Knife--bullets--buckles and some what is its?

[Nana40]

This afternoon I decided to brave the heat and go out into the woods. Glad I did! Found a knife--the blade is 6" ....under the knife was three blobs of something....silver when I scratch it with my fingernails...... then a couple of bullets as usual... and a little further on two handles of some sort....they were about 4' apart....my first thought was it looked like the handles off my Granny's old trunk that she kept quilts in! lol! And then a fat wire of some sort.... Oh yeah....the handle on the knife looks to have been wooden.
So....is there anyone here that can tell me what kind of knife I have found....and maybe even an approximate date?

And.... how can I clean the knife without ruining it?

Wanted to stay longer but the heat got me and I had to give up......maybe tomorrow!

Nana

OOPS...almost forgot the little buckle that I broke flaking the dirt off of it....

 

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[Getty]

Those are better finds than just bullets and shell casings nana.The handles are definitely old and cool.Look in the artifact cleaning section on best way to attack the knife.Way To Go nana!keep at it.HH

 

[hollowpointred]

cool relics nana!! good stuff!

 

[JakePhelps]

Great old relics nana!! ? ?The knife almost looks like a dagger due to the shape, but it could be a letter opener or something if the blade is really really thin. ?That would be awesome if it was a dagger. ?As for the handles, i have found similar ones from old buckets or basins for water, apples, etc... ?Not sure about the blobs, try using a silver test kit or something. ?too bad the buckle broke ?You have definetly got an old area there ?Was it the area near the "X rock"?

 

[Barelyclad]

Hey Nana,

Nice finds. Could also be that you have two handles that maybe went to a leather/wood trunk. I would look real close and/or deep to make sure it didn't once contain something that might still be there. My experience is that "blobs" are typically solder. Can't help on the knife although there are a lot of good posts in the preservation area of this site.

HH

BC

 

[JakePhelps]

O as for the knife, i would first look at how thick it is, if its thin go easy on it, if its thick enough then try using my method: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,18227.0.html

For heavy rust I use a screwdriver to pick all the flakes of heavy rust of then i use a green potscrubbing pad to clean all the remaining rust off, I dont like to make my relics shiney.(besides shiney=no collecter value)

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Nana,

nice artifacts.

Have no idea on the blade you found, could be almost any type of instrument, farming, harvest, etc., etc.

As for cleaning, I would go with naval jelly; put it on, let it work. See
http://www.shorechemical.com/Section 7 Tech Sheets/naval_jelly.htm

Most hardware stores will carry it.

have a good un.............
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

 

[Nana40]

THANKS YALL!


Steel wool..hmmm.....well....the knife is pretty heavy and could take a good cleaning I think. I put it in water and scrubbed with an old toothbrush just a little and I can see a little silver around the top end.

And the handle looking things are in better shape than the knife....so they shouldn't be as difficult to clean....

My main reason for wanting to clean them is to see if there are maybe some sort of markings on them.

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions!!!!

Oh and Jake....this is in the area of the X rock....but not the immediate area....

Nana

 

[JakePhelps]

If the knife it thick then it is most likely a dagger or kitchen knife(hopefully dagger). I bet the finds will get better as you get closer to the rock

 

[Leon]

Great digs!!!
I would re-use the handles on something,,,( Treasure Chest ) they look like they probably have another couple of hundred years left on' em... Good luck & Happy hunting~

 

[lonewolfe]

Nice digs!

HH

Lonewolfe

 

[kermit]

Very nice finds. I think the knife looks like a letter opener but hard to say.


Kermit

 

[buudman]

COOL FINDS NANA.
BUD

 

[Nana40]

Thanks Floater!

OK....I have been reading about Floater's new cleaning method and decided that I would try it on the knife....


? Woohoo!!! After only three hours of soaking it is beginning to look a lot better...I can now see the metal!

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Thanks Floater!? ? ?Here's an update picture! Gonna give it another bath in this rig a little later!!!


? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 

[rvbvetter]

Very cool finds!!! I'm sure you've seen it before, but sometimes at the base of the blade there would be something stamped. Sometimes the maker, or type of steel, or both. WTG!! HH

 

[JakePhelps]

Looks better! just dont let it soak in there too long or it might eat past that layer

 

[diggummup]

Nice handles.The knife looks like an old kitchen knife.A hunting knife or one used for protection would have solid metal through to the end of the handle,and the wood would then be attached to it.A kitchen knife or even a letter opener would not go to the end of the handle.Cool find nonetheless! -keep us posted!

 

[JakePhelps]

The two things that i see that i think may mean its not really old is 1) the tang of the knife doesnt go all the way thru the handle, and 2) the finish looks weird, it doesnt really look hand forged. Still a great find however old it is!! The only thing i find is dinner knives and spoons, strangly i have only found one fork so far.....

 

[comfyinvermont]

You know Nana, now that I look at your knife closer, I don't think it is a knife. There was a tool that was used to clean the horses hooves when they were putting on new horse shoes, and it looks similar to what you found I found one a few years ago. You may want to research horsy stuff and see what you can find...Lance

 

[allen]

those are some really neat relics. definetily better than the clad i found today. keep on digging !!!