Arkansas Paul
Member
Sounds like you still came out good. Nice knife still.
What the heck did I just buy?
- Thread starter DammitBoy
- Start date
- Status
Nighteyes
Member
Yup. I once saw one that had a NAIL tack-welded to the blade for use as a tang. It didn't take much use before it came apart.
DammitBoy
Member
Well, I've dropped it off with the Smith, I'm hoping the tang passes inspection...
Last edited:
Deltaboy1984
Member
Good. Buy.
HoosierQ
Member
It's a reproduction intended for use by re-enactors etc. It may well be a nice item but it's not a Civil War piece. The stamp, regardless of what it says, screams 20th century. You cannot go by what the stamp says on just about any knife...not by itself. It seems to be a rather nice looking object. The stag handle is kind of cool. The blade itself, while not screaming as loudly as the stamp, seems to be suggestive of Pakistan or India.
I think for $75 you did quite well. What one fears most from India and Pakistan is the lack of a heat treatment (or a competent one). If that knife has been heat treated properly to get it up into the middle 50s, it may take and hold a pretty good edge. If indeed we are talking that part of the world, these thing are usually made from recycled automobile or truck leaf springs. That is a time honored method and many fine American makers, especially in the early and middle 20th century used them. Ruana, a very valuable knife, were originally made from Studebaker leaf springs.
Here is the thing about "Civil War Memorabila". Sure somebody out there somewhere has a bowie knife (or a musket or a uniform or a flag) from the Civil war. The problem comes from the fact that these items have been very collectible practically back to the time when the ink of Lee's signature on the surrender at Appomattox was still wet. So we have 150 years of collection activity which has coincided with 150 years of replica making. Some of it simply because the items was desired, and thus not "fakery"...others made to sell at high prices and fraudulently represented.
Your seller was selling these items as Civil War relics...which may be a little shady...but he was pricing them at prices more or less in line with their intrinsic value...assuming they were heat treated. So, kind of a no blood no foul kind of deal. I wouldn't enter into any binding contracts with the seller frankly but I'd certainly not bother to hold any ill-will toward the guy.
Had you paid $30,000...then you got a problem.
All and all, a nice looking item. I say, fix 'er up to your heart's content and you'll have a fine looking user that you can be proud of...again...if it has a heat treatment.
I think for $75 you did quite well. What one fears most from India and Pakistan is the lack of a heat treatment (or a competent one). If that knife has been heat treated properly to get it up into the middle 50s, it may take and hold a pretty good edge. If indeed we are talking that part of the world, these thing are usually made from recycled automobile or truck leaf springs. That is a time honored method and many fine American makers, especially in the early and middle 20th century used them. Ruana, a very valuable knife, were originally made from Studebaker leaf springs.
Here is the thing about "Civil War Memorabila". Sure somebody out there somewhere has a bowie knife (or a musket or a uniform or a flag) from the Civil war. The problem comes from the fact that these items have been very collectible practically back to the time when the ink of Lee's signature on the surrender at Appomattox was still wet. So we have 150 years of collection activity which has coincided with 150 years of replica making. Some of it simply because the items was desired, and thus not "fakery"...others made to sell at high prices and fraudulently represented.
Your seller was selling these items as Civil War relics...which may be a little shady...but he was pricing them at prices more or less in line with their intrinsic value...assuming they were heat treated. So, kind of a no blood no foul kind of deal. I wouldn't enter into any binding contracts with the seller frankly but I'd certainly not bother to hold any ill-will toward the guy.
Had you paid $30,000...then you got a problem.
All and all, a nice looking item. I say, fix 'er up to your heart's content and you'll have a fine looking user that you can be proud of...again...if it has a heat treatment.
Last edited:
DammitBoy
Member
Thanks for the info, it's appreciated, as I said, I'm not a knife guy.
Just a couple of corrections though. I was not looking for civil war memorabilia, I just saw a nice looking knife and made an offer. It was not until I examined the knife closely, that I thought it might be something more than just a neat blade.
As to the seller, he did not represent the knife as an artifact of the civil war. Anything on his table that he claimed as authentic was clearly labeled as such. He had replicas labeled in the same fashion. The only thing he claimed was that this was a Bowie knife design he considered worth $100.
The guy tightening up the knife for me says its tang is just fine for 'vigorous use' and he believes it to be automotive spring steel that has been hardened. He says it took an edge well and he won't be surprised if it holds a good edge. So I'm happy with the end result.
Just a couple of corrections though. I was not looking for civil war memorabilia, I just saw a nice looking knife and made an offer. It was not until I examined the knife closely, that I thought it might be something more than just a neat blade.
As to the seller, he did not represent the knife as an artifact of the civil war. Anything on his table that he claimed as authentic was clearly labeled as such. He had replicas labeled in the same fashion. The only thing he claimed was that this was a Bowie knife design he considered worth $100.
The guy tightening up the knife for me says its tang is just fine for 'vigorous use' and he believes it to be automotive spring steel that has been hardened. He says it took an edge well and he won't be surprised if it holds a good edge. So I'm happy with the end result.
HoosierQ
Member
They you go. That's a fantastic knife for $75!!! Looks super cool. Those springs are made of very good steel. If it is Indian or Paki, the main trucks over there are Mercedes. Volvo is big over there too. So presumably there is a pretty good chance that the steel is good German or Swedish carbon steel. We have a winner! Mexican bowies would be made out of either German, Japanese, or American car springs. However that thing does not really have that Mexican Bowie look to it. Some of those can be pretty nice...certainly nice enough. They tend toward more ornamentation, more dramatic curves at the clip, dramatic looking ricassos, and generally not stag. The very classic and subtle lines seem to echo Sheffield, which tends to give the Indian/Paki source some weight.
PS. Also good to hear the seller was not even playing at misrepresentation. The world needs more honest people.
Last edited:
HoosierQ
Member
You betcha! I think that thing would make you proud in the woods, proud out in the desert, proud on the re-enacted battlefied, proud at the buckskinner's ball or whatever.
- Status
