Mystery Knife Guessing Game.

Cambertree

Cambertree

Joined
Jun 29, 2014
Messages
1,291
I thought it might be fun to do another knife guessing game.

I'm going to put up pictures of two knives, and you guys and gals can try to identify them.

With the depth of knowledge here on the Porch, I wouldn't be surprised if someone correctly identifies the purpose of both of them, right quick.

But for those of us who may not know straight away what they are, let's play a little Knife Detective, and get those deductive muscles working!

The first one is a well made tool, blade stamp: J Unley/Sheffield/Eng.

At first glance, the blade may appear broken off, but on closer examination you can see it's definitely made that way. There is a chisel ground edge on the end of the blade.

The handle looks like it's ebony or some other high quality, durable timber.

(I actually don't know what this knife is for, either.)



In hand shot, for scale.


And a close up of the blade stamp.


And the next one is what you could call a pretty specialised tool, for a not so common occupation. I haven't actually seen this one, except in a digitised museum collection, while doing some research on other knives.

It's a home made job.

The only clue I can give is to note the tubes which run down inside the handle and the 'blade'.

Once we correctly ID these, feel free to post up any more obscure and mysterious knives which we can try to guess the purpose of.

Oh, and what do you get if you correctly ID one or both these knives? Why the respect and esteem of your fellow Porch folk, of course. Priceless! :D:p
 
On the Sheffield knife, is that the original blade shape or was iit broken off? I think I have something similar in a drawer in the shop. The handle is so much the same as mine.
 
Mine has no maker mark. Clearly a forged blade. Mine is like putty knife but quite stiff and about 1.25 inches wide. It is not sharpened but the edges run out pretty thin. Again, I bring this up because the handle is virtually the same and I think this might have belonged to my grandpaewnts who came over from the Britsh isles. I'm taking a wild guess that mine is late 1800's or early 1900's because it came along with other things from my grandfather that fall in that date range.
 
The first one make me think of a glazing tool (windows). Just a SWAG though...

~Chip
 
RedFury said:
Mine has no maker mark. Clearly a forged blade. Mine is like putty knife but quite stiff and about 1.25 inches wide. It is not sharpened but the edges run out pretty thin. Again, I bring this up because the handle is virtually the same and I think this might have belonged to my grandpaewnts who came over from the Britsh isles. I'm taking a wild guess that mine is late 1800's or early 1900's because it came along with other things from my grandfather that fall in that date range.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's fairly rigid, looks to be forged down to a thin edge. Definitely not broken off, it does appear to be the exact shape it was when it was first made. Above the little protuberence at the bottom of the end of the blade, if you look closely, you can see the whole front of the blade has a sharp single bevel.

The timeframe you quoted seems about right, but I'm only guessing now, myself.
 
WValtakis said:
The first one make me think of a glazing tool (windows). Just a SWAG though...

~Chip
Click to expand...

Good guess, Chip, I didn't think of that! As I said, I don't actually know what it's for, myself. The little toothlike protrusion at the bottom of the blade, could certainly have been for scoring material, but why those particular sharp beveled angles on the front of the blade then?

Any ideas?

And as long as you can support your SWAG with some reasoning, SWAG away all you like! That's what this thread is for!


Let's see what else comes up...
 
I'll give this a shot.

#1, some sort of Lame Knife. For slicing Artisan Bread loaves prior to baking.

#2, Seed Planter, its shape resembles Japanese Garden tools.
 
LostViking said:
I'll give this a shot.

#1, some sort of Lame Knife. For slicing Artisan Bread loaves prior to baking.

#2, Seed Planter, its shape resembles Japanese Garden tools.
Click to expand...

#1 - Hmm, another good guess. And you've just educated me on a type of knife I knew nothing about - thanks for that! I looked up some Lame knives and the modern ones look a little different. That certainly doesn't mean its not a Lame knife, it fits with the scoring protrusion, but again, how to explain the funny contour of the front edge of the blade?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lame_(kitchen_tool)

#2 - It's not a Japanese seed planter. I can see your line of reasoning though.

