Knives made from artillery shells

blue lander

blue lander

Joined
Aug 16, 2011
Messages
1,386
Has anybody heard of these?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinmen_knife

Sounds like about 50 years ago when the Chinese were shelling Taiwan, about 450,000 artillery shells landed on Kinmen island. Naturally the locals saw all this metal as a natural resource and started making knives out of them. Sounds interesting but they're expensive and I can't imagine shells are made out of the best quality steel? Especially ones manufactured by China
 
I would think the fragments are softer steels without the need and ability for consistency.
 
I think this is pretty cool.

They're also making due with what's available to them.

My parents grew up in Taiwan during that period. They didn't have much back then.
 
It's definitely ingenious. It'd make a terrific souvenir too. But they charge several hundred dollars for them!
 
Fragments of shells from German warships that hit England during WWI were analyzed, and the carbon content ranged from 0.4% to 1.1% (which I presume could be heat treated to make an acceptable knife). I guess the steel composition depends on the type of shell used (whether armor-piercing, or shrapnel, etc.)


books


https://books.google.com/books?id=fhtKAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA537&ots=mjmaRfiYTy&dq=artillery%20shell%20steel%20composition&pg=PA536#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
My first boss working at a fence company was a Navy man and shrewd business man. His ship got hit by a kamikazi plane. He didn't even go up to look but went right to his shop and grabbed some sheet metal. Started pounding out ashtrays and telling folks they was made from metal from the kamikazi plane. Sold a ton of em.
 
I took a class from a knife maker in North Carolina, who makes knives out of Harley piston rods. He said that bikers really like them, because of the origin.
 
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I had never heard of such and with enough reduction forging there is no reason that steel could not be as good as any....and better than most...good for them, and a great way to make a buck off of what must have been an incredible horror....we are talking WWI landscape/deathscape here....
 
If they're .4-1.1, that runs between 1040 and w2/w1 equivalent levels of carbon.
Even 1040 would make an easily touched up but quicker-dulling kitchen knife. (Which if I remember correctly these are)
 
Cool cleavers! My property is on an old military training camp. Its been searched many time by the Army Corps of Engineers for UXO's. I have found foxholes with helmets and all kinds of stuff burried in them. Nothing big enough to make a knife though. Most was Korean war stuff so its pretty much rusted away now.
 
ndoghouse said:
Cool cleavers! My property is on an old military training camp. Its been searched many time by the Army Corps of Engineers for UXO's. I have found foxholes with helmets and all kinds of stuff burried in them. Nothing big enough to make a knife though. Most was Korean war stuff so its pretty much rusted away now.
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Interesting - Did they come upon request or they were just sweeping again all old training camps?
Sometimes it's an isolated incident that raises awareness of probable risks and then they sweep again in similar places as a precaution.
 
snowwolf said:
Interesting - Did they come upon request or they were just sweeping again all old training camps?
Sometimes it's an isolated incident that raises awareness of probable risks and then they sweep again in similar places as a precaution.
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They send registered letters asking approval from the landowners then they come on the property and sweep it with metal detectors and such. I guess they found something like you say and decided they better go look again. Who knows. Maybe they had some extra budget at the end of the year they had to make use of?
 
If they cared to make a first rate blade out of the stuff by pounding out impurities and adding carbon via a coal forge, they could turn out whatever they wanted....but as with all such stuff, adds tremendous labor and costs.....when they can instead just get a nice mark-up via writing on the knives and a certificate, let me guess which way they go....i guess in their minds about as significant as something made that way from our Civil War.....of which today is getting so forgettable and even enforced forgettable (heck, even 9-11 once internet came back up), i think those folk over there need to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak...
 
ndoghouse said:
Cool cleavers! My property is on an old military training camp. Its been searched many time by the Army Corps of Engineers for UXO's. I have found foxholes with helmets and all kinds of stuff burried in them. Nothing big enough to make a knife though. Most was Korean war stuff so its pretty much rusted away now.
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Glad they did the sweep...when i was in infantry school at Benning we happened upon a 500lb bomb from WW2...which apparently nobody had called in yet. UXO's suuuuuuck.
 
J W Bensinger said:
Glad they did the sweep...when i was in infantry school at Benning we happened upon a 500lb bomb from WW2...which apparently nobody had called in yet. UXO's suuuuuuck.
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I know a former USAF EOD tech who would agree with you. I think he likes his job as an author better.
 
J W Bensinger said:
Glad they did the sweep...when i was in infantry school at Benning we happened upon a 500lb bomb from WW2...which apparently nobody had called in yet. UXO's suuuuuuck.
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Yewwww! That would suck! After my house burned down I dozed off the new designated building area as defined in my permit and yep I had that in the back of my mind. Luckily there were no issues. Im done with scraping around UXO's for now. Since the fire the soil is loaded with all kinds of metal scrap and such so metal detectors would do no good looking for them. Dont need no splosions:D
 
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