Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

Prester John said:
Looks like the meat removed the patina those nasty vegetables left on your blade, Dan!
😆😆;)
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Very astute observation mi amigo 👍😀
After cooking those vegetables I had thought of cooking a steak for this post however I still had some chicken and salmon in the fridge that needed to go … so I recycled the steak photos 😀.
That steak was the first meal my Verijero had upon arriving in Canada 🍁 😎

Prester John said:
The six-and-a-half-month wait was worth it. My verijero finally arrived!
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It is the work of @maxipescie, the Argentinian artisan who made Dan's verijero, and other gaucho knives posted in this thread. It is 1095 steel, with a handle of Urunday wood, like Dan's, but a little larger, with a six-inch blade. A perfect size, I think. I really like the handmade sheath, made by another artisan:
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And the capybara logo:
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It must be carried like a gaucho, of course:
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Let the patina begin!
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And who needs a fork?
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¡Buen provecho!
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Oh wow Vince ! It’s a beauty ! 😍
Congratulations !

I love how each one is unique.
The integral bolster is really cool and the overall proportions just right 👍

My blade is 4.75 inches long. I really like the 6 inch blade on yours 👍😎

I stayed up late baking bread for the family and I am happy I did as I got to see the pictures tonight 😊
 
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Good night folks 😊
 
CelloDan said:
Very astute observation mi amigo 👍😀
After cooking those vegetables I had thought of cooking a steak for this post however I still had some chicken and salmon in the fridge that needed to go … so I recycled the steak photos 😀.
That steak was the first meal my Verijero had upon arriving in Canada 🍁 😎



Oh wow Vince ! It’s a beauty ! 😍
Congratulations !

I love how each one is unique.
The integral bolster is really cool and the overall proportions just right 👍

My blade is 4.75 inches long. I really like the 6 inch blade on yours 👍😎

I stayed up late baking bread for the family and I am happy I did as I got to see the pictures tonight 😊
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Thanks, Dan. I remembered that yours was 4.75 inches, and didn't specify a size when I ordered, just "one like Dan's". Sometime after I ordered, I thought I would prefer a 6-inch blade, but thought it was too late to say anything. Max must have read my mind!
 
Prester John said:
Now I'm hungry again!
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Good morning folks !
Here you go Vince :) just sliced it for breakfast.
Mate 🧉and some real butter 🧈 ( no more margarine for us ) sealed the deal 😋

Verijero got to look while the bread knife worked however it got to taste and spread the butter :thumbsup: :cool:
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btw, do you have any pics of yours from Maxi just prior delivery ?. I'd love to see them too if you got them :cool:
 
CelloDan said:
Good morning folks !
Here you go Vince :) just sliced it for breakfast.
Mate 🧉and some real butter 🧈 ( no more margarine for us ) sealed the deal 😋

Verijero got to look while the bread knife worked however it got to taste and spread the butter :thumbsup: :cool:
Le4tsUe.jpg


btw, do you have any pics of yours from Maxi just prior delivery ?. I'd love to see them too if you got them :cool:
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That bread looks good, Dan! And I'm with you on the butter--gave up on margarine about 1980.

I did get some pics from Maxi, but may have to do two posts, as the forum limits the files I attach. The first photos actually include the wrong sheath, but it is beatiful too.
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Maxi is a great photographer. Before he shipped the knife, he sent me some more pics of the sheath that goes with my knife, which I will include in the next post.
 
found this: "Alpaca Silver has nothing to do with the cute, furry wool animals, and contains no real silver! Alpaca Silver is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc. Sometimes called Nickel Silver or German Silver, the usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc."
 
tongueriver said:
found this: "Alpaca Silver has nothing to do with the cute, furry wool animals, and contains no real silver! Alpaca Silver is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc. Sometimes called Nickel Silver or German Silver, the usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc."
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Yep, was about to tell you that. At least that it is also called German silver, and contains no real silver. A lot cheaper, though! (Bought a medal in Alpaca silver not long ago.)
 
tongueriver said:
I have seen the word "alpaca" stamped into the sheaths of more than one Argentine knife. Does anyone know the significance of the appearance of the name of that animal on these knives? Also, it would be great to learn more of the terminology regarding this genre of cutlery. What do the natives of Argentina call the sheath, for instance?
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I wondered the same thing years ago as many of my "bombillas" or the metal straw to drink yerba mate 🧉 were labelled as made of alpaca. As you found out it's a cheaper alloy and it seems rather ubiquitous in in South America.

As for the sheath I've always seen it being referred as a "vaina" in the context of cuchillos criollos.

Some of my bombillas and mate gourds
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Cuchillo criollo with its "vaina"
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The"vaina" in my criollo is made by artisans using raw hide from a young goat or "chivo" and very skilfully stitched together
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Prester John said:
That bread looks good, Dan! And I'm with you on the butter--gave up on margarine about 1980.

I did get some pics from Maxi, but may have to do two posts, as the forum limits the files I attach. The first photos actually include the wrong sheath, but it is beatiful too.
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Maxi is a great photographer. Before he shipped the knife, he sent me some more pics of the sheath that goes with my knife, which I will include in the next post.
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Is the bolster forged integral?
 
tongueriver said:
The vaina usually has a large decorative flat tip at the end; what is its function?
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As pointed out by Arathol, it's most likely to avoid being stabbed by the scabbard itself. No idea what it's called in Spanish, but in English I've seen it referred to as crest. It's a relatively common feature of naval swords, I think, and in the case of gaucho knives (though not so much with those made in Argentina) they often came in intricate figural shapes. Sometimes, especially in the case of German-made picazo scabbards (leather + metal fittings), you find a ball tip instead.
 
Trubetzkoy said:
Haha sorry for my absence; been rather busy in this new year. I'll try to share some interesting stuff soon. Great pictures as usual, colega!


Very nice! Interesting bolster, too. Did you request it like that, or did Maxipescie come up with the shape?
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All I specified was 1095 steel and Urunday wood, and "a verijero like Dan's". I left the rest to Maxi, and am very pleased with the result.
 
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