Another clue for Knife No. 2. Those little tubes sticking out the end of the handle are rubber, I should think...
 
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i don't know on #2. the first thing i thought of when i saw #1 was a (painter's) 5-in-1 tool. so, is this some sort of early spackle/putty/grout tool? i.e. for spreading and removing whatever compound was common for that day.
 
RE The Sheffield knife, I commonly see artists palette knives of a similar size, and hafted in the same way. They have a variety of blade shapes, but I've not seen one like that. Do you think it could have been re-purposed Chin? Most interesting :thumbup:

Or maybe it's a glazer's knife?
 
Cambertree said:
Good guess, Chip, I didn't think of that! As I said, I don't actually know what it's for, myself. The little toothlike protrusion at the bottom of the blade, could certainly have been for scoring material, but why those particular sharp beveled angles on the front of the blade then?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed this before (internet is connecting like a dripping tap today). I was thinking it might have been for removing putty?
 
TPVT said:
i don't know on #2. the first thing i thought of when i saw #1 was a (painter's) 5-in-1 tool. so, is this some sort of early spackle/putty/grout tool? i.e. for spreading and removing whatever compound was common for that day.
Click to expand...

TPVT and Jack - I think your guesses are getting the closest so far. Bear in mind, I don't know what #1 is for either, so I'm hoping someone will categorically know what it is. But some sort of early 5-in-1 tool is the first guess that would explain some of the different elements of the knife.

That fits with the high quality and durable forged construction.

The pointed 'tooth' could indeed be used for scraping putty, widening cracks or running an even groove along a grouted gap.

If the tool were held at a cant, you have a smooth, scraping edge, consistent with the single bevel.

Compare this modern 5-in-1 tool.



Jack - It could be repurposed, but the shape looks pretty consistently beveled all the way up the front end of the blade. My feeling is that it's shaped how it was meant to be. (I might be wrong in this, of course).

Well, that seems like a pretty astute guess. I'm thinking there might have been tools like this for shaping that soft lead used between window panes as well.

What do people think? It could be for something completely different, of course, but it feels like these guys are on the right track.
 
Druggist or physicians spatula with a broke blade. The thin flexible part is broken off.
 
Cambertree said:
Jack - It could be repurposed, but the shape looks pretty consistently beveled all the way up the front end of the blade. My feeling is that it's shaped how it was meant to be. (I might be wrong in this, of course).
Click to expand...

I think I was wrong about that Chin, struggling with the old mince pies at the moment ;) :D :thumbup:

The 5-in-1 tool does have some similarity doesn't it? I know a couple of people who I think would have spotted it straightaway, not because they know a great deal about knives, but they know a lot about old tools :thumbup:
 
#1 I'm in the window glazing tool camp.

#2 some kind of agricultural harvesting knife like asparagus or honey uncapping.
 
The first one appears to be a painter's knife. Can't say for sure what the second one is


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cambertree said:
#1 - Hmm, another good guess. And you've just educated me on a type of knife I knew nothing about - thanks for that! I looked up some Lame knives and the modern ones look a little different. That certainly doesn't mean its not a Lame knife, it fits with the scoring protrusion, but again, how to explain the funny contour of the front edge of the blade?

#2 - It's not a Japanese seed planter. I can see your line of reasoning though.

Another clue for Knife No. 2. Those little tubes sticking out the end of the handle are rubber, I should think...
Click to expand...


ok, i was wondering if it was some sort of mortar/cement knife...where water would run down the tubes. then, i saw your comment so decided to mention it. but, to me, it doesn't stand to reason why the "irrigation" would need to be built-in.

ahh. or wait a minute. is what i called the "irrigation" not irrigation at all, but just a way to cool the knife/handle. perhaps it is some sort of iron-works knife?? just a wild guess....
 
I wonder if you ran hot water through the tubes, if that second knife would cut butter or ice cream, or . . . . . . . . .???
 
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