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klickitat
07-28-2010, 01:42 AM
Here is a knife that is very special to me. It was made by my Great Grand Dad. It was given to me by my Dad 20 years ago. I have no idea what the steel is, but puts on an edge that is scary sharp. This picture does not show it, but it has a black harness leather sheath that to me is just as nice.

Some day one of my sons will get it. Most likely the one who shows most interest in hunting. Not for a while though.

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp340/2stroketech/DCP_9409.jpg

cowgirlup
07-28-2010, 02:42 AM
It's so great that you have something hand made that has been passed down through the family!!!:)

crashdive123
07-28-2010, 07:09 AM
If that knife could talk, I'll bet the stories would be great.

preachtheWORD
07-28-2010, 08:12 AM
Very nice! Do you know anything about what it is made of, how it was made, when it was made, what he used it for, etc? That would be interesting.

Sarge47
07-28-2010, 10:51 AM
Yeah, yeah, yeah,; it's really nice, now when are you going to tell us the rest of the story about what recently happened with the ATV, 2 Scout Leaders & the Eagle Scout? I'm on pins & needles here! :sneaky2:

klickitat
07-28-2010, 11:19 AM
This is as much as I know.

Both sides of my family homesteaded on the Klickitat river breaks in the late 1800's. My Dad's Grandfather on his mother's side was James Korthase.

Grandpa Jim was a blacksmith in the town of Lyle, Wa and was pretty much a tinkerer.
The stories told of him are that he could look at a machine and while you were discussing it with him he would have it figured out how to make it better before you finished telling him how it worked.

Because of the gift of the knife and the family history that my dad would tell me, I became interested in blacksmithing and knife making. I grew up on the banks of the Klickitat river where it meets the Columbia river in a town called Lyle. I grew hunting and fishing the area. Because of the strong family history to the area I always felt a sort of connected to the area and it's history.

I do not know a whole lot about the knife materials except for the handle material. The blade is a carbon steel blade. The guard is also made of steel. The wood on the handle is made from a piece of scrub oak. This a small tree native to the banks of the Klickitat river that only grows up to about 30' and then makes a canopy. It is a very hard and dense wood and makes excellent handle material. The rivets through the handle are copper and seem to have been plated in nickel. You can see where they have worn down to the nickel on two of them. The leather sheath, not shown is sewn black harness leather with copper harness rivets at the top of the mouth of the sheath.

The back bow of the blade is from wear over the years and was not originally put on the blade. When I first got the knife, it had a nick in the blade and was going to leave it as is. However one day after I had received the knife from my dad, I was heading out for a hunt without it. My dad asked me where it was and I told him that I was not taking it out for fear of loosing it. Man was that a butt reaming. He was hot. "That knife was built to be used and always has been! Now if you are not going to use it, then give it back."

Well I wasn't going to give it back so I decided to put it back into shape. This meant fixing the small nick. I took the nick out and this added slightly to the back bow that was already in the blade from years of use. While I was taking the nick out, I was going to take all the scratches out of the blade as well and return it to the original condition as much as possible. As I got ready to do it though, I realized that everyone of those scratches was a story in time and each was put there just as much as if an engraver had done it.

Thanks people! Now I am homesick.

klickitat
07-28-2010, 11:51 AM
Here is a link to home where I grew up and from where the knife came.

http://community.gorge.net/lyle/index.htm

hunter63
07-28-2010, 12:04 PM
Nice, thanks for sharing.
A knife like that is priceless, with the history and all.
I spent last winter reconditioning and make/patching knives and sheaths that were passed down to me.

I sorta feel the same way as your father, I like to take them out on various hunting trips, and use them, kinda like having them along with you.

Camp10
07-28-2010, 05:46 PM
Thats a great knife and a great story!! Thanks for sharing both. Oh, and I hope Sarge didnt confuse you with his post..I guess he thought you were Klkak.

Rick
07-28-2010, 05:51 PM
That is one cool knife and one cool story. I love family tales and things handed down. it's a part of our heritage and where we are going has a lot to do with where we came from. Thanks for sharing both!!!!!

And Sarge posted before noon so the meds probably hadn't kicked in. I take mine the night before so my mornings are usually good.

Ole WV Coot
07-28-2010, 06:44 PM
My Dad died the end of June and I have many knives & favorite guns I am still digging in. I am tagging everything just in case I ain't around. I am taking special care to preserve the ones my gggrandpa & on down the line. grandpa's Win 97 pump used so much no blue exists and Dad's Remington-Browning will never be fired. Many memories with particular knives & guns, even the old H&R Topper 20ga I hunted with in the early 1950s. Hang onto that blade and leave records. I haven't scratched the surface yet.

Rick
07-28-2010, 07:09 PM
Coot, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. You and you family are in our prayers.

crashdive123
07-28-2010, 07:13 PM
Yeah, yeah, yeah,; it's really nice, now when are you going to tell us the rest of the story about what recently happened with the ATV, 2 Scout Leaders & the Eagle Scout? I'm on pins & needles here! :sneaky2:

Uh - Sarge? That was KLKAK

Sarge47
07-28-2010, 07:57 PM
Uh - Sarge? That was KLKAK
oops. :blushing:

oldtrap59
07-31-2010, 05:29 PM
Klick. Nice story and a really nice looking old knife. I was kinda wondering about how big it is? I have this thing about big knives. Has kind of what some would call a bowie look to it.

oldtrap