Civil War Era Knives

I will be travelling in Kansas next month. What museum is this in?
I'll check it out and be back BTW here's a vertical pic so you can read the inscription.
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The knife with the hoof pick is marked G(?) Barrett & Co/ 168 Strand. The one with the corkscrew exposed is marked Repeat/ Needham/ Brothers/ Celebrated. I had seen inlaid shield s on many of the bowie & side knives pictured in Norm Flayderman's knife book. Any idea when these 2 makers were in business or where?

Absolutely no info on the Barrett but it could be English. The Repeat Needham Bros. is from Sheffield, England around 1860s to 1900s - maybe it did see Civil War service?
 
The sodbuster is one of those knives that seems to have existed forever because of its simple design. You could even say the Romans were using those types of knives. It's like the barlow knife. It's one of man's basic tools.

The modern sodbuster is consequently shrouded in mystery. Because of the Homestead Act (1862), farmers were having a tough time plowing their field in the new lands because the top was sod. Sod was so hard they often chipped it into "bricks" and made sturdy sod houses. A special plow was developed called the sodbusting plow. It was thought that the sodbuster knives were used to chip away and form the sod.

More modern research says that the sodbuster was developed in Germany as a butcher knife. Case picked up the design around the turn of the 20th C. and called it the sodbuster. From what I read and researched this second view is more likely the "birth" of the modern sodbuster. To this day it seems to be the most popular knife among farmers and ranchers.
 
The sodbuster is one of those knives that seems to have existed forever because of its simple design. You could even say the Romans were using those types of knives. It's like the barlow knife. It's one of man's basic tools.

The modern sodbuster is consequently shrouded in mystery. Because of the Homestead Act (1862), farmers were having a tough time plowing their field in the new lands because the top was sod. Sod was so hard they often chipped it into "bricks" and made sturdy sod houses. A special plow was developed called the sodbusting plow. It was thought that the sodbuster knives were used to chip away and form the sod.

More modern research says that the sodbuster was developed in Germany as a butcher knife. Case picked up the design around the turn of the 20th C. and called it the sodbuster. From what I read and researched this second view is more likely the "birth" of the modern sodbuster. To this day it seems to be the most popular knife among farmers and ranchers.
Interesting background. Thanks!
 
Indeed they are. I carry my EYE brand Sod Buster every day. Got one from Case too, but I like the German EYE much better because it's carbon steel and holds an edge better.
Good point about that carbon steel. Sharpens faster to a keener edge. Too bad more good knives aren't made with it. I still carry my old Boy Scout Western sheath knife while hunting. Sharp as a razor and great for field dressing.
 
All knives made of modern materials are carbon steel. The differences between the various modern steels is the alloy combinations of additives that effect how it is heat treated.

Think of iron molecules as the wheels on a sixteen-wheeler. The yellow wheel chucks are carbon molecules laying next to the truck. When you raise the temperature of the material, the wheel chucks move up against the wheels preventing them from moving. Quickly cooling the material fixes the wheel chucks against the wheels, preventing them from moving. The next step in the heat treating process is to adjust how many chucks are blocking the wheels, thus adjusting the amount of movement/flexibility. If you have only a few chucks/carbon to begin with, then the maximum restriction of movement is much less than if you had lots of chucks/carbon.
 
All knives made of modern materials are carbon steel. The differences between the various modern steels is the alloy combinations of additives that effect how it is heat treated.

Think of iron molecules as the wheels on a sixteen-wheeler. The yellow wheel chucks are carbon molecules laying next to the truck. When you raise the temperature of the material, the wheel chucks move up against the wheels preventing them from moving. Quickly cooling the material fixes the wheel chucks against the wheels, preventing them from moving. The next step in the heat treating process is to adjust how many chucks are blocking the wheels, thus adjusting the amount of movement/flexibility. If you have only a few chucks/carbon to begin with, then the maximum restriction of movement is much less than if you had lots of chucks/carbon.
What a great explanation!
 
So the greater the hardness (non-moveability of molecules) the longer the knife can resist dulling. BUT the more brittle the blade is and the more likely that under stress the blade will break. A small blade that is hard will keep sharp, but the small blade is not intended to chop wood or otherwise be exposed to impact or other stresses.

A blade, including a large blade, used for impact such as chopping firewood while camping/reenacting will break if too hard. The lack of the ability of the molecules to move, means that when pushed sufficiently out of position, they do not spring back but instead break away from their neighbors.

