Posted 4 years ago
UnclePaul
(1 item)
This was my Great Uncle's knife. He was at the China-Burma front in WWII--not sure if this knife is from there. Any idea where this knife is from? What country and year? The smears on the blade appear to be blood.
Doubt that that is blood. It just looks like patina, browning from rust. If you want to clean it up a bit, a stainless steel scouring pad and some motor oil, with light scrubbing will remove grime and leave the patina. A better alternative is a Frontier Metal Cleaner pad which I use on all of my rusty or discolored metal. It will clean off rust from steel and not touch bluing or rust browning.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RM692X8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
What are the dimensions of this knife? That handle looks really short?
Thank you for writing. The handle is about four inches, but the blade is approximately. And kwqd, I still think it's blood. It's definitely smeared and not just an age patina--but I could be wrong.
Looks like it was picked up locally when your great uncle was in Burma.
The "blood grove" seems to run straight off the end of the blade. This indicates to me that it was made from a longer blade. Maybe a sword or bayonet.
Hmmm I dunno... I'm looking at the pictures on my old phone. But when I zoom in, it looks like there's inclusions in the metal? That would tell me that it is crudely forged or cast. It is possible they were trying to grind the spine straight?
We never got the overall dimensions. We do know that the handle is 4 in long. That would make the the blade 7 to 8 inches long roughly? It's possible they were trying to either lighten the blade by removing material by the spine or trying to balance it?
Another theory is looking at the blade shape this is a possible skinning knife? And possibly they tried to double edge it?
We need some more pictures from different angles to satisfy my theories.
Of course it's possible I'm completely wrong. But this reminds me to post pictures of my handmade knife which looks nothing like this.
Does the blade have a fuller?
That knife and sheath are made in a Scandinavian style, like a Swedish leuku knife or a Finnish puukku. The leather sheaths are made like that so they form a vacuum-suction hold and the knife won't fall out, plus it is rain and snow resistant. the pommel of the grip flares out so it is easier to pull the knife out of the sheath while wearing mittens. There are many pages of antique ones for you to compare to.
Okay well that could help explain the wear on the blade. It was probably exposed to very harsh conditions.