Trap Spring Knife

[tlallijr]

Never made a knife before so I got to messing around and made this....

[alyce-james]

tlallijr; Good evening sir, looks like a fine job from here, nice job. Do you know the Rockwell hardness of the blade ?? Thanks for sharing. AJ.

[tlallijr]

alyce-james  I'm not sure of the hardness. It was so confusing trying to sift through all the information about hardening and tempering knife blades that I ended up asking for help on another forum and just followed the instructions given. So far it seems to hold an edge pretty good.

[Kermit]

So trap spring knives are interesting, and no doubt a way to reuse some good steel, but I've never understood the reason for leaving the eye. Is it just to say this used to be part of a trap or is it useful?

 (Dumb question #2471)

[omark]

A place to hook it to your karabiner???       Mark

[Ky-Flinter]

Bet it would pop the cap off a bottle of beer!  That's a wild piece of wood too.  Walnut?  I like it.  Nice job tlallijr.

-Ron

[tlallijr]

Ky-Flinter - Thanks, the wood is birds eye maple. My friend who gave me the wood said that it was kiln dried too fast.
Kermit- I see no reason to leave the eye other then to say it is a trap spring too.

Here is the wood

[okieboy]

 The ring reminds me of the small "trout" knives, on those you put your little finger through the ring to secure your hold. Trout knives have no scales (accidental pun) and a trap spring would be a great starting place to make one.

[WadePatton]

ut I've never understood the reason for leaving the eye. Is it just to say this used to be part of a trap or is it useful?(Dumb question #2471)

No dumb questions, just smartalex answers.  

Love the ring as all my knives either start with a lanyard hole or I drill one.  I don't use a lanyard often, but when i want/need to, it's really nice to have a hole.

or even a pinky hole.  


edit: i've made a few from storebought blanks and rescaled some...knife making is so simple, and addictive. 

[Hungry Horse]

 It has always been my thinking, that these "trap spring knives" were a twentieth century rendezvous traders idea. Making a plain jane knife something  special, so it sold better, just smells like a traders trick to me. I strong doubt these knives have any historical linkage.

               Hungry Horse

 

[Luke MacGillie]

Never made a knife before so I got to messing around and made this....

Great looking knife!  I carry a knife like this in the modern world, but not in my period clothing.  They are kinda a near recognition symbol for trappers.

As to their date, Im of the mind they date no earlier than when the coil spring trap came of age and left lots of replacement springs sitting around gathering dust. 

[T*O*F]

There is/was a group of guys in southern IL known as the "Circle of Friends."  Upon acceptance into the group, each person was presented with a trap spring knife, which represented the Circle.