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patch knife

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Howie1968

40 Cal.
Joined
Mar 14, 2016
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Location
Lufkin,Texas
I vow to lean more of the traditional ways, what kind of patch knife do I need, how sharp do they have to be to cut 100% cotton pillow ticking? ive got plenty of knives, and sure one of them will work, Also how wide do I need to cut my strips is 1 inch wide enough? ill be shooting them out of a .50 flintlock and a .58 Cabelas hawken
 
Howie said:
I vow to lean more of the traditional ways, what kind of patch knife do I need, how sharp do they have to be to cut 100% cotton pillow ticking? ive got plenty of knives, and sure one of them will work, Also how wide do I need to cut my strips is 1 inch wide enough? ill be shooting them out of a .50 flintlock and a .58 Cabelas hawken
First of all, if you are looking for traditional, there is NO such thing as a patch knife. Use whatever knife you have on your belt or in your pocket. The knife should be sharp to cut cleanly, but pre-cut patches are also an option that I prefer.

Rip strips to width, cut into squares with shears, soak in melted bear grease (or the lube of your choice), squeeze gently to remove excess and keep in a tin until used. To get strip width, place the cloth on the muzzle and press a ball into the muzzle - this will give you an impression of the ball which can then be used to determine the width (ball impression plus a little more on each side).
 
As said, there is no such thing as a traditional patch knife. For woodsmen back in the day, the carrying of more than one knife was not unusual. The smaller probably served well for cutting patches. At the range I have a blunt end knife dedicated to my patch cutting. I also have a small sharpening steel in the box. For ronny and hunting my 'using' size belt knife served for patch cutting. Do wat works for you.
 
Speaking purely about function, I gave up on all the cute little patch knives whether hung around your neck or on your bag. That's cuzz I found a better solution, which also appears to be traditional.

I just use my usual full-size knife. Even if it's not shaving sharp as it should be, it cuts patches better than a dinky knife simply because there's lots more cutting edge. Better yet, and the real reason I made the switch, the big blade subs nicely for a ball starter. Just lay the ball and patch on the muzzle, then turn the knife in your hand so the flat of the blade is atop the ball. Give it a quick slap and the ball is started, ready for you to turn the blade in your hand and cut the patch. Get used to doing that and your tiny knife is going to be a dust collector at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

As for width of patch strips for 50 cal, I like 1 1/4". The extra width makes it easier to get enough patch on both sides of the ball without a lot of fiddling. Gonna cut off the excess anyway, so no problem with "too much."
 
As Black Hand said, patch knives are NOT traditional, more or less a 21st century addition to the BP scene. Nothing against having one if that is your desire and not for historical purposes. However, a good belt knife or rifleman's knife is all you need. :thumbsup:

Here is a photo of a rifleman knife I completed awhile ago. She's the only one I carry. From cutting at the muzzle to field dressing game, one knife, many tasks.

I carry mine in a heavy tooling leather center seam liner, heavily beeswaxed and sewing was done with heavy linen thread. The liner cover or sheath is bison hide sewn again with heavy linen utilizing a double whip stich. NEVER carry a belt knife in just a sheath, a liner of rawhide or heavy tooling leather is an absolute must, obviously for safety reasons, as to which I'm sure you are very familiar with. :hatsoff:





Also, I personally am not a fan of pre-cut patching, I have a habbit of dropping the D*** things all the time. For my rifles I just play with different widths until I find what they like and cut a 12" strip accordingly. From there I tie it to my strap were it is easily accessible.

As for for sharpness, If I'm not able to shave the hair from a gnat it's not good enough!
 
what kind of patch knife do I need,
Any decent knife that is large enough to get a good grip will work for patches. If you want an extra good (IMO) dedicated knife for patches...............Locate one of grandpa's old straight razors. You have a dandy blade right there. Just change out the folding handle with a nice chunk of deer antler making it a rigid bladed knife.
It will also cut meat, so keep da fingers out of the way.
Flintlocklar :grin:
 
No evidence that I am aware of for patch knives per se, but there are a handful of original pouches that have one (or two, as in one example) knife sheaths attached. So, if you want to include a sheath on the pouch go ahead, just be sure to think about what could happen if you slip and fall on it and build you sheath accordingly.
 
Many knifes exported and sold were short kitchen knife size, so having a small knife in your kit is not out of the question. The knife you cut the patch with cut up the deer, cut the meat for the pot, acted as a fork at dinner and was placed for the owners easiest use.
I too go for precut, it’s historical and handy.
 
Elnathan said:
No evidence that I am aware of for patch knives per se, but there are a handful of original pouches that have one (or two, as in one example) knife sheaths attached. So, if you want to include a sheath on the pouch go ahead, just be sure to think about what could happen if you slip and fall on it and build you sheath accordingly.

Two very good points.

1. Some 19th century pouches had one or two knives attached to the strap or body of the pouch, as you mentioned. The knives look like they are small general purpose knives that could well have been used for cutting patches, but also for anything else the hunter wanted to use them for.

2. Special care should be given when attaching the knives to the strap or body of the pouch. The few times I have done it for others, I made darn sure I included a thick welt of leather all along the length of the cutting edge and the point, to ensure the knife could not cut/stab through the leather in case one slipped/fell with the knife on the pouch.

Many years ago I ordered a 4" knife blank from Indian Ridge Traders to make a patch knife. Though already heat treated, the blade was THIN at around 5/64", of uniform thickness and square on the end. I decided to hollow grind it on one side only, as the blade was so thin and just rounded the tip of the blade from the back down to the edge, as in a sheep's foot design as shown in the following link to ensure it could not stab through the sheath with thick welt I added to the pouch strap. I used curly maple for the slabs for the grip. https://knife-depot.com/pages/sheepsfoot-blades

In use, I put the flat/unground side on the barrel muzzle so as not to damage the muzzle. Because that blade was so thin to begin with before hollow grinding one side, after hollow grinding one side it could be easily sharpened "scary" sharp even though I only sharpened the ground side and not the flat side (just took the wire edge off that side). It cut thick patches like a dream. A good friend liked it so much, I gave it to him. Unfortunately, those blades are no longer available.

I never found historic documentation for such a thin knife blade that was hollow ground on one side only, though. However, Sheep's Foot or Blunt Tips on knives were common for sailors going back into and before the 18th century.

Gus
 
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I use a Case trapper. There are two blades just in case one is not super sharp or something happens to one. Either blade is thin enough to get real close to the muzzle and to control while cutting. I have use a new-fangled scalpel blade knife. They are wicked sharp and easily cut thick patches. If they dull out, you just change the blade. When I am being traditional on a hunt I use the Case but at the range the scalpel works great.
 
I thought abut one of them there operatin room knifes. I actually used one once on a cow, VERY quick job. My concern is when (not if) you finally cut yerself.........IT'S GONNA BE UGLY. May wanna carry a sterile film canister size container to transport digits to the ER. Lets hope we don't faint and/or have a buddy nearby.

Ya ya I know ya gotta be careful. When yer shootin yankee's, injuns or big deer/elk though yer carefulness seems to dwindle down into the careless range on occasions :hmm: Least for me. :idunno:
 
I've been using an opinel no. 6 I drilled a lanyard hole in and have been satisfied with its performance, I use it on every thing from my .32 to my .62 cutting ticking and heavy denim, thin blade and super sharp, they come in all sizes and reasonably priced, look somewhat traditional also I think.
 

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