That is an attractive piece on antler and I find myself drawn more and more to the less professionally made knives. But, a "frontier marking knife" seems contrary to me. A professional joiner would have had a nice striking knife, a rough and ready woodworker would probably have used any handy knife, like a clasp knife or even an awl. Of course this is history by conjecture, which I generally find appalling, but its a quiet day with not much to do.
I like your idea of just grinding cutting edges and leaving a lot of the file as is, but think that a small utility style knife might be more satisfying.
