The $3.00 Knife

O

Old John

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Jan 18, 2018
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Some years ago in the '80s I went to a genuine Army surplus store. There were a lot of them back then; and they had some really good stuff. Most of the stuff was pretty reasonable. On this particular occasion I spotted a rather ugly knife. It looked homemade. I don't think I've ever seen an uglier knife since with the exception of all the designs today that look more like fantasy knives. But, from a usable knife standpoint (and this knife was definitely usable if you could forego the looks), this knife was embarrassing. The price was $3.00.

I've got a lot of beautiful knives, some more expensive than others; and every one of them is a user. The fact that some could be displayed does not negate their usability. But I'm not ashamed to buy and own a cheap blade if it is serviceable. In this case I picked up the knife and examined it. It had a dense hardwood handle fitted tightly to the blade. There was no slop or separation. The blade was full tang and a bit over 1/16 inch thick to my recollection and very springy steel. It was so springy you could play a song on it like a saw blade. For all I knew the blade was made from a saw blade. It was flat ground from the spine to an extremely sharp edge. There was nothing to protect the hand from sliding down the grip onto the blade if not careful.

I bought the knife and reworked its appearance in my spare time. It had no sheath; and I didn't make one. That knife became my favorite; and the blade developed a nice brown patina from slicing various fruits and veggies. I and a couple of friends mishandled it on occasion and drew blood. It was always shaving sharp and easy to keep sharp.

One night a friend and I went cat fishing. On his first catch he set about cutting it up with his knife. I could see he was having difficulty; so I lent him this blade. He was a good friend; and I told him to keep the knife as a present. Mmmm...I've made a lot of bad mistakes that way. Wish I still had that knife. Guess I'll have to get one of my old saw blades out and make my own.

I research different steels when I buy a knife; and each has a bias and a fascination. I like all my knives. But, to be perfectly honest, I sure miss that $3.00 knife.
 
Reminds me of the knife my Mom had when I was growing up except she didn't use it in the kitchen . . . though she kept it in the kitchen under the sink on the cabinet door next to a nice set of pliers. She tacked a strip of leather to the cabinet door (or the people who owned the house before us did) and it had loops to stick stuff into . . . I think there was a screwdriver there to . . . maybe an awl.

Anyway when she was working some where in the house or yard and she needed that knife she would say "Go get me the frog stabber". That's what she called it.

Gosh it was ugly; old round handle with pinkish house paint on it. When I closed up the house and it was sold after they passed I couldn't find that knife . . . I do have her pliers though. She was pretty handy considering.

She was a professional drapery person. While she was working she put drapes in the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado that she sewed and hung. Long after she retired she sewed the drapes for my grade school auditorium. I remember her making them in our living room . . . piles and piles of material. She wasn't fooling around; she was good !
 
The generation before me could do just about anything. We do pretty good; but they did real good. Growing up we liked just about any kind of knife as long as it was ours. There were a lot of handmade ones from old files. I've still got a bunch. Most of the farms around me had some kind of forge, small as they were, to take care of business. I don't spend much time restoring the old blades except to sharpen them from time to time for some odd job that would mess up a better knife. I hate to screw up a really good knife.
 
Old John said:
Some years ago in the '80s I went to a genuine Army surplus store. There were a lot of them back then; and they had some really good stuff. Most of the stuff was pretty reasonable. On this particular occasion I spotted a rather ugly knife. It looked homemade. I don't think I've ever seen an uglier knife since with the exception of all the designs today that look more like fantasy knives. But, from a usable knife standpoint (and this knife was definitely usable if you could forego the looks), this knife was embarrassing. The price was $3.00.

I've got a lot of beautiful knives, some more expensive than others; and every one of them is a user. The fact that some could be displayed does not negate their usability. But I'm not ashamed to buy and own a cheap blade if it is serviceable. In this case I picked up the knife and examined it. It had a dense hardwood handle fitted tightly to the blade. There was no slop or separation. The blade was full tang and a bit over 1/16 inch thick to my recollection and very springy steel. It was so springy you could play a song on it like a saw blade. For all I knew the blade was made from a saw blade. It was flat ground from the spine to an extremely sharp edge. There was nothing to protect the hand from sliding down the grip onto the blade if not careful.

I bought the knife and reworked its appearance in my spare time. It had no sheath; and I didn't make one. That knife became my favorite; and the blade developed a nice brown patina from slicing various fruits and veggies. I and a couple of friends mishandled it on occasion and drew blood. It was always shaving sharp and easy to keep sharp.

