Help identify this piece

Ian · 24th July 2026, 03:49 PM

I would like to thank everyone for the spirit of inquiry and creative suggestions for this interesting old knife. There seems to be a consensus that this is a tool for a specific task, and my opinion is the same. The recent post by Alan, quoting a friend, is helpful in thinking about how the knife was used.

Just an observation or two to add about the chisel grind. I've seen a few chisel ground knives and swords from the Philippines and elsewhere that were hand made and hand ground by skilled, experienced cutlers. However, the grind on the knife shown here is a level above those examples in the precision of its grind. The top of the bevel is perfectly straight and the width of the bevel is constant along the blade length. This feature was created in a machine shop IMHO, and is not an ethnographic knife made by a local blacksmith.

The fact that the edge shows no nicks or dings suggests it was not abused by striking hard surfaces and the blade was well maintained. There is no suggestion that the tip or belly were used preferentially, which might have led to uneven edge wear. The blade seems to have been used equally along its whole length, as Alan's friend described. While the hilt shows age, old damage, and repairs, the business part of the knife--its blade--is in remarkably good shape.

And then there is the heavy leather sheath held together by rivets. This might again fit with the opinion of Alan's friend who favors a leather-working industrial tool. The idea of slicing through a tough piece of leather to mend machine belts is appealing given the "industrial" appearance of this knife and sheath.

Putting an age to this knife is hard. My guess would be last quarter of the 19th C/first quarter of the 20th C. This covers a period when machinery using belts was prominent around the world, in both civilian and military settings.

P.S. the only linoleum knives i know of have hooked blades with the cutting edge on the concave side (think Chilean corvo).

24th July 2026, 03:49 PM	#20
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,747	I would like to thank everyone for the spirit of inquiry and creative suggestions for this interesting old knife. There seems to be a consensus that this is a tool for a specific task, and my opinion is the same. The recent post by Alan, quoting a friend, is helpful in thinking about how the knife was used. Just an observation or two to add about the chisel grind. I've seen a few chisel ground knives and swords from the Philippines and elsewhere that were hand made and hand ground by skilled, experienced cutlers. However, the grind on the knife shown here is a level above those examples in the precision of its grind. The top of the bevel is perfectly straight and the width of the bevel is constant along the blade length. This feature was created in a machine shop IMHO, and is not an ethnographic knife made by a local blacksmith. The fact that the edge shows no nicks or dings suggests it was not abused by striking hard surfaces and the blade was well maintained. There is no suggestion that the tip or belly were used preferentially, which might have led to uneven edge wear. The blade seems to have been used equally along its whole length, as Alan's friend described. While the hilt shows age, old damage, and repairs, the business part of the knife--its blade--is in remarkably good shape. And then there is the heavy leather sheath held together by rivets. This might again fit with the opinion of Alan's friend who favors a leather-working industrial tool. The idea of slicing through a tough piece of leather to mend machine belts is appealing given the "industrial" appearance of this knife and sheath. Putting an age to this knife is hard. My guess would be last quarter of the 19th C/first quarter of the 20th C. This covers a period when machinery using belts was prominent around the world, in both civilian and military settings. P.S. the only linoleum knives i know of have hooked blades with the cutting edge on the concave side (think Chilean corvo).