So what can be done about the large blade, you might ask. Well, again the answer is how you plan on using it. There has to be a decision made about maintaining sharpness versus having a tough blade resistant to chipping and breaking. If someone is going to be using a blade mostly for chopping and toughness is the number one priority, then softening the blade a bit will make it tougher, but the compromise is that it will not hold an edge as well as a harder blade. If someone is going to use the blade only for skinning pelts, and zero impact usage, then a harder sharper heat treating is called for. If the blade is not intended for of impact, perhaps a bit of kindling but mostly an all-around blade, then the owner might request "differential hardening" where the cutting edge is somewhat hard to maintain an edge, but not super hard, while the body and back of the blade is differentially hardened to a somewhat softer Rockwell Hardness.

So it is advisable to decide first on the use of the knife, then choose a knife made with the material(s), size and shape, and heat treatment to meet those needs.

Now, when you look at a knife the first thought should be, "what use is this knife intended for, as indicated by its size, shape, alloy content, and heat treatment ?"
 
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So the greater the hardness (non-moveability of molecules) the longer the knife can resist dulling. BUT the more brittle the blade is and the more likely that under stress the blade will break. A small blade that is hard will keep sharp, but the small blade is not intended to chop wood or otherwise be exposed to impact or other stresses.

A blade, including a large blade, used for impact such as chopping firewood while camping/reenacting will break if too hard. The lack of the ability of the molecules to move, means that when pushed sufficiently out of position, they do not spring back but instead break away from their neighbors.

So what can be done about the large blade, you might ask. Well, again the answer is how you plan on using it. There has to be a decision made about maintaining sharpness versus having a tough blade resistant to chipping and breaking. If someone is going to be using a blade mostly for chopping and toughness is the number one priority, then softening the blade a bit will make it tougher, but the compromise is that it will not hold an edge as well as a harder blade. If someone is going to use the blade only for skinning pelts, and zero impact usage, then a harder sharper heat treating is called for. If the blade is not intended for of impact, perhaps a bit of kindling but mostly an all-around blade, then the owner might request "differential hardening" where the cutting edge is somewhat hard to maintain an edge, but not super hard, while the body and back of the blade is differentially hardened to a somewhat softer Rockwell Hardness.

So it is advisable to decide first on the use of the knife, then choose a knife made with the material(s), size and shape, and heat treatment to meet those needs.

Now, when you look at a knife the first thought should be, "what use is this knife intended for, as indicated by its size, shape, alloy content, and heat treatment ?"
Wonder if O.J. had a checklist to refer to when selecting his blade of choice? :smile:
 
Makers of hardware store knives grind the blades to shape and don't heat treat them, thus maintaining the original heat treatment that came in the billet.

If the hardware store knife is of respectable manufacture (as perhaps reflected in the cost) then the manufacturer will likely choose material that was made for the intended purpose. A small sharp blade for a pocket knife, and a more durable alloy and treatment for a heavy hacking blade.

If use deviates from the intended use of the hardware store knife, or the blade is junk steel, then as the fortune cookie says, "unhappiness is likely to follow". :smile:
 
So here is the question of the day boys and girls, "why would a knife made from 1800s period wrought iron material more likely survive the elements better being buried in the ground for 150 years than a modern steel blade?" Take a guess.
 
So here is the question of the day boys and girls, "why would a knife made from 1800s period wrought iron material more likely survive the elements better being buried in the ground for 150 years than a modern steel blade?" Take a guess.
Ok, I'll try. Because the wrought iron is more a product of the Earth than the later knife which has had alloys added and it's molecular structure tampered with?? You can stop laughing now!!
 
So here is the question of the day boys and girls, "why would a knife made from 1800s period wrought iron material more likely survive the elements better being buried in the ground for 150 years than a modern steel blade?" Take a guess.

I was always told because it had more slag in it, which gives it that grainy texture, so it rusts down to where the slag is included but the slag discourages it from rusting further. Don't know if that applies to knife blades, but it's what I've heard in references to hinges, latches, etc. that are made of mild steel instead of true wrought iron today.
 
I was always told because it had more slag in it, which gives it that grainy texture, so it rusts down to where the slag is included but the slag discourages it from rusting further. Don't know if that applies to knife blades, but it's what I've heard in references to hinges, latches, etc. that are made of mild steel instead of true wrought iron today.
Although I have heard that rust is a kind of protection. Gun blue is a form of rust as is the chemical used to "brown" a firearm.
 
Here is one I dug in a camp here I'm Tn. Looks like most that come out of CW camps.
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Can anyone name the other items surrounding it?? See how good you are at IDing what we call "camp trash" i.e., bits of brass, iron dug with CW relics.
 
Actually the real material called "wrought iron" was produced by a puddling and hammering process and contained a significant amount of slag/glass. When the iron rusted down to a layer of glass, unless the glass surface was broken, the glass would protect the wrought iron item from further rusting. So when you see an old rusted iron item that resembles the texture of a rotten stick, you can be pretty sure it is made of old puddled "wrought iron".

An example of iron protected for centuries by its slag layer is the Iron Pillar of Delhi : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_pillar_of_Delhi
 
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