Here is a new penny knife I am working on at the moment, almost finished except for drilling the blade, heat treatment, and than riveting.
This is a bit planer than I normally make, but I was styling it after an antique knife I found online. I have seen several of this style so I would imagine they were produced in fairly large numbers, though I am not exactly sure what time period they would have been produced, though I feel it has characteristics that would place it comfortably in the mid to late 18th century.
One departure I made from the other knives I have made was to use a split ferrule rather than one that wraps completely around the handle and tucks into the blade groove. In the dozens of photographs and other knifes of this style that I have examined I have yet to see one that actually is formed like Gene Chapman did in his book on Penny Knives. Mechanically I see disadvantages to this approach, but it is quicker to do and conserves on material, both things that I am sure an 18th century cutler would have considered, particularly on a cheap knife like these were.
The second departure that I did was to use a piece of blister steel that I made several years ago. I typically use 1075 or 95 steels, which are far better than the blister steel that I used on this knife. My thoughts are that since blister steel was was the cheapest form of tool steel available in the 18th century it might have been used on an inexpensive knife such as this. Blister steel was often further refined into better grades of shear steel, but I suspect that it probably would not have been used here, any thoughts on the subject?
Anyway, here she is at this point. Handle is 4 1/4" long and turned from maple salvaged from a 19th century workbench. Finish is shellac and wax applied in the lathe. Ferrule is .032" mild steel plate, and the 3 1/4" blade is about .059 thick. Thanks for looking. Sorry for the poor photographs, they were taken with my cell phone, I'll get some better ones when it is finished.
Notice the split ferrule, for some reason the antiques that I have examined usually have a tapered opening like I have done.
This is a bit planer than I normally make, but I was styling it after an antique knife I found online. I have seen several of this style so I would imagine they were produced in fairly large numbers, though I am not exactly sure what time period they would have been produced, though I feel it has characteristics that would place it comfortably in the mid to late 18th century.
One departure I made from the other knives I have made was to use a split ferrule rather than one that wraps completely around the handle and tucks into the blade groove. In the dozens of photographs and other knifes of this style that I have examined I have yet to see one that actually is formed like Gene Chapman did in his book on Penny Knives. Mechanically I see disadvantages to this approach, but it is quicker to do and conserves on material, both things that I am sure an 18th century cutler would have considered, particularly on a cheap knife like these were.
The second departure that I did was to use a piece of blister steel that I made several years ago. I typically use 1075 or 95 steels, which are far better than the blister steel that I used on this knife. My thoughts are that since blister steel was was the cheapest form of tool steel available in the 18th century it might have been used on an inexpensive knife such as this. Blister steel was often further refined into better grades of shear steel, but I suspect that it probably would not have been used here, any thoughts on the subject?
Anyway, here she is at this point. Handle is 4 1/4" long and turned from maple salvaged from a 19th century workbench. Finish is shellac and wax applied in the lathe. Ferrule is .032" mild steel plate, and the 3 1/4" blade is about .059 thick. Thanks for looking. Sorry for the poor photographs, they were taken with my cell phone, I'll get some better ones when it is finished.
Notice the split ferrule, for some reason the antiques that I have examined usually have a tapered opening like I have done.