The "Gaucho" Knife

The gaucho ones I have seen also look like a french chef knife. There was a Damascus one in the exchange not long ago by South American maker (Brasilian?) thst reminded of one.
 
Horsewright said:
I had read somewhere that they were derived from French chef knives but I have no source material just dim rememberings.

Here in California the early Californios carried a similar knife called a punal. Punal is basically dagger in Spanish. The renderings I have seen in art work etc of the Californio punal is much less daggerish as we would know it and much more gaucho knife-ish. It was normally kept in the right boot or bota. Cattle were raised here by the hundreds of thousands and not for meat but for their hides and tallow. A dried untanned cowhide was known as a Californian Dollar. The cattle were gathered in an area and the Vaqueros would ride quietly through the herd. They would stab the cattle right between the head and neck in the poll killing them instantly as they rode by with their punals. After the slaughter, workers would come, skin the cattle, render the fat into tallow and load everything into cartas and then get the heck out of dodge cause the meat was left and the huge California grizzlies were coming to the killing fields. Trading ships waited off shore and the Rancheros were ferried out to the ships to do their shopping with their California dollars.
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Fascinating story. Reminds me of The Longhorns by J. Frank Dobie chronicling the origins of the breed and the men who built their fortunes, or lost their lives, because of them. The first chapter or so describes old Los Angeles as a cattle town and the practices of the Spanish/Mexican vaqueros that laid the foundation for the tack and practices of the American cowboy. At least an entire chapter was dedicated to the many applications of rawhide in everything from hobbles to rafters. Seems like rawhide and the gaucho/criollo/punal knife just belong together.
 
That's a beautiful knife Craig. Gauchos always look so fast in hand and never clunky, I'm gonna have to remember that.
 
I've got some extra manpower staying with me, I'll e using them to help get these 3/4" bars of 52100 squished down for the integral. Without a hydraulic press it's tricky to do with two hands, now I've got a few extra pairs to help.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
I've got some extra manpower staying with me, I'll e using them to help get these 3/4" bars of 52100 squished down for the integral. Without a hydraulic press it's tricky to do with two hands, now I've got a few extra pairs to help.
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Way to go, cannot wait to see some experimenting with this style of knife. If you ever would like to see mine I can send it to you or take some better pics.
 
Quick update in this. Had my company help with squishing some bars. Got the plunges set in and the tangs started in two pieces of 3/4" 52100 round stock. Now if I can get the tangs drawn out and forge the blade without doing too much damage the plunge we'll be in good shape. I've got about 9" of bar past the plunge to play with so I'm hoping to get over 12" for the blade after it's drawn out.
 
Being my first integral bolster, learning as I go here. The piece on the right has been pinched down to define the bolster. The piece on the left started the same way but has the tang drawn out. Both are 3/4" 52100.

From here we'll (Roy's my forging partner) forge the blade out and hopefully be able to draw it down enough to have a tall enough blade profile.
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I used a plate with a hole we punched in it and hammered the rod down vertically into it to help define the tang/bolster junction. That created a slight upset that you can see in the back of the bolster, hoping to be able to keep that and have it flow into the handle.
 
I love seeing the WIP, John. I'm always amazed at seeing formless hunks of metal being turned into glorious blades.
 
Pàdruig said:
I love seeing the WIP, John. I'm always amazed at seeing formless hunks of metal being turned into glorious blades.
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Fingers crossed I can pull it off. I was hoping to get as long a blade as I could forge out of the bar but my 18" kiln depth is gonna limit us a bit, I'm gonna try to get between 11 and 12 inches out of the blade. Next time I'll use a simpler steel like 80crv2 or 5160 that I can heat treat straight from the forge. They're a little more forgiving with temperature than 52100.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Fingers crossed I can pull it off. I was hoping to get as long a blade as I could forge out of the bar but my 18" kiln depth is gonna limit us a bit, I'm gonna try to get between 11 and 12 inches out of the blade. Next time I'll use a simpler steel like 80crv2 or 5160 that I can heat treat straight from the forge. They're a little more forgiving with temperature than 52100.
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I have no doubts to your capabilities - it's going to be awesome!
 
Thanks Dylan, appreciate it brother. Gettin that steel pulled down below in front of the bolster is gettin tricky. First time I've forged from rod, it's a little different but I'm liking it so far. I will say forging 3/4" stock is no joke.
 
More power to you, and keep up the learning curve, diligence pays off and new experience adds to you skill set. Looking forward to see how these come out.
 
Got everything forged out yesterday, I didn't get the blade as tall as I'd hoped. I tried working the rod in front of the bolster down but just didn't have enough steel to get the height I'd planned. 1" bar would have afforded my skill level enough steel but would be an absolute beast to work out by hand, 3/4" was tough enough. The kids said we need to get a hydraulic press.

It's gonna be more sleek than I had planned but it'll still be in the gaucho genre. Blade is about 11 inches in front of the bolster.

I sent Roy to the wood box and he picked out some mesquite burl that I had stabilized a while back. I'm thinking a thin rounded Nickel butt plate with a peened tang.

I've got to do a little refining and straighten the tang out yet but we should be in business.
 
Sounds cool. It will be fun to see how this develops. I think a 7 to 9 inch would be the sweet spot for the blade length.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Got everything forged out yesterday, I didn't get the blade as tall as I'd hoped. I tried working the rod in front of the bolster down but just didn't have enough steel to get the height I'd planned. 1" bar would have afforded my skill level enough steel but would be an absolute beast to work out by hand, 3/4" was tough enough. The kids said we need to get a hydraulic press.

It's gonna be more sleek than I had planned but it'll still be in the gaucho genre. Blade is about 11 inches in front of the bolster.

I sent Roy to the wood box and he picked out some mesquite burl that I had stabilized a while back. I'm thinking a thin rounded Nickel butt plate with a peened tang.

I've got to do a little refining and straighten the tang out yet but we should be in business.
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Sounds pretty special, John, regardless of its leanness.

I only have one knife dressed up in Mesquite - but it's a beaut'!

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Oh man that's a beautiful knife Dylan, I love that shield.

Mesquite is awesome, it has really great color to it. I have an old knife I made I think before I had a makers mark with mesquite on it. I finger rubbed a drop of Danish oil into it every day for a couple of weeks and it turned out really nice. I'll have to find it and get a picture.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
Oh man that's a beautiful knife Dylan, I love that shield.

Mesquite is awesome, it has really great color to it. I have an old knife I made I think before I had a makers mark with mesquite on it. I finger rubbed a drop of Danish oil into it every day for a couple of weeks and it turned out really nice. I'll have to find it and get a picture.
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Mesquite?

I was just given a large board of mesquite. Haven't really started cutting into it yet:

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The one on the right is the mesquite and the one on the left I didn't know, neither did the guy that gave it to me. Its ironwood hard and ironwood heavy. I was cutting it open to see if I could figure er out and knew as soon as I cut into it what it was.

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Bocote:

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