Miner's Shiv?

[IMAUDIGGER]

This was found at a miners cabin out west dating to the beginning of the Gold Rush.
It's made out of sheet metal during a time when the only method of cutting the metal was to heat it up and use a hammer and chisel. All the edges have been chisel cut.

Gotta wonder what situation these men were in.
Maybe had to trade their weapons away for food and supplies?

 

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[gunsil]

There were metal shears in use at that time. I seriously doubt the found item is a "shiv".

 

[ticndig]

I don't think it's a knife , have you ever seen a tin knife ? knives were hand forged then and still are today by many hobbyist.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I’ve done enough research and manual labor to know it’s not out of the question. The first couple years in the northern goldfields of California were pretty much a critical survival situation for some. Things quickly changed as time passed.

Blacksmithing appears to have been an unforeseen survival skill. Most sucked at it, but made do. There was an obvious lack of understanding about the annealing process. Many brand new tools broke and were repurposed. “forging” simply meant heating up metal and pounding it into the shape you wanted.

Some brought their trade and tools with them and made a good living working for larger partnerships. Everyone else just practiced.

Here is a very thin knife...a third the thickness. Sharpened 8-inch butter knife?





Then what I believe to be a knife blank...5/16” thick




Here is some chisel cut sheet metal...
Who knows what they were doing...patching some punch plate?





Maybe the guy was just bored, but it is clearly knife shaped and doesn’t appear to serve any other purpose.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Here is a piece of strap steel from the same location that I believe was briefly repurposed as a make shift crevicing tool.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

It could just be a curiously shaped remnant scrap.