Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

[screened porch]

Probably Alpaca silver, also known as nickel silver, which is a copper alloy. Thats where the verdigris is coming from. Alpaca is fairly common in knives from S America.

You're probably right, but they often say Alpaca on them. Just a theory on my part.

 

[echoscout]

I think this one is silver-plated brass. That would explain the black stuff coming off with silver polish, and the presence of verdigris.
Also the undecorated bit at the top of the scabbard looks like brass, in some light at least.

I've been sharpening it. I think it was pre-owned rather than used.

Great score! I really like that one.

 

[screened porch]

Great score! I really like that one.

Thank you!

 

[Trubetzkoy]

It's nice to see the new acquisitions and insights. Your collection of enterizos looks great, screened porch .

I haven't shared anything in a while, so here's a teaser of a recent acquisition I've been working on this week (the handle situation was interesting, to say the least):

 

[screened porch]

It's nice to see the new acquisitions and insights. Your collection of enterizos looks great, screened porch .

I haven't shared anything in a while, so here's a teaser of a recent acquisition I've been working on this week (the handle situation was interesting, to say the least):

Thanks! (I had to look up "enterizos".)

 

[screened porch]

Thanks! (I had to look up "enterizos".)

"Entirezos", I could have guessed.
I used my big Atahualpa to chase deer out of my yard the other night.

 

[John Cahoon]

Here's my latest tribute to the awesome genre: A medium sized one in O1 tool steel and Ironwood and Argentine Flag colors.

 

[CelloDan]

Here's my latest tribute to the awesome genre:

Thanks for sharing your work John !
I agree it’s an awesome genre; the knives themselves and also the history and lifestyle of the rugged men that used them is fascinating

I used my big Atahualpa to chase deer out of my yard the other night.

LOL Jer, you are my type of gaucho
That deer better watch out or else might become

While Jer was out chasing deer I was playing gaucho and conquistador at the SAME time lol

While riding my faithful Serena on the vast water pampas I spotted an inhabited island which I decided I should claim for “The Porch”

My water pony was reluctant to approach it so I lead the way

I hereby claim this island for “The Porch”

 

[GaiusJulius]

Thanks for sharing your work John !
I agree it’s an awesome genre; the knives themselves and also the history and lifestyle of the rugged men that used them is fascinating

LOL Jer, you are my type of gaucho
That deer better watch out or else might become

While Jer was out chasing deer I was playing gaucho and conquistador at the SAME time lol

While riding my faithful Serena on the vast water pampas I spotted an inhabited island which I decided I should claim for “The Porch”

My water pony was reluctant to approach it so I lead the way

I hereby claim this island for “The Porch”

It’s a surprisingly lush and civilized looking place for being such a relatively tiny sliver of dry land! And your faithful knife looks right at home there.

 

[cbach8tw]

Should have used your dingy.

 

[CelloDan]

It’s a surprisingly lush and civilized looking place for being such a relatively tiny sliver of dry land! And your faithful knife looks right at home there.

Thank you
It's so tiny and such a "cute" little island with the miniature trees and perfect looking grass.
I could not resist "claiming it"

Should have used your dingy.

LOL, my "Serena is technically a dinghy herself
I have thought at times to tow a stand up paddleboard to use as a dinghy

For those interested in visiting the island that I claimed for ourselves here are the coordinates:
44.78364° N, 76.20910° W

And here is a link to google maps

https://maps.app.goo.gl/FLYqg7u5cndZVVU4A

 

[screened porch]

LOL Jer, you are my type of gaucho
That deer better watch out or else might become

I'm still having no success in goading them into giving me a self-defense scenario.

My water pony was reluctant to approach it so I lead the way

That wouldn't work for me. Do you have room for a sculling oar onboard?
Or a Ski-doo on davits!

I've been thinking about forging one of these in one piece. If you started with a big file, you'd have an awful lot of upsetting to do. If you started with round stock the diameter of the biggest part of the handle, you could taper the handle and draw out the blade.
Or you could weld on handle material like Maxi welds on the bolster material. Probably your best bet, if you have the hammer-welding chops.

 

[kamagong]

Grabbed some alfajores to tide me over until I get my next cuchillo.



Who am I kidding? I posted this pic to mess with CelloDan !

 

[CelloDan]

I'm still having no success in goading them into giving me a self-defense scenario.

Perhaps if you wait until late fall when is rutting season, put a whole deer antler rack on your head, call them with a buck call and stomp your feet and charge at it when you see one you will get some sort of response

That wouldn't work for me. Do you have room for a sculling oar onboard?

