Armor plate Knife

[Westfront]

It's not exactly a 'todays find' more like 'transformation finished today', so Mods feel free to move this if you think to do so.

It's made of a find i found in Feb. this year when i was on a battlefield search with a team of the German University of Osnabrück and a film team of National Geographic. We were researching German and American front lines in the Hurtgen Forest.

The truck with digging equipment and GPS stuff

German canteen with bullet hole, american cable drum for field phones and German mortar.

It was cold on the free field. Really cold. But the only time of the year we could work there.

Now to the knife. We found a piece of armor plate when excavating an US dugout filled with trash from the battle. It had a nice ring when hit with metal, the ring hardened steel has. As this piece was not of interest i took it from the trash bin to take it as souvenir.
On my way back home an idea became a plan. And it was a long icy way home.

Cleaned up and shaped into a knife this plate hit the gas forge.

Forging the blade

First try with the Elmwood handles. I'm more familar with steel than wood...

Finished knife, hardened, polished an sharpened. I did some filework on the back.

Today i finished the display with a brass plate.
It says: forged from armor plate, found in the Hurtgen forest, 1944/2019

Thanks for looking!

 

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[smallfoot]

Very nice!

 

[marion moore]

Wow, a great fine, and work transforming into a great looking knife, cool display also. Thanks for posting. Marion from the upstate of s.c.

 

[Kray Gelder]

Some sobering finds, and a great job re-purposing that piece of wartime steel. You did outstanding work on that!

 

[WG2020]

Westfront...thanks for the great story, very interesting to see a battlefield hunt...amazing job on crafting the knife and display plaque..definitely a memory you will never forget...good luck with your hunts. Walt

 

[Johncoho]

That is really nice. Also a very nice presentation and photos. Thank you.

 

[Westfront]

Westfront...thanks for the great story, very interesting to see a battlefield hunt...amazing job on crafting the knife and display plaque..definitely a memory you will never forget...good luck with your hunts. Walt

Thank You! It's not the first knife i made, but this was really special with the history behind it.
I'm invited every year to detect for the University. Their plan is to create a virtual map of the battlefield with magnetometer and ground radar. Great thing is to detect sites to confirm the combat reports written during the battle.
This battlefield is kind of national heritage and detecting is strictly prohibited. It's like the chance to detect Gettysburg.

 

[Westfront]

Thanks all!

 

[dirtlooter]

As a kid in Germany in the early 60s, "we" found numerous items that were still live like mortar rounds that were taken from us by security police and rightly so. I love making knives as well and yours is super awesome for what it is made of and from. very cool job.

 

[Horst]

Boy howdy das ist mal wirklich was Besonderes!!!!!! Danke für die coole Geschichte.

 

[dansalata]

nicework!!! excellent ide
a!!!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Great job with the knife, congrats!

 

[Hawks88]

Beautiful absolutely beautiful job. Congrats

 

[Subterranean]

Absolutely fantastic. Sub

 

[A2coins]

Thanks for sharing that great job you did and those finds are nothing short of amazing I would hunt that spot in my boxers to find any of that stuff Welldone and great post my Friend Tommy

 

[xcopperstax]

The workmanship you put into this is something in itself but this is a really cool use of something historical that I'd deem to be garbage. Nice save and repurpose of it and I think that it gives your new piece a certain kind of historical heaviness. I like it!

 

[CRUSADER]

Very nice, theirs a hidden talent I didn't know you had!

 

[Switchblade]

Sweet finds and blade!!

 

[landmagnet]

Absolutely incredible work. Boy it looked cold in the field!

 

[Westfront]

Very nice, theirs a hidden talent I didn't know you had!

Handcraft is my thing, especially metalworking. Must be because of my job restoring classic cars.