ole timey butcher knife

D

DennisStrickland

BANNED
Joined
Jun 24, 2009
Messages
5,040
DSC00140.jpg

do'nt know if this is right section but thought you guys might want to see what they used to use back when the old timey butchers were working. i beleive they called these breaking knives, 12 in. blade.
 
Nice looking knife. Reminds me of some of the Old Hickory knives floating around, except with better handles.
 
Cool knife.Reminds me of Bill Cutting from the movie gangs of new york. Looks like something he would carry in to battle.
 
Sorry for the terrible picture. This is a W.R. Case & Sons with a 14 inch blade. You can barely see the swedge which goes nearly half the blade. It has a new handle of zebrawood or some such. These long ones were used to cut out huge round steaks from the upper hindquarter of mature cattle, I believe. Some other long ones had a sweeping upper curve and were called scimitars or "steak" knives, like Dennis' knife. Some had even more pronounced curves. I think this Case was sometimes called a "bullnose," not to be confused with Elliot's Bullheads. :D

IMG_1278.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Got a couple like that but sadly no case.
A weck and mueller and a beautiful unmarked one just like the case
mine is 9 1/2 inches ,lol
 
Great knives!. (And I like that "Bullnose" though I can hardly take any credit for the "Bull-Heads". That would go to BRL. ;))

I've got an I. Wilson from the late 19th century and a couple of nice Cold Steel "Hudson Bay" replicas from some years back.

orig.jpg


orig.jpg
 
i wilsons were considered the finest of the old buffalo skinners. shear steel double x-tra forged. shear steel was made by placing thin strips of iron in a iron oven with charcoal dust sprinkled on the bars. these were brought up to high heat & THE CHARCOAL WOULD DISSOLVE SOME CARBON INTO THE SURFACE OF THE IRON BARS. THIS IN PLACE WAS BROKEN UP & forged into what was now steel bars. double sahear was were the bars were forged & then broken uo a second time & the charcoal --dust heating then breaking up & forging into a more homogenous mass to be made into knives. as primitive as it sounds the i. wilson knives were superior edge holders & still catalogued in sears catalog as late as 1918 or so. i met the fellow whom authored the story in the blade mag about 1978. name was lee something. his statement was " the old hunters gave the highest praise to I.Wilson, they called for them by name" beleive or not these old knives competed with some of the best hunters into the 1970s. as far as i know this was never done much outside of sheffield.
 
Nice writeup Dennis. :thumbup:

I always meant to get a few of the various Wilson's but never got around to it. It was due to their popularity with the old mountain men and Lewis & Clark expedition that initially got me interested in them years ago.
 
I was told this was old,but now I know more about it.Thanks :thumbup:
Tony Bose put the handle on this one.

DSC01703.jpg


DSC01706.jpg
 
Interesting on that shear process. Sounds like it would make a granulated damascus steel. Seems like that's what you see in the closeup.
 
vcm3 that pattern of wilson i have'nt seen . could be 100 yrs. old. for interested formites could check with levine , he knows quite a bit about these old butcher knives including another great from the same period,-- A.J.Jordan triple a best .
 
DennisStrickland said:
vcm3 that pattern of wilson i have'nt seen . could be 100 yrs. old. for interested formites could check with levine , he knows quite a bit about these old butcher knives including another great from the same period,-- A.J.Jordan triple a best .
Click to expand...

Anything marked Sheffield along with "England" is post 1890. The rest would be based upon handles, rivets, condition and a better eye and more knowledge than I possess. Agree that BRL would be a good source for more info.
 
There was a documentary on sheffield not that long ago and they tried to show how the old knives were made, they couldn't find a single person who could remember how it was actually done. They still had some boxes and an older guy who had been a boy at the time who remembered the guys using the boxes to make the steel - but that was it :(
 
That knife I posted,was picked up by a friend of mine who lives over there in England,one of three blades,that never were used,or,had handles put on them.He sent 2 to Tony,one for Tony & myself.Tony very kindly & generously put the Ebony scales on it & I think I hear he is going to do his,in stag.Tony says its old & they are great cutters.It was sent to me razor sharp & I was told its about 100 yr old blank.
Its a hefty cool cutter!!
-Vince
 
Maybe its the ex butcher in me, but i come check this thread everytime I sign on.

I've got some of mine from the 70's up to early 90's... but this thread has me wanting an OLD one! Dang you people:grumpy::p


Thanks for the pics!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top