No, but I do have a canoe paddle on board that I use often

I've been thinking about forging one of these in one piece. If you started with a big file, you'd have an awful lot of upsetting to do. If you started with round stock the diameter of the biggest part of the handle, you could taper the handle and draw out the blade.
Or you could weld on handle material like Maxi welds on the bolster material. Probably your best bet, if you have the hammer-welding chops.

That will be a really cool project Jer
There is lots of tutorials on youtube to distill the basics of how to go about it.
Perhaps the round stock would be the easiest way to go.

As I understand from the pics Maxi sent me he welds a few plates together and heats/forges all together drawing out the blade and tang. The whole package effectively becomes one piece of steel after the process.

Grabbed some alfajores to tide me over until I get my next cuchillo.

Wait a minute ... another criollo ? ... you are not messing with me right Christian ?
Your post made me recall the outrageously expensive ones I had a few months ago.
They were certainly worth it

I noticed that the handle of my Pampa criollo was a little off center ( as in not aligned with the blade )

I've shared a few pages back how some metal handles are filled with "lacre", a type of cutler's resin.
Here is another video of how one person does it ( this time using a heat gun ). He also show how he pins the tang .

So I contacted a silversmith in Argentina about it.
First he told me no to worry about it .
He suggested I could dip the handle in very hot water for a little while and then gently try to straighten it.

I decided to just leave it like it is

Today I noticed a couple of tiny pepper spots on my Pampa as I had left it inside the sheath for a while.
I gave it some good TLC, cleaned up the blade, fine tuned the edge and oiled it
The spots are now totally gone and what is left was already there when I bought it

I also made a resolution to be more careful and make sure I don't store carbon blades in their sheaths

 

[oldmanwilly]

Perhaps if you wait until late fall when is rutting season, put a whole deer antler rack on your head, call them with a buck call and stomp your feet and charge at it when you see one you will get some sort of response


No, but I do have a canoe paddle on board that I use often


That will be a really cool project Jer
There is lots of tutorials on youtube to distill the basics of how to go about it.
Perhaps the round stock would be the easiest way to go.

As I understand from the pics Maxi sent me he welds a few plates together and heats/forges all together drawing out the blade and tang. The whole package effectively becomes one piece of steel after the process.

Wait a minute ... another criollo ? ... you are not messing with me right Christian ?
Your post made me recall the outrageously expensive ones I had a few months ago.
They were certainly worth it

I noticed that the handle of my Pampa criollo was a little off center ( as in not aligned with the blade )

I've shared a few pages back how some metal handles are filled with "lacre", a type of cutler's resin.
Here is another video of how one person does it ( this time using a heat gun ). He also show how he pins the tang .

So I contacted a silversmith in Argentina about it.
First he told me no to worry about it .
He suggested I could dip the handle in very hot water for a little while and then gently try to straighten it.

I decided to just leave it like it is

Today I noticed a couple of tiny pepper spots on my Pampa as I had left it inside the sheath for a while.
I gave it some good TLC, cleaned up the blade, fine tuned the edge and oiled it
The spots are now totally gone and what is left was already there when I bought it

I also made a resolution to be more careful and make sure I don't store carbon blades in their sheaths

Wow, I didn't realize they were secured by resin and a peened tang. That increases my confidence in the construction. Is that a common practice, or just one used by that particular maker?

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Wow, I didn't realize they were secured by resin and a peeled tang. That increases my confidence in the construction. Is that a common practice, or just one used by that particular maker?

It's pretty standard with hollow-handled gaucho knives. However, I have at least two knives in my collection whose handles are attached only via peening of the tang, with no resin: my verijero from post #553 (probably made in France for Scholberg) and the one I showed partially in post #1,144 (made by Kirschbaum of Solingen).

My personal favorite method is with (meltable) resin and a screwed-on pommel stud, like Eberle knives (or even just the pommel nut if the handle is not hollow). It provides structural integrity but makes cleaning and repairs much easier than peening.

Edit: In any case, the hollow handles traditionally used for gaucho knives are pretty tough. They might dent if dropped or hit, but it would take some serious abuse to actually bend or break them. This is especially true of stamped and chiseled handles, as both processes result in work hardening.

 

[screened porch]

Perhaps if you wait until late fall when is rutting season, put a whole deer antler rack on your head, call them with a buck call and stomp your feet and charge at it when you see one you will get some sort of response

That will be a really cool project Jer
There is lots of tutorials on youtube to distill the basics of how to go about it.
Perhaps the round stock would be the easiest way to go.

