Mystery knives

not2sharp said:
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This was made on the Yukon, in 1944.

af_uss_yukon.jpg


The Yukon was an old (laid down in 1920) Artic Class Stores ship that saw service in the Atlantic and the Pacific throughout the war and survived a collision and several torpedo attacks. She served through the end of 1945 and was scraped in 1946. She must have had an excellent crew.

n2s
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Wow - that’s a beauty!

Also - wow - you have a lot of sweet knives...
 
not2sharp said:
View attachment 1418830

This was made on the Yukon, in 1944.

af_uss_yukon.jpg


The Yukon was an old (laid down in 1920) Artic Class Stores ship that saw service in the Atlantic and the Pacific throughout the war and survived a collision and several torpedo attacks. She served through the end of 1945 and was scraped in 1946. She must have had an excellent crew.

n2s
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Geez - this one has the same blade shape as the one I posted :rolleyes: It's a beauty. Maybe I should reconsider mine ;)
 
Collins Cruver machete.jpg

Honorable mention:

Meet one of the most mysterious knives ever to serve in the US Arsenal. This is a Collins & Co. model 1253 machete, issued during the post war years as part of a bailout kit on strategic bombers. The knife's odd design and the complete and total lack of markings, has misled collectors for 70 years. M H Cole famously misidentified this in his otherwise excellent book on US Military Knives, Bayonets & Machetes as an "OSS Machete"; as did Frederick Stephens in Fighting Knives - an Illustrated Guide to Fighting Knives and Military Survival Weapons of the World (item 585). You will still occasionally find them under that name, although they are uncommon. It is no longer a mystery due to the excellent work done by D E Henry (see Collins Machete and Bowies 1845-1965) and others. But, there is still some confusion on this one out there, so it is useful to share it here.

n2s
 
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The rotten leather sheath said Made in Finland. That's all I know. The stacked leather handle was rotten as well. I removed the pommel and redid the handle with some whitetail antler and micarta along with a couple leather spacers. I removed all the rust and got the blade back to a usable state. I made a new leather sheath for it and now carry this one around a bit in the woods enjoying it's new life.
 

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Hale Storm said:
That blade style looks to be very reminiscent of fixed blades made in Finland back around the 50's and 60's.
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Interesting. It’s definitely pre-70’s based on when my Dad gave it to me. I’m curious what the grey metal on the handle is.
Aluminum? Pewter??
 
JustaNick said:
https://imgur.com/a/qkpYzdA

I just came across this recently. I know 0 about it.
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That’s a Japanese Nata.

They take the place of a small hatchet.

Silky makes a few full-tang versions in single (chisel) grind like yours and double (standard) bevels.

Should be great at pruning tasks but be careful with batoning or heavy chopping on dry hardwoods...
 
scdub said:
That’s a Japanese Nata.

They take the place of a small hatchet.

Silky makes a few full-tang versions in single (chisel) grind like yours and double (standard) bevels.

Should be great at pruning tasks but be careful with batoning or heavy chopping on dry hardwoods...
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‘Japanese Senkichi Nata’ found it on Amazon. Mystery solved. Thank you.
 
Here is a classic that you will not find on Amazon.

It is a home made version of the Iron Mistress knife seen in the Alan Ladd film.

Home made Iron Mistress.jpg

n2s
 
Survival Kit Knife united prototype.jpg

Today's mystery knife is a WWII period survival folder. These things were made by several manufacturers and used in survival kits on life rafts and aircraft during the war. The one pictured above is special in that the secondary blade has been replaced by a shroud line cutter. Usually, the blade is a nice saw and I have never found a refence to this modification.

n2s
 
Here are a couple that I ran across at a flea market. Small one is a VERY thin knife made from a saw blade and the other is either 1084 or 1095, they both sharpened up nicely and hold an edge pretty well. Not as weird as some but the makers are a mystery and they seem to be as high quality as can be expected from a back yard smith. I use them quite a bit :thumbsup:

20200917_230149.jpg
 
Back to the topic of this thread.

There is much more to knife collecting than buying the latest version of a sprint run model which you already have a dozen copies of. I enjoy doing that as well, but there is a rich and intricate history to knives which can best be appreciated by keeping your eyes open during your knife pursuits. Most knives in the wild do not come neatly boxed with a label, manufacturers catalog and YouTube videos; a great many of those are largely unknown.

We even know very little about many massively successful brands. For example the Fabrica National de Toledo was a Spanish government entity manufacturing a wide range of military swords and knives for hundreds of years. They also made a number of presentation pieces which can only be described as high art. Yet, when the factory closed during the 1970s, their production records were destroyed and most of their history was lost for ever. This is an all too common occurrence.

Knives have been with us from the very beginning and the only way that we have to embrace the rich texture of the subject is by embracing not only what we know, but also a lot of the unknowns. There are all sorts of beautiful knives out there so be on the lookout for them.

n2s
 
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not2sharp said:
View attachment 1420453

Today's mystery knife is a WWII period survival folder. These things were made by several manufacturers and used in survival kits on life rafts and aircraft during the war. The one pictured above is special in that the secondary blade has been replaced by a shroud line cutter. Usually, the blade is a nice saw and I have never found a refence to this modification.

n2s
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Wow! That’s pretty cool. I’ve never seen it either.

It could be a modified knife, but it looks so undisturbed so original. Maybe a prototype? I’d love to know the story on that one.

How deep have you dug for info on it?
 
Theater knife WWII made from ME109.jpg

Here is another classic WWII theater knife. This theme comes up often. The fun thing about these knives is that seem to be entirely made from salvaged aircraft parts. The sheath is recovered seat material stitched in electrical wire, the handle is lexan from the aircraft canopy, and the blade is a repurposed internal wing strut. Definitely a fine work of trench art.

n2s
 
This thread is awesome!

A lot of these seem like early work (assuming they continued) or hobbyist type stuff. I always think, "Just because you can make a knife, doesn't mean you should." I have considered building a blacksmith set up since we have the space, but I always imagine throwing away all my early failures, or burying them. Like Dr. Frankenstein or something.
 
jceckrosh said:
This thread is awesome!

A lot of these seem like early work (assuming they continued) or hobbyist type stuff. .....
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True, but there are also outstanding knives that fall into this category. Just because the guy was capable of building the best mousetrap, doesn't mean that he was able to market himself, or even cared to.

Here is one that we will never know anything about; but the workmanship is on par with just about anything made by our best knife makers. It had to be, it is a real Mitmore, a magical knife said to convey special abilities to the bearer.

mit mor knife sm.png

n2s
 
Piha Kaetta 11 inch.jpg

This Piha Kaeta from Ceylon (the Emerald Isle - now Siri Lanka) dates from the 18th century, and shows an amazing level of metal work. These were exclusively made by the Royal shop at Kandy and usually produced by the king for his couriers as a badge of rank.

We will never know who the craftman was but his skill was remarkable.

n2s
 
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