The Nessmuk knife.....and a lesson to be contemplated

[Joel]

I've always been a fan of George Washington Sears' (pen name Nessmuk) knife since I first built one from a blade supplied to me by Bob Engnath 6/7 years ago; but had never seen the original as drawn in one of his books.  I recently ordered, and received, a copy of his classic  "Woodcraft and Camping($5.95 from Barnes & Noble); along with another old classic  woodcrafting book by Horace Kephart( Camping and Woodcraft...$15.95) who was sort of a southern version of Nessmuk.  The reason that I ordered the Nessmuk book was in hope that there would be at least a drawing of his knife and "double barreled" hand axe in there; and there was.  I'll have to admit to being considerably surprised when the drawing showed a knife with a blade style much like I had been making(as a full tang knife)...but with a stick tang handle made of what looks like whitetail deer crown.  I, like many other modern knife users, have always considered knives made out of deer antler as to be somewhat on the delicate side for serious use(although I had never actually tried using one), but then I got to thinking some(finally).  Sears only used his knife for cutting....he had that double headed axe(one side was fine ground and the other was of a heavier grind).  He didn't try to pry rocks or logs, ram it through the local stagecoach(or equivilant) etc....he just cut with it.....and it also had a thin blade that could take a razor edge.  A lot different philosophy  than what you see if you read a modern knife magazine where they run all these "survival/woodcraft" knives through these torture tests.....and expect a sharp cutting blade after all that.  Fact is, many of those heavy blades just aren't ground fine enough to get a good edge geometry on them....they cut, but often (not always) don't have a really sharp, long lasting edge.  I had just finished grinding a Nessmuk in the full tang style out of 1/8" 154CM rather than out of the 3/16" ATS-34 that Engnath had first sent me: having learned over the years that a thin blade cuts better(got that part right anyway).  When I held it up to compare it with the drawing, danged if the handle area wasn't a crown deer antler in profile; complete with crown.  The one Bob has sent me was copied from the version that Morseth has made in the '20's.  So, I've been doing a little more thinking and I have that nice, aged antler crown from that big buck I shot 2 years ago, and I"ve a choice of either  1/8" D-2, A-2 or 154CM for a blade.  Reckon I'll make me a Nessmuk knife like Sears carried, and use it like a knife.  Hell, I usually carry a 'Hawk anyway...might look into a good hand axe.  Back to basics, in some ways.....like I learned when I was a kid to begin with. Here is the page from Camping and Woodcraft that shows the one drawing of hispocketknife(Queen's mountain man knife is similar), axe(Ragweed forge has a  Marble's axe, made in China which is a close copy of the Nessmuk axe....mine just arrived today) and the knife. http://bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1579540&postcount=5

[espuma]

Any of those steels will be a winner.  Please post a picture when you make it!   I like the philosophy that knives are for cutting, and you use your knife to make the other tools.

[armory414]

A knife for just cutting?  Wow!  What a concept!  If you look at the old butcher knives made by Case, Old Hickory, Winchester, among others, before WWII they are of the thinner steel.  Good edge for cutting, and if you had to go through bone rather than fillet your venison or hog, that's what the old bone saw was for.  I'd like to see pictures of your finished knife also.  I've thought about making my own Nessmuk knife, and still hope to someday.

[Neanderthal]

I cannot recall the forum (perhaps KF or BF) had a thread showing modification of an Old Hickory 6" skinning knife into a Nessmuk style knife.  Quite a nice result from a $7.00 (Knives Plus) knife.