I have some books, too. And took a class once.
I bought a gas forge some time ago that was cheap because I have to harden the insulation blanket and mix furnace cement and slather the hardened blanket myself.
It will be handier than the farrier's forge, though, which also needs work. I was trying to burn coke instead of coal, because it's hotter and cleaner, but a coke fire goes out the instant you stop the fan, so with my hand-cranked blower there's no way to work on the anvil. I bought a furnace blower for it but stalled on the ductwork.
(I can buy some more pineapple juice and make my own heavy-duty duct out of the cans!)
The gas forge will still be easier to horse around though; I'd better do both.

Round stock might be the way to go, except I have a bucket full of big old files that will be cheaper.
I'm not sure a solid steel handle wouldn't shift the balance a bit, but white brass is heavier than steel, and those alpaca handles are more than a skin over the cutlery cement, judging by the balance points on my big ones (just either side of the bolsters).

As I understand from the pics Maxi sent me he welds a few plates together and heats/forges all together drawing out the blade and tang. The whole package effectively becomes one piece of steel after the process.

I had misremembered this, as just welding bolster material in the middle.

No, but I do have a canoe paddle on board that I use often

I'd better do a picture, after all that.

I like the bigger blade on the Atahualpa, and the bigger handle on the Juca. I like the deeper relief and dark contrasts on the Juca furniture, and I like the riveted rosettes on the Atahualpa.

I like the straight handles. Ergonomic handles seldom feel quite right. Give me a straight handle and let me nom my own ergs.

 

[kamagong]

Wait a minute ... another criollo ? ... you are not messing with me right Christian ?
Your post made me recall the outrageously expensive ones I had a few months ago.
They were certainly worth it

No more cuchillos criollos for me for a while. I'm enjoying the ones I have for now. In the meantime I am doing some research on what I can hope to versus what I can expect to pay for a metal handled knife.

The alfajores I got yesterday were very good (my wife ate two...lol), but I want to try out some chocolate covered varieties.

 

[screened porch]

The big Juca had my back as I watered the birds, harvested blueberries, and searched for juniper berries. It's too early for the juniper berries, apparently.
I also scathed some honeysuckle with Old Smoky. (So named because I think Juca might be pronounced hookah in Argentinian. (Am I right, CelloDan ?))

 

[CelloDan]

Wow, I didn't realize they were secured by resin and a peened tang. That increases my confidence in the construction. Is that a common practice, or just one used by that particular maker?

Yes, as T Trubetzkoy stated it is common practice and still done this way by silversmiths working in the traditional way.
One benefit of this method was the ability to replace the blade and continue using the scabbard and handle.
No doubt that the fancy gold and silver adorned scabbards and handles would have cost a small fortune even for the gaucho with better financial means.
Those blades saw hard use as well and likely required replacement every now and then.

and the one I showed partially in post #1,144 (made by Kirschbaum of Solingen).

Can't wait to see the full blade
Nice to go back and check again the knives you shared before
There is also a facon in the works right ?

I'd better do a picture, after all that.

Very nice Jer , I enjoy seeing your latest criollo additions.
You did very well !

No more cuchillos criollos for me for a while. I'm enjoying the ones I have for now. In the meantime I am doing some research on what I can hope to versus what I can expect to pay for a metal handles knife.

The alfajores I got yesterday were very good (my wife ate two...lol), but I want to try out some chocolate covered varieties.

I am pacing myself too and enjoying my two examples.
My next one is the blank that Maxi is doing for me and that I showed some pics just above.
We put it on hold for a while as Maxi was getting ready for Atlanta Blade Show and I have no rush, especially in the summer with my nomad ways out in nature
I hope to do it justice when it comes time to install a handle and will certainly give it my very best. I have some cocobolo that I think would look very nice as a handle.

At some point it would be nice to have Brazilian and Uruguayan examples ... and a vintage Arbolito too

I think that a metal handled criollo would complement your collection very nicely as you already have Argentine and Brazilian criollos with wood and stag handles and also round and "square" bolsters.

Perhaps a fancy metal Verijero next

The big Juca had my back as I watered the birds, harvested blueberries, and searched for juniper berries. It's too early for the juniper berries, apparently.
I also scathed some honeysuckle with Old Smoky. (So named because I think Juca might be pronounced hookah in Argentinian. (Am I right, CelloDan ?))

Love that Juca mi amigo !
Yes, it's pronounced "hooka"
For some reason we Argentines make the "hoo" sound a little extra harsh than other hispanic folk (from more at the back of the throat).