Just over 17in long, just under 1/4in thick. 5160

6 pin coffin handle.

Antiqued look. Made to look road worn and honest.

A mid-day mind cleanser from the last few days in the pause for lunch break. This is another tool I saw in an old book of tin-type photos.

A big un' from the old west. 17 and change long. The picture was likely late in the game in terms of the wild west period, likely closer to the turn of the century, but it was difficult to tell as the photo was badly degraded.

The knife in the picture was rough and tumble, simply and honestly forged by a frontier smith filling a need and feeding his family with the sweat of his brow. Evidence of forging, marks from his files, wonderful. It wasn't trying to be pretty, it was trying to be a tool. It likely hung on the belt of a lean, tough, steely ranger with an iron grip and a gaze like a hawk scanning its territory.

It stuck with me, and I had to get it out of my head. I added a big false edge up top for style points, and a little more guard, but it is otherwise a decent representation of the blade in that old, worn out picture. 5160, forged in coal and filed. Holes were drilled with my 120ish year old post drill (which was alive during the time of that original photo), and the handle was rasped to shape, then filed smooth, and touched with a bit of fine steel wool. Finished in @zhfabrications forge finish (which i absolutely adore!) No sheath, just steel, wood, and brass.

Steel. Brass. Wood. Beeswax.

That's all.