Weird knives, one is a Camillus.

G

gben

Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Messages
501
Hi all, I got these two knives with a lot of tools that used to belong to a shipwright in the early 20th century. The only thing I have heard so far is that they were called Marking knives for marking trees, but a guy who used to work as a forester said that they would certainly not work for marking the three-inch thick bark on a Douglas Fir. These are lightly built and I think they were for some sort of more delicate work. Marking rough barked trees would have had them falling apart and that is what a cruiser axe was for anyway. One of these is marked Camillus and one is marked Hammer Brand to the best of my memory.

11990398_883736695050545_1833968462258186486_n.jpg
 
I'm probably wrong but I believe they were for cleaning the hooves of horses.
 
They are called "race" (raze) knifes and used to mark wood. You use the tool with a pull stroke. Boat builders sometimes used them to mark the waterline on the hull to easily see it for repainting. I know I had seen pictures of them somewhere and sure enough Levine's 5th Guide to Knives has them on page 290. No boat building from my hills but they did use them to scribe the base of hardwood logs for ownership.
In the days before spray paint.

300Bucks
 
sac troop said:
I've got one of those old hoof knives. I definitely see the similarity.
Click to expand...
Now that you mention it, I don't think Camillus ever made a hoof knife.
Timber scribe, paratrooper knife, knives outfitted with a can opener, awl, the Red Cross knife, electrician knife ... but no hoof knife????
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top