Great info on common trade knives. Ben is a super guy to work with and his workmanship is second to none. I own several different knives, axes, etc. from him.
Like the presentation! I like these knifes.lerned myself a good history about the English,French,and Dutch, trading knifes.Hope to see more presentation s of these.David Back.
Delightful 18th century English carving knife , manufactured for light duty and carving roast meats traditionally served on Sunday in England . I have many that follow this pattern including bone and antler and are paired with a 2 prong fork . Thier final use would be up to the importer at the time. These knives would not be used in any military context in the UK as they are not munition quality as laid down by the Crown .
@@HoffmanReproductions I've heard that German trade knives were also imported, but not as many as the English or French patterns. I haven't been able to to find any German trade knife designs in my research. Do you know if this is true and what the design features of them were?
Very interesting Sir. Its not something I could speak on but would love to know more on them if new information should come to light regarding German blades.
@@HoffmanReproductions From what I can gather, which is still very much inconclusive, I think the German style trade knife resembled the Dutch knife but with a more pronounced backward sweep to the blade overall and with a rounded or clipped tip. This makes sense when comparing the design to earlier era lange messer. Again, not sure though. Keep up the great videos.
Hi, I have a question about these knives. Despite being on the thin side, how flexible or, conversely, how stiff are the blades on these? Are they pretty rigid like comparable to a stiff boning knife? Thanks!
Why knives were made thin you are correct and also metal was hard to make that why so many were half tang every inch saved was an inch on another knife and most were shipped without handles
Are these knives very versatile or were they used for skinning and butchering like the name suggests? Could they be used for whittling and chopping of small trees, or would that overwhelm the knife?
Hello! theses knives would have been used for anything and everything you might think of a knife being used for both today, and back in the 1700's. Chopping a tree down might be a bit much. I would recommend a belt axe if someone thought felling a tree was needed.
@@HoffmanReproductions Thank you for the information, sir, if I buy a trade knife I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t buying a knife whose prime purpose was skinning/butchering. Thank you very much!
It's amazing how the cameraman filming from inside of the helicopter is able to keep the lens so steady. Bravo good sir.
First vid. Gotta start somewhere.
Thanks for making this video! I have often looked at your wares on your website and look forward to obtaining some examples of your work.
Thanks so much for watching & looking!
Having purchased a french knife with embellished sheath from Ben, I can attest to its quality, workmanship, and authenticity as a reproduction.
Thank you so much!!!
Great info on common trade knives. Ben is a super guy to work with and his workmanship is second to none. I own several different knives, axes, etc. from him.
Why thank you Ron!!! Always a pleasure Sir!
Like the presentation! I like these knifes.lerned myself a good history about the English,French,and Dutch, trading knifes.Hope to see more presentation s of these.David Back.
Thank you Sir!
Good job Ben!
Thanks Sam!
Delightful 18th century English carving knife , manufactured for light duty and carving roast meats traditionally served on Sunday in England . I have many that follow this pattern including bone and antler and are paired with a 2 prong fork . Thier final use would be up to the importer at the time. These knives would not be used in any military context in the UK as they are not munition quality as laid down by the Crown .
Best video I've seen on trade knives. Well researched and very nice reproductions. Just fire your camera man lol
Thank you kindly Leon! Yes, our humble beginnings lol!
@@HoffmanReproductions I've heard that German trade knives were also imported, but not as many as the English or French patterns. I haven't been able to to find any German trade knife designs in my research. Do you know if this is true and what the design features of them were?
Very interesting Sir. Its not something I could speak on but would love to know more on them if new information should come to light regarding German blades.
@@HoffmanReproductions From what I can gather, which is still very much inconclusive, I think the German style trade knife resembled the Dutch knife but with a more pronounced backward sweep to the blade overall and with a rounded or clipped tip. This makes sense when comparing the design to earlier era lange messer. Again, not sure though. Keep up the great videos.
Hi, I have a question about these knives. Despite being on the thin side, how flexible or, conversely, how stiff are the blades on these? Are they pretty rigid like comparable to a stiff boning knife? Thanks!
fairly flexible. Just a bit more stiff than a boning knife.
Really interesting. I`m going to make one, that video really helps with context.
Thanks! Check out our other video where I take you step by step on how to make one.
@@HoffmanReproductions Will do: I`ve ordered some 1095 and a block of oak.
Why knives were made thin you are correct and also metal was hard to make that why so many were half tang every inch saved was an inch on another knife and most were shipped without handles
Thanks for watching Robert!
Are these knives very versatile or were they used for skinning and butchering like the name suggests? Could they be used for whittling and chopping of small trees, or would that overwhelm the knife?
Hello! theses knives would have been used for anything and everything you might think of a knife being used for both today, and back in the 1700's. Chopping a tree down might be a bit much. I would recommend a belt axe if someone thought felling a tree was needed.
@@HoffmanReproductions Thank you for the information, sir, if I buy a trade knife I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t buying a knife whose prime purpose was skinning/butchering. Thank you very much!