One night a friend and I went cat fishing. On his first catch he set about cutting it up with his knife. I could see he was having difficulty; so I lent him this blade. He was a good friend; and I told him to keep the knife as a present. Mmmm...I've made a lot of bad mistakes that way. Wish I still had that knife. Guess I'll have to get one of my old saw blades out and make my own.

I research different steels when I buy a knife; and each has a bias and a fascination. I like all my knives. But, to be perfectly honest, I sure miss that $3.00 knife.
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Sounds like you found a real gem in the rough!:thumbsup: Too bad you let her go with regrets?:(
 
Wowbagger said:
Buy some "mobetta" knife and offer to trade him.
I bet he would go for it.
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I would try this. Make sure you mention you are doing it since you miss your knife and you are "upgrading" him. A friend would understand and appreciate the "upgrade". Hopefully....

Good luck.
 
As suggested you could buy something better to trade back to your friend with, or you could just get yourself an Ontario Old HICKORY knife which would probably perform very similarly.
 
Hmmm. Unfortunately the friend now lives 1500 miles away and I haven't seen him in 20 years. But, in all honestly, I don't regret giving it to him - only that I don't have it if that makes sense. I've given many knives away to family as well. If a particular one is missed I just get another. I suppose it's a way to get others interested in the game.
 
I have some Old Hickory and they are ok for some things but no comparison to the gift knife. And some friends are temporary as in this case work related. Once retired the list narrows. I'm inclined to make my own someday. Seems easy enough in this case. Saw blade, hammer, grinder, scales. Pretty sure that's how the original was made. Mostly this thread was to make a point about never overlooking a blade no matter how inexpensive or crude.
 
Old John said:
... It had a dense hardwood handle fitted tightly to the blade. There was no slop or separation. The blade was full tang and a bit over 1/16 inch thick to my recollection and very springy steel. It was so springy you could play a song on it like a saw blade...
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Sounds like the Ontario 6" Cabbage Knife I bought recently. Flat-ground from the spine, thin, springy. I suspect the 7" Hop/Field knife is about the same. Blade grind is nice, handle not so much. I like using it in the kitchen.

A shorter and stiffer knife that is similar is the 4 1/2" Russell Green River # 2212 [AKA
Dexter Russell 2212 (10311)] There are a couple mod threads here ( or Bushcraft?) about that one.

oh-5075.jpg


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I like all those you just mentioned and have several. They are nice for the price and various applications. But I'm pretty sure the $3.00 was a homemade knife. The blade was super thin less than 1/8 and more than 1/16. I like the blades you just posted.
 
FWIW, pretty much all alloys of steel have nearly the exact same modulus of elasticity ("springiness"), whether heat treated or not. I bet yours felt that way because of the thin stock.
 
Th
USMCPOP said:
Sounds like the Ontario 6" Cabbage Knife I bought recently. Flat-ground from the spine, thin, springy. I suspect the 7" Hop/Field knife is about the same. Blade grind is nice, handle not so much. I like using it in the kitchen.

A shorter and stiffer knife that is similar is the 4 1/2" Russell Green River # 2212 [AKA
Dexter Russell 2212 (10311)] There are a couple mod threads here ( or Bushcraft?) about that one.

oh-5075.jpg


images

images
Click to expand...
That true edge is awesome, I may have to get me one.
 
I like carbon steel kitchen knives. Cut up stuff and smell the steel before the food cooks enough to have a smell. Actually there is some chemistry behind the "smell of steel" and it has to do with oils or whatnot in your hands reacting with the carbon steel. No kidding. I like watching the patina develop on this cabbage knife all by itself, no assistance needed. Cheap knife and the finish is rough except for the blade itself. It's a field knife. I'm going to get a couple more. The Russell is prettier.

I may have to hunt up a crude kitchen knife I made (or helped make) about 40 years ago in Thailand. The steel was from a piece of reciprocating hacksaw blade I got from a machine shop. Mystery steel, could have been high-speed steel. Forged, quenched, hard as woodpecker lips and doesn't rust readily. Has some jimping on the spine where I didn't quite grind off the hacksaw blade teeth. Has to be the world's ugliest 5" kitchen knife, what with the crooked handle kerf. Handle has two brass pins from a brazing rod.
 
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I certainly like all these posts. BTW, after looking at a few blades in the drawer I have to revise the thickness of that $3.00 blade to 1/16 inch. I don't believe it was ever heat treated or tempered. Most likely it was fashioned from an old saw blade that was already treated. I think it was simply ground to shape such as it was if you can call it a shape. Like I said, I had to rework the whole knife on a grinder myself. And I don't mind patina on certain knives.
 
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