Patches---And Their Knives

[HOGGHEAD]

I have been thinking about using pillow ticking and a patch knife to cut my patches with when I get my new FL. I am not trying to be a true traditionalist. I just think it would be a fun way to shoot my new FL.

Would some of you guys please tell me how you do it. And what types of patch material, and knives do you use?? I think I might like to buy a nice flint knife?? Or a reasonably priced Damascus blade??

How much would an inexpensive(but nice) patch knife cost??

Just looking for general information about the practice.

Rifle is a 50 caliber FL-with .490 round balls.

I would like to make a fun topic out of this. Any and all comments are welcome. I would also like it to be informative. So chime in and tell me how you do it, and what you use. Thanks, Tom.

 

[nkbj]

OK, I'll bite. Good mornin'!
My very most favorite patch knife was pulled out of the table ware bin at a charity resale shop. Think I paid fifty cents. It's from a bronze dinner set like folks used to send home from Thailand in the sixties. It takes a great edge and is of course slightly softer than the barrel steel.
If you go a'rummaging in the table ware bins keep an eye out for older German stainless blades that have the soft silver gray look of their higher carbon stainless. Amazing what you can find sometimes. Recently of course we are returning to colony status and you might be lucky to find anything that they don't just recycle to get the scrap price for the metal.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

I think I am leaning toward buying a Damascus steel knife. Tom.

 

[nkbj]

They do make some beautiful blades. There's some fellas over in...is it Alabama?...that use serious air hammers to do the forging. Saw them on ebay back when I still would go there. Think they had their own web site too.
Uno momento...
Yep, there they be. http://www.alabamadamascussteel.com/servlet/StoreFront

 

[dckcrk]

Greatgrandpa's straight razor works for me.

 

[rawhide]

mite look at track of the wolf for your knife they got some nice ones. I tried this and it works ok. apon loading you set some of your patch materal on the muzzle then the ball. just want to start the ball in the barrel... just under the crown. then cut off the patch flush and finish loading. the reason I said just stat the ball as you can waist a lot of materal if not careful. hope this helps.

 

[BrownBear]

This one and this one have both worked great for me though the first one is longer and a little more blade cuts clean longer.

Then wanting a little longer blade without getting too bulky I assembled my own using this blade and some wood scraps. It's a little too big for my tastes to serve as a "neck" knife, so I attached a sheath to the back of my favorite bag. That was okay, but kinda hung and tangled in brush, so I made a belt sheath. Didn't like that much on my belt in the brush, so now I throw it sheath and all inside whichever bag I'm using.

I don't see much difference between any of them in how sharp an edge they take and how long they stay sharp. All are very good. It's just easier to cut patches with a little longer blade in my hand.

 

[David W.]

I think I am leaning toward buying a Damascus steel knife. Tom.

Inexpense totally depends on your view point. What is your price range? You could maybe find a damascus for a little less than $100.

If you are really talking inexpensive, I would try a Green River knife, a good knife, but at the lower end of the price scale.

Damamcus steel can have some really nice edge holding and cutting qualities, IF made correctly. Carbon steel and stainless knives vary greatly on performance, depending on what steel they are made of, and how it was tempered. Price range between $20 and $500.

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

Thats cool

 

[mykeal]

I bought a couple blank scales and a 3 1/2" bare blade with a tang from The Log Cabin Shop a couple years ago and made my own. The scales cost $6 IIRC (bought 3 sets to make mistakes with) and the blade was another $10 or so. Got a nice neck sheath at Friendship from a blanket vendor but I don't recall what I paid. All I use the knife for is cutting patches and it stays plenty sharp - all I've ever done is hone it a bit.

 

[Stumpkiller]

By all means us a patch knife that appeals to you. But, in truth, any knife will work. I have used 2-1/2" bladed Helle and pen knives up to 10" rifleman's knives. Two of my favorite are folding jacknives.

All it needs be is sharp - the sharper the better.

When deer hunting I usually shoot from a ball block with pre-lubed patched balls and to refill that I use my hunting knife. The same one I use to field dress the deer.

Here's a dedicated patch knife I made from a whitetail antler and laminated Norwegian steel blade.

And here's my favorite hunting knife - also a Norwegian laminated Brusletto blade. Either take a hair-popping honed edge very nicely and hold it.

 

[William O.]

I bought a 3 inch straight razor that has been anchored into a whitetail antler. It's sharp, but just not razor sharp so I'm still working on honing the edge just right. I've got $40 in it so far, but more often than not I just use my Case pocket knife for patch cutting, it takes and holds an edge so well I can go a couple of months before I need the edge polished; sharpening happens once a year, that's it. The Case knife just doesn't look the part of being an 1836 accoutrement. I also picked up a Green River butcher knife and had a somewhat HC sheath made for it. The 5 7/8 blade is just carbon steel but it holds a wicked sharp edge. What impresses me is that the sheath cost more than the knife itself! It is somewhat large to use as a patch knife but I'm sure the edge would last near forever if that were it's only task. You can spend a little or a lot, look the part or go modern, it's your choice and if you're like me, one knife will never do, it's a never ending cycle of buying, selling and trading. Good luck in your search, please let us know what you decide.

 

[Otter]

I've got two that I use - a laminated CS blade from Norway (IIRC, but don't hold me to that), 3 1/2" long blank set in a smallish deer antler tine - a straight razor knife also set in a smallish deer antler tine (found this one at a rendezvous and it yelled at me to take it home). Both do the intended job. I think the first blade was about $10 (close to 20 years ago) and the straight razor knife was about $20 (10 years ago). A Damascus blade/knife will set you back a fair bit more money, but if that's what you have your heart set on, go for it.

Patch material I use is a worn out 300 tpi Egyptian cotton bedsheet I cut into 1 1/4" wide strips (it mics at .016-.017 and I generally shoot a .54). At a shoot, I just tie a strip to my shooting bag, soak the end in my flap trap while charging the bore, slap it over the end of the barrel, drop the ball on it, seat the ball so the ball is just below the end of the barrel, cut off the excess with the patch knife, ram the ball down onto the powder and send the ball down range. I do essentially the same thing while hunting, just use a shorter strip of patch material.

 

[CrackStock]

Track of the Wolf Paring knife for patches.

My personal favorite patch knife.

CS

 

[fyrfyter43]

Here's my patch knife. It has a blade just over 2" long. The secret with cutting patches at the muzzle is to keep your blade sharp. Even with that short blade, my knife will cut patches cleanly at the coned muzzle of my GPR with a single quick stroke.