Need help researching a blade

Robert Hankins

Robert Hankins

Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
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Could use some help researching a blade for a customer. He wants a "Beavertail" blade knife. My understanding it that it was a fur traders blade designed by John Sorby in England back in the 1700s?
All I can find is a pic of the blade. I need to know what they used for handle material. Pics of a complete one would help.
Any mountain men out there?
 
I am drawing a blank, but I figure to ask your customer. He could be describing a barong or Smachet or something beavertail shaped.

...when in doubt, ask.

Be sure to post your results, I am curious.:)
 
I discussed building an actual bever skinning knife with a customer. The design he had was a pretty much straight blade, 1" wide, with a larger knob where the knife point would usually be. The entire knob would be sharp, so as to reach in and cut on a backstroke. My bever skinning days helped understand why he wanted the sharp knob, seeing as how you usually have to cut the entire hide loose while skinning. You don't just pull any of the hide loose like you do on some animals. This help any? when the price of fur dropped to about nothing, he decided to opt for a fillet knife. He had another idea for the sharpening of the "knob" on the end of the blade, which was the front of the knob not really sharp, just used as a spatula and the part of the knob on the very top and on around the rest of the curve to the spine sharp, so as to cut on the pull/backstroke. Pretty neat idea, if you are skinning bever.
 
Here's what I think of when beavertail is mentioned.
http://www.ontarioknife.com/machetes.html
The third one down. Navy Corpsmen with the Marines in WWII were issued a similar shaped machete, but it was a few pounds heavier. eek:

I just remembered that there was a trade knife/lance head called the beavertail dag. A search of rendovous(sp?) sites should show it.
It was not round nosed though.
 
Thanks to Bob Bowie here is a reference pic.
beaver_dag.jpg
 
Beavertail or Hudson's Bay Dag
Here's a copy of an original blade - they varied some but this is the general shape:
beaver_dag-005.jpg


Various Hilts and sheaths: Pictures 2 and 3 are presentation hilts made of black horn (probably water buffalo imported to England from India!). #4 is a "homemade" Osage Orange hilt.
beaver_dag-002.jpg
beaver_dag-003.jpg
beaver_dag-004.jpg


Note: in image 3 you can clearly see that there are three rivets - two at the slots and one just above the tang. The other circles are inlays of what look like bone or ivory.
Antler and bone handles were often frequently used by the natives. These same blades were also used as spear points (from what I've read this was the original intended use of the blades, but when the natives started using them as knives the powers that be started making finished knives) and on gunstock war clubs. The famous Bear Jaw Bone Dags of the Blackfoot Confederacy were often made with this style blade. I've never seen any dags with a regular bolster or crossguard although I have see them with cast pewter "bolsters".

The Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly published on article on John Sorby and his blades in issue 35:4 you can get it from them for $5.00 - http://www.furtrade.org/quarterly/vol31_40.php
 
speaking of beaver tails......there is a pic in the new jan. Blade magazine.......page 107.............hope this helps......greg
 
This probably isn't what he's looking for, but might as well cover all your bases. This isn't a historical blade, but if you customer is a hunter, he might be looking for something like this:



muscrat_big.jpg


This is sharpening all around and used for skinning in them tight spots.
 
Yep that's the one in the first picture above.

Forgot I had this one - Gib (CactusForge) sent me this blade to haft and sheath. It's just getting started still got a looooong way to go. Refine the etch finish the grip....
BTW - The grip is a deer leg bone courtesy Ray Richard. Still not sure about it, but I think it's going to work???? The leather wrap is just a quickie just to get the idea - it will wind up being rawhide.

cr4-1.jpg
 
There is a painting of a trading post in the archives of the Hudson Bay Company that shows a keg of bare blades. This probably accounts for the wide variation of handle designs.
 
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