be a good user for kitchen tasks, etc. Here is an old pic of the larger one he made for me.

 

[cbach8tw]

And this one from Cahoon I like to show, finally held the two beside each other and they are about the same size.

 

[CelloDan]

Buenos días mi amigos

What a wonderful way to start the day admiring your beautiful incoming knives

Heard from maxipescie today and he let me know my knife and sheath have been completed. He cruelly sent me some pictures to make the wait even more hard to bear!

So happy for you Christian, it's a beauty !
It will arrive before you know it ( easy for me to say now )
I can't wait to see you sharing pics of it !

Me too!!!

Yeah !
My Verijerejo has a brother in the northern hemisphere

Looks like our knives were finished around the same time.

Big bro, lil bro
Maxi is on a roll !
Cool pic to see them side by side
The sheaths are gorgeous !

Looks like both of you went for Urunday wood ? I love it

Ok, calm down now Dan and have a few more mates