Knife tought by elder?

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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How many of you had knife skills tought to you by an elder family member, like a father, uncle, or grandfather?
 
My Dad and Uncle were both into hunting, and taught me bits and pieces about knives.

A couple of times per year my entire family would get together on my Grand Mother’s farm to slaughter and process a steer or pig. It would fill my family’s freezers up with meet for several months. My Grand Mother probably taught me more about practical knife use and maintenance than anyone else.
 
My grandfather had a basement woodworking shop and he would let me sharpen his chisels and planer blades. taught me to sharpen properly with stones and when he thought I was ready, he gave me my first case stockman. He used to let me whittle scraps of wood into smaller scraps.
 
My grandfather gave me a knife for my 5th bday, and then patiently over the next few years taught me how to sharpen when it was getting dull. He kept giving me the good old hardware store knives(they were actually decent quality in those days for what you paid), and every so often he'd ask to use my knife[to make sure I was carrying and check the edge].

16yrs later of this hobby, I've gone through dozens upon dozens of knives, between trades, sales, and gifts. I got his final knives last year when he passed away, still don't know what to do with 1 of them(needs repair work, but it's an old imperial (schrade), he had it for as long as I can remember). The other one gets carried once in a while, depending on what I'm doing[not going to use it at work when it stands a good chance of going missing].
Have to admit, imperial (schrade) new how to make a knife. Almost as good as an old sheffield(my first knife was my father's first knife and had gone back to my grandfather when he outgrew it, made in '51-'52, and still has blade left though the slipjoint just slips now).

Tried to get my niece going on her 5th bday, but she doesn't yet grasp the edge vs spine thing... try again this summer with either a small fixed blade or small lockback. Have a 2" custom fixed that should fit her hand.
 
My first knife was earned by me when I filleted my first fish. It was handed down to me from my dads uncle to him when my dad cleaned his first fish as well. Alas- I lost it on a teenage hunting trip. MAybe I'll have to try to make a replacement for when my baby to be is old enough. Living on a farm with a hunting family I always had at least one knife with me at all times.
 
My father bought me my first folding knife when I was about 16 in 1975. It's a Case Shark-tooth with stag scales. My mother was against it because it was "too expensive" for a "pocket" knife. But my father told her I would probably have it my whole life. I still carry it on hunting trips.
 
My Mom got me my first knife when I was 7 or 8.I think it was for a camping trip. I don't remember anymore.
 
I learned a few things from my father, who died this past March. He had enlisted in Navy at age 17 immediately after WWII. He was in some sort of OCS program (V12?) and learned how to use a knife from a CPO who had spent the war in the Pacific. While doing classwork at Stevens Tech in New Jersey, my father got a chance to get some practical experience when he and a few of his buddies were "asked" to covertly patrol the Bowery area of NYC, where several sailors were being assaulted and robbed. He always had a preference for a knife to a gun. I think it had something to do with the noise and/or the paperwork involved. ;)

Over the vehement objections of absolutely everyone in our over-educated, suburban Jewish family, dad got me my first jackknife when I was about 14 or so, and I have always carried a knife since then (except for courthouses and airplanes).

My 16 year old son got a Benchmade Mini-Grip last year, and my 11 year old will get something comparable in a few years. [Insert chorus of Tevyah singing "Tradition!"]

Ron
 
My father until he died when I was 9 and my grandfather.

I also owe alot to another man, he was the pastor of my church that came there just a few months after my father died. His kids were all grown and gone, and he sorta adopted me, took me fishing alot, all the "father and son" things at church. He taught me alot about the outdoors.

I just saw him Sunday at him and his wife's 60th wedding anniversary party.
 
I had an uncle who helped me a little when I first began to sharpen knives, but my real first impetus was the old Cub Scout Wolf Badge Handbook. The same uncle showed me how he sharpened broadhead arrows with a file because it caused more extensive bleeding than a smooth edge. That was a real eye-opener for me. I owe my appreciation for different edge finishes to my uncle Gene. I wouldn't have considered leaving a file edge on machetes and bayonets if I hadn't seen what he did.
 
I got my first knife, a victoronox, at the age of six from my uncle. I still have it today and its one of my favorite SAK's.
 
Well, I don'tr remember when I got my first knife, but I do remember my Grandfather teaching me how to whittle. Good memories.
 
There's no doubt about it, My Grandpappy was the one who got me started.

Some of my earliest memories were of him teaching me to sharpen a knife, whittle, use a gun, hunt and play cards. He also taught me how to make my own sling shots, sheaths, walking sticks, etc. Incidentally I'm the only one out of the entire family he was ever able to teach how to sharpen a knife. (Now I'm pulling my hair out trying to pass the knowledge on to my own son)

He gave me his retirement knife from Du Pont, a Case folding hunter, and several other nice knives while I was growing up. All of which have been stolen or lost since:(

I still have the knife he carried through WW2 though. An old Linder that he'd pulled the Deerfoot off of and replaced with a piece of oak. Very comfortable grip. On the scabbard he'd made for it are all the places he carried it and went during the war. It's the only knife I own that never leaves my safe.

I'd have loved to have gotten his old Case. It was a slipjoint with a wooden handle and a single sheepsfoot blade that he carried from my earliest memories until the day he died. Unfortunately, I was unable to get it due to poor family relations down there.

But...I did get his WW2 knife, his revolver, and the American Flag from his funeral. Lotsa good memories there. everything changes and we have to accept it, but....I still miss those days.
 
I got my first knife when I was a cub scout. I guess that would be 7 or so. My dad gave it to me and over the years he taught me how to use it. He also taught me how to hunt and fish. He had a great love of the outdoors and I have inherited that from him. He passed away this past August and is very much missed.
 
My dad taught me how to sharpen a knife when I was 9 or 10, teaching me on his old Buck and Schrade folders, then finally got me a Wenger SAK when I was twelve. Been a knife knut ever since. In fact, I just today received my new BM Mini Ambush.
 
My dad tought me to sharpen and polish blades with well worn emery cloth (cloth backed abrasive) stuck to a piece of plywood.
 
You guys are lucky. Maybe luckier than you know.

My dad was "too busy" working, to be around much, or to do anything else with the family. A severe workaholic.

I'm not posting this looking for sympathy...I'm way past getting over that....I'm just giving new fathers a heads-up. Time lost with your kids is lost forever. There is much more to being a father than just being a "provider". End of sermon. Carry on, people!
 
Dad and grandpa are both average joe with knives...
I learned from Melancholy Mutt instead LOL
 
Both of my grandfathers inspired my love of knives, but neither really ever sat down and "taught" me anything about them. I just learned on my own.

When I was a kid, many an evening would find me at the kitchen table, with my knives layed out on a piece of newspaper, and a oily stone at the ready. Also, some old rags and naval jelly. My mom kept some Band Aids at the ready and, in time, needed 'em less and less often.

Sadly, both grandfathers are gone now. :( But I still carry on their love of a good, sharp knife.
 
Growing up rural everyone including relatives had some sort of knife and gave the kids (theirs and others) a smack upside the head if the kid didn't use the knife responsibly. No adult got mad at another for disciplining or teaching their kid as long as it was done properly and not excessive. Not as many lawyers and princesses in those days I guess!
 
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