18th Century Trade Knives

I give some of the characteristics that distinguish the French from the English trade knives that were being imported to America in the 18th century.

[@jude8943]

Knife maker here with about ten years making knives, I love your knives, don't be afraid to progress your knife making. You can do it on the cheap, I've made $400+ coffin handled Bowies with elaborate hamons that I sold online and were heat treated with a small charcoal forge I made for pennies. Stay free, brother.

[@ChacoteOutdoorRecreation]

The dag was fashioned after the large stone spear points. It was strong and could be used for heavy chopping, as a spear point, a utility knife, skinning and butchering, a spear point and as a weapon. They were shipped to North America from Europe by the barrel load. There were also made by resident blacksmiths in the trading posts. They were traded without handles. The handles were usually ornate and made of wood and often tacked. Some beautiful knives were made with a bone handle with a serrated copper ring at the top for a scrapper. They are often seen with a universal "circle" and "dot" design in the bone. They must have been very common in the mid 1800's as early explorers noted natives wearing them with a thong attached to their wrists. They are often marked with a makers name such as "Jukes Coulson, Stokes & Co." or "IS" for John Sorby. Some very desirable dags are marked with a "Circle" and "Sitting Fox" design which was traded by the North West Company. They are also known as the "Columbia River Knife," or, in some areas, it was called a "Beaver Tail Knife."

[@SOvideography]

I think I've heard of those, thanks for sharing and for watching.

[@riverrockproductions]

Very informative! My knives are an area I really need to improve in. Thanks for sharing.

[@SOvideography]

Thanks for watching!

[@jdcole2112]

Love the content and especially love your resourcefulness with the material you have. That is the valuable mentality we get from these reenactments.

[@jamesvatter5729]

Good job, Josh.

[@richarddebow2129]

Thanks I often wondered about the difference

[@shaunriedell9332]

You may find that mulberry will darken with time as it oxidizes. It's similar to hedge, in fact they're related

[@Prairiewolf45]

When you say Hedge are you talking about Osage Orange/ Bois D'Arc?

[@shaunriedell9332]

@@Prairiewolf45 yes

[@joehuber9168]

Great video thank you for sharing 👍👌🔥

[@SOvideography]

Thanks for watching.

[@UncleSasquatchOutdoors]

I really like that style of knife. You did a good job on those even if it was on the "cheap"

[@SOvideography]

Thanks!

[@2gpowell]

Great presentation. Good job on those knives!

[@SOvideography]

Thanks!

[@ROE1300]

👍 Good video. Two points; the first is that your very nice knives were probably made in a very similar way that a homesteader on the 18th Century frontier would probably have made their knives so I would argue probably pretty close to period correct. The second is that the folks who depended upon their knives every day got along very well with thin partial tang knives. Probably because they used their knives for knife tasks - cutting & slicing, not pounding and prying.

[@SOvideography]

Thank you.

[@ROE1300]

@@SOvideography You’re welcome.

[@genewentz9906]

Nice video and good job on your knives

[@johnndavis7647]

Trade knives were factory made knives for ordinary use in what we now call , the lower 48, were mostly made in England. At first they were cheaply made of cast iron with a case hardened surface. They were sharpened on one side so a case hardened edge was presented. Competition eventually caused better knives to be offered. The Old Hickory company bought up most of the knife companies 100 years ago and still makes many of the same models they made back then. This does not include Smith made or homemade knives that were usually made from old files.

[@lets_fish_already_9345]

The English trade knife really reminds me of an old hickory slicing knife.

[@PalmettoNDN]

Lawnmower and saw blades are great sources for good steel too. Also files. Lots of frontiersmen and Indians alike used file knives.

[@tomritter493]

Great job on them

[@rebeccaback3287]

Nice work Josh that is a work of art! Appreciate the history lesson! David Back.

[@SOvideography]

Thanks

[@jasonashley4579]

Excellent work.

[@wanderlustjake]

Nice explanation, thank you for sharing.

[@SOvideography]

Thanks for watching.

[@ringerproduction3523]

Great information thanks for posting this. Good work on those knives as well, looks nice

[@SOvideography]

Thanks

[@jasonrobinson9970]

Awesome video

[@SOvideography]

Thanks!

[@DavidWillis46]

Very informative

[@raphlvlogs271]

the short tang saves materials but does it also make them less durable? since they are often used for bushcraft purposes in a frontier type context

[@SOvideography]

The short tang was to save material, but I don't think these knives were used in the 18th century as they would be in a modern bushcraft context, in the period they were used more for a specific chore, such as skinning game, and also as a weapon, most people in the period also carried a folding knife of some kind for camp chores. Thanks for watching.

[@ashleyanderson2859]

Thanks for sharing

[@SOvideography]

Thanks for watching.

[@flintandball6093]

John from the forum has been a great source of knowledge. He made a boucheron and siamois for me, skinned quite a few game with the former now. Another good video Josh

[@SOvideography]

Yes he is one of the main people I have been learning from, thanks for watching.

[@larryadams2184]

Where did you get the blades from.

[@SOvideography]

Like I said in the video, I got the blades at flea markets.

[@TheGhostrider1959]

I wouldn't worry to much about "period correct"....knives look just fine to me....

[@brentsmith6234]

Metal is the best then

[@misfitledoux1312]

The pic says English knives are French and French are English.. I'm just as lost as you now lmfao