Dagger found on a early site

[DigIron2]

I found this relic in Spotsylvania Va some years back.Where I found it makes me think It saw some Civil war usage,but looking at it,and stuff I found around it, I think it goes back much earlier.The whole knife was forged out of one piece of iron,"guard and all" ,which is kind of unusual.I took it to some local civil war shops,but they couldn't tell me anything about it.So I just call it the pirate knife

 

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[AQUA]

That is very interesting....

I,m very curious to hear what people have to say on that knife. !!!!

Too cool. Looks medieval.

 

[GatorBoy]

It reminds me of the throwing knife

 

[Jpro]

Looks like a Sheffield knife..some Bowie knives were smaller too and local forged.

 

[genlee]

It is not to unusual to see an integral Blade, especially going back to the 1700's, the blade suggests it's utilitarian in nature. What is the thickness at the center point and the width of the blade at its widest point. And if I could get it to a grinder, to do a small spark test I could tell you what type of steel it was and how much carbon was present.

They generally had to make their own carbon steel in those days, or if an old Carriage spring was available to the smith, they could make several very sturdy knives form that. If you have any questions please feel free to ask as I am a Master Bladesmith.


John

 

[Pointman]

It is not to unusual to see an integral Blade, especially going back to the 1700's, the blade suggests it's utilitarian in nature. What is the thickness at the center point and the width of the blade at its widest point. And if I could get it to a grinder, to do a small spark test I could tell you what type of steel it was and how much carbon was present.

They generally had to make their own carbon steel in those days, or if an old Carriage spring was available to the smith, they could make several very sturdy knives form that. If you have any questions please feel free to ask as I am a Master Bladesmith.


John

Nice find. Very interesting information. I studied knife making and being a master bladesmith is really a big deal and a lot of work goes into becoming one. I thought about getting into knife making myself.

 

[genlee]

I would love to see some more images of the blade.

John

 

[ekeisler]

Pike blade?

 

[vpnavy]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[GatorBoy]

Still think its a throwing knife.

 

[DigIron2]

Pike blade?


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It does look allot like a pike head but the handle is solid.That was the civil war buffs first impression when I showed it to them until they saw the handle

 

[DigIron2]

Still think its a throwing knife.

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View attachment 954430

It very well could be!It was made pretty balanced.My impression is that it was made for stabbing in combat,but it probably could have been thrown well too.

 

[DigIron2]

It is not to unusual to see an integral Blade, especially going back to the 1700's, the blade suggests it's utilitarian in nature. What is the thickness at the center point and the width of the blade at its widest point. And if I could get it to a grinder, to do a small spark test I could tell you what type of steel it was and how much carbon was present.

They generally had to make their own carbon steel in those days, or if an old Carriage spring was available to the smith, they could make several very sturdy knives form that. If you have any questions please feel free to ask as I am a Master Bladesmith.


John

As far as I can tell,the center point of blade is about 1/4 thick and the widest part of blade is 1 1/4 wide.what i was referring to being unusual,is the integrally forged guard.Hope those measurements help some.I would really like to know some more about it.

 

[Pointman]

Throwing knives are balanced usually in front of the guard, where they will spin end over end very fluidly when they are thrown. I have seen and used knives for throwing that were out of balance and you have to adjust your grip accordingly. I doubt that this knife is for throwing and I realize that it would be inaccurate or inconclusive to know this simply by the balance alone, although it does have a simplistic design like a traditional throwing knife.

 

[genlee]

I would suggest you go over and register at Bladesmith's Forum Board There are a lot of gents and ladies over there who study the old ways of forging, there is a large group out of Europe who might be able to chime in.

I am incline to think it was not a throwing knife, but as i stated a utilitarian knife simply since it is all one piece, no handle to replace or guards just a pure working blade. Getting a good handle on how old the blade is will also clue us in. And it could very well have been a blade used in the Civil War as I am an avid Relic Hunter myself.

I would like to test the blade to see if it was mid to high carbon, this would also tell us what it might have been used for. As high carbon blades were a commodity back then and cost a few bucks.

This blade also do not appear to be a home forged blade as some one put some thought into this piece as the bevels have a fair degree of accuracy, along with the guard which has nice accurate angles to it.

And to be honest the more I look at the blade it looks more like a boot knife, with the slender guard and handle. Just my opinion.

John

 

[vhakra]

Definitely a cool find! Something like this always makes me think of the stories it has.

 

[Bum Luck]

Still think its a throwing knife. View attachment 954430

Your wife?

 

[GatorBoy]

Nah.. Not married.
She just lost a bet that had something to do with a cigar and a goat