[archer]

Jim and Kronckew, thanks for all your information on this one. A couple of things made Me wonder about whether someone made it up to be deceptive. First would the ability to drill this hard steel be available to a Native American who needed a knife and was clever enough to visualize this marriage. It turns out that some shears were made from three parts riveted together. Research also points out that some shears were made with the blade canted so the shearers hand cleared the sheep's body. The offset can be seen in the photo. The offset speaks to a real need for a knife, as most shears would be inline with the hilt. lastly, the copper wire wrapped around the handle doesn't have any function, the rivets solidly secure the hilt. So it looks like the wire was stored there, much as survival knives would have Parachute cord. Jim I looked at the threads you mentioned, thats a thread that should be archival and ongoing. Kronckew, I added an example of modern use of one of these blades. Could you give you pm Me the link to that forum?

Everything about this seems to say it is quite old and well used as a knife.It's the things you learn inadvertently that makes collecting and this Forum so much fun.
Steve