Old Hickory as Camp Knife?

[Shann]

Seems like an Old Hickory butcher knife would work pretty good as a camp knife. You can get them from 6-8 inches up to 12-14 inches and they are less than 15 bucks each. Has anyone used them? I know that they require more maintenance than a lot of knives, but still seems like an awful good deal.

I also like the traditional look of them and I'm thinking about getting some as kitchen knives.

 

[Way-O]

I've been wondering the exact same thing. But since I have never handled one, and they are not in retail stores here, I haven't been able to assess the qualities I'd consider important. Like blade thickness and how much flex they have. I'd probably plan to replace the handles... In any case I'd think these would make good secondary knives for less demanding tasks and for backup.

 

[Geode]

I would think so, for most purposes. The butchering knife looks pretty good.

From what I have read about trade knives and outdoor knives used in the early 1900s, they were made of fairly thin carbon steel.

 

[knifetester]

THey are decent knives considering the price point. I have the 7" I bought for $3 on sale. Steel is 1095 with a fairly soft heat treat, easily filed.

Initial edge was poor, but was easy to sharpen. Once sharpened cutting performance was very decent, on par with other non-custom Western Kitchen knives.

Corrosion resistance is very poor, so if you are camping in wet weather, fishing, etc be prepared to treat your blade. As well, be prepareed for chemical dulling if you are cutting lots of acidic foods, as it will quickly dull the edge.

The larger knives (i.e. the Cabbage knife) would probably make a decent survival type knife at a very low price.

The 7" knife is very ductile as it is thin and fairly soft, so it can not be used for prying of any consequence. As well, when bent it readily takes a set if bent too badly rather than returning to true. However, it can be pounded back straight fairly easily, though I imagine there is some weakening of the steel as a result.

The handle is not secure, it is rather slick, sand down and use tung oil. Still, it warps when left wet.

For the price you get a decent working knife. Thin carbon steel will usually beget good cutting performance.

Remember, this is the type of knife recounted most frequently by the mountain men of the 1800's. While they may have been served better by modern cutlery, they sure used what they had to good effect.

 

[STR]

I buy the knives by Old Hickory, Ontario knife and some from the Hudson Bay Company all the time at yard sales and junk stores for anywhere from $.50 to $3.00 each and recycle them into fine working liner locking folders and an occassional lock back.

I like the steel in these knives and they perform well for an EDC. We started doing this because it is hard to find a high quality locking folder in high carbon steel anymore these days and it is much cheaper to recycle these old blades than to buy bar stock and mess with heat treatment. I also like the Russell Green River knives and have used them with great success also in locking folder projects. These seem to be harder blades to me over the others I mentioned above. I probably prefer these Russell blades over the others. With water cooling you can reshape these with no damage to the temper or hardness of the steels. I would think they would be excellent camp knives, skinning knives and food prep knives.

I know one of my counter part backyard knife mechanics over at our homepage uses them quite a bit for his project knives also. In fact he just did a friction folder using one of them. http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthrea...=690554&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

But there are many more there if you search it out. These are pretty good blades and they do cut well once sharpened up correctly with a nicer edge gemetry. Some of my hand made wood carving knifes are this steel also.

Only thing that comes to mind for these knives is the oxidation problems associated with this steel. Slicing acidic fruits and veges can have a detrimental effect on the edge pretty quickly with this steel and so can excess moisture as someone already pointed out. But with some care and a good sharpener this can be worked around easily enough.

Most of the ones we use are blued using the vinegar bath recipe to turn the whole blade a uniform color giving it a head start on the patina that these steels are famous for. You will notice in the links that my friend Dirk, AKA OUPA did this to his blade giving it that uniform blueish color.

EDIT: Here is the recipe we use if you are interested. This does nothing to protect the blade per say, it just makes the oxidation that occurs naturally with this steel less noticed by uniformly coating the whole blade. Also, this can't be done with the handle on it so if that is the case you will have to resort to cutting meat and coating the blade with it all over to get a similar effect.

Normally when making a blade of 01 or 1095 or some other high carbon steel blade like even an old recycled one such as an Old Hickory, or Ontario blade you can:

shape and finish off your blade, then clean well with acetone.
Warm vinegar in an old frypan with the blade in it.
When the blade starts to fizz you keep it at that temprature.
Turn the blade around after a minute or so.
When both sides have turned a uniform black color, remove the blade and wash with dishwashing liquid and a coarse sponge.

After this bath described above they look something like this finished friction grip locking folder by my friend Dirk Potgieter:

 

[knifeman7]

I have a pair of old Fillet knives that still, after many years, work as well as most others. Great flex and edge.

 

[lambertiana]

I have a parer, 8" knife, 10" chef, and 6" boning. I got lucky, all came with very well ground edges (I have seen some in stores that had edge grinds a bit on the crude side). They cut well and are easy to sharpen. A lot of performance for the price. And if you lose one, you aren't out of a lot of money.
My wife had the parer and the 8" when I met her, plus an 8" butcher. The butcher knife finally gave out and broke, she used it for hammering through bones and other hard objects. The back of the blade was significantly flattened from all the hammering she gave it.

 

[riddleofsteel]

I bought this curved skinner off of a junk table at a gun show for under $10.00. After I cleaned it up I discovered it was marked Ontario Knife Works. Funny thing though, one of the wooden handle scales is branded Old Hickory.
It is a great carbon steel knife and was razor sharp the day I got it. Light honing keeps it that way. I have used it on deer and on a hog my buddy killed and I can see why professional skinners favored this design. For a camp knife the straight blade Old Hickory knives make great bushcraft knives. Easy to sharpen and they take a wicked edge. Just keep them wiped down with light oil or grease as a naked blade will rust in the sheath on even a humid day.

 

[knifetester]

The butcher knife finally gave out and broke, she used it for hammering through bones and other hard objects. The back of the blade was significantly flattened from all the hammering she gave it.

Yes, the soft steel impacts rather easily. Mine is fairly well indented from hammering it through frozen chicken breast with a framing hammer, as well as chiseling through pvc pipe in the same manner doing sprinkler line repairs.

The edge suffered some slight roll, but it was easliy straighten out. Mine is .020" behind a 15 degree (per side) edge.

For greater cutting performance in the kitchen, I prefer an old Gerber with 1/16" thick M2 blade which is chrome covered. It runs .010-.012" behind a 15 degree (per side) edge, taken to spyderco fine flats, stropped, then run back over the brown Spyderco ceramic rods a few times. Taking the edge to a higher finish, then adding some tooth back to it seems to result in a crisper edge, more refined. It has a slightly higher degree of cutting performance and edge retention then when just sharpened on the medium ceramic.

This knife floats through vegetables like carrots, turnips and carrots. Meat parts with the slightest of pressure. The steel is hard enough for me to run an even thinner edge, but I like the ease of a 15 degree edge, as I can just run it on the sharpmaker on rare occasion to freshen up the edge.

For light to moderate field work, I prefer a Mora 2000 or a IKW Cliff knife in 1/16" L6. More precise handling and better ergonomics.

 

[knifetester]

Here is a slightly better image of the Cliff knife from Mike Mann at IKW. . .

FWIW, it is the hardest L6 blade I have used, very good edge retention.