When I was a young boy, my grandfather had a special knife hung above the fireplace, one that he said he inherited from his father, and that he would pass down to me when I was grown-up. Things happened. My great-grandfather died, my grandfather died, I moved around chasing an education, my grandparents’ house was sold, the contents scattered, and heck, I was more concerned about my family and family values and all that then in some lump of metal.
The knife, as it turned out, had gone to my mother, and my sister found it, and she says I can have it now. I guess this is my inheritance, a simple, practical knife that brings back happy memories. Here it is:
I think those are silver fittings. The handle has my great-grandfather’s initials (PV, for Peter Westad) picked out with small nails, and an engraving “WESTAD 1908” on the sheath.
Here’s the blade.
It’s still sharp, but I think you can see the edge is a bit rough — it’s going to need some tender loving care. My grandfather always told me that it was good Norwegian steel and would last a lifetime. He was wrong. It’s lasted a couple of lifetimes.
The photo is my great-grandfather and his brothers, taken in Fertile, Minnesota.
My sister is going to ship it to me later (I don’t think it would be wise to bring it on a plane), so it’ll be returning to Minnesota at long last. I’m going to have to consult some experts about maintaining it — it’s in pretty good shape after a century of neglect, so it doesn’t need a lot of work, but I would like to buff it up a bit. After all, I’m going to have to leave it to my descendants now!
You could always add a few silver dots to turn that V into a sideways Z while it’s in your keeping.
Beauty!
I bet Marcus could provide you with some very good advice about the care of the knife.
That is awesome! Definitely get an expert to evaluate and explain how to care for it. And returning it to its best condition would be amazing to see. We are gradually losing the tradition of family connections (like your great-grandfather’s knife) in this new modern age. Apprciate it as long as you can.
#3 that was my thought also
Looks like a very nice classic Scandinavian “tollekniv” (whittling knife). Many have an edge inlay of high carbon steel while the rest of the blade is softer iron.
You should definitely have a good expert take a look at it. I suspect that the mounts are actually nickel silver (sometimes called German silver) rather than true silver, given their untarnished condition. It’s an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc that as often used for practical application in the 19th and early 20th centuries where you might want the look of silver but need something tougher and more durable (especially since it does not tarnish like true silver.) It’s use in knife bolsters and fittings was quite common. It was (and still is) also used extensively by Native American artists for a variety of practical and ornamental metalwork applications.
It’s really a beautiful piece, quite apart from the family history and sentimental value it has to you, which is incalculable.
I’m glad you were reunited with this fine heirloom. Maybe a dumb question, but why does the knife say V and Vestad and you say Westad?
My great^4 grandfather was a village blacksmith in Norway. I still have a scandi-style knife he made, that has a full tang with a hammer-plate, and a boxwood burl handle. At one point, it was pretty fancy. The steel is .. OK but not great. I haven’t bothered trying to do anything to it but keep it from rusting.
Yeah, it’s been sitting ignored in a box for maybe 50 years, so the lack of tarnish made me a little suspicious, too.
I don’t expect the steel to be magically fantastic. I think it’s primarily ornamental — it might have been made to commemorate some event in my great grandfather’s life. My grandfather suggested he made a trip to Oslo when it was made, but he wasn’t a particularly reliable source.
I don’t know why it’s spelled “Vestad” in all the Norsk documents and pronounced “Westad” in English. That V–>W and W–>V shift seems common in Germanic languages.
johnson catman@#3:
I bet Marcus could provide you with some very good advice about the care of the knife.
OK, I’ll bite.
First off, storing blades long-term in leather is not great for either the leather or the blade, though after 100 years or so there’s not much moisture or tannins to react with. New leather or steel react more, and I don’t recommend long-term storage in leather unless the blade is stainless or regularly maintained. Ditto the leather.
Maintaining nickel silver or real silver: silver polish actually works great but it’s mildly corrosive and can stain leather. So, it’s problematic if you want to get the silver looking good chemically. My preference is a slight buff with fine steel wool. That also has the advantage of texturing the surface – if there is any smut or corrosion on the silver, it’ll stay in the cracks or imprints, and you’ll get some contrast in the metal.
Maintaining the steel: same with the steel wool – it has the advantage of being non-reactive and not very abrasive. The steel is presumably hardened, and the steel wool is not, so it won’t cut the steel. Most sandpapers (if for metal) are aluminum oxide or carbide, which are harder than steel and will remove a bit of the metal. If you are working on the blade, crisping up the lines or shaping the edge, sandpaper is fine (get a piece of tile and stick the sandpaper to it with WD40 or light machine oil to make an amateur surface plate) and a range of grits is a perfect cheap substitute for a stack of expensive sharpening stones. If you find you like messing with blades, know this: CNC machining has made surface plates obsolete and now you can get yummy gorgeous granite surface plates on Ebay for under $100. They used to cost thousands.
Polishing: you need to learn to assess scratches. With some experience, you can look at a scratch and match it to a particular grit (e.g: 200#) and you want to start with that grit then sand at an angle to the scratches until the scratches are gone. Then go up a grit (e.g.: 300#) and sand at the opposite angle until the 200# scratches are gone. By the time you are up to 3000# you are close to mirror polish, then finish it with some polycrystalline diamond dust on a piece of heavy leather. Mirror polishes will make you cry. Do not try to skip grits.
Wax is great for leather or steel. If you want to maintain leather, neats foot oil is good, or some kind of non-drying oil. If you use a drying oil like linseed oil, it will solidify in the fibers of the leather and the leather will split. Light machine oil is better than nothing for leather. When I was a kid I used to soak my sheath work in 10W30 and they look new 50+ years later. I used to melt beeswax and motor oil and use that on my leather jacket. Waxing a blade is fine, or do what the Japanese do: polish with something sub-abrasive (uchiko is powdered volcanic rock, just softer than hard steel, so it emphasizes the layers in a blade) wipe it thoroughly off, then apply light non-drying oil. Magnolia oil for a nihon-to, light machine oil for anything else. When applying oil, wipe it on with one cloth, wipe it once with another, and there will be a few molecules left on the blade.
Wax: in a double boiler, place 1 part beeswax, 1 part turpentine, 1 part linseed oil, and heat until it combines. Add a drop of oil of cloves if you want but otherwise pour it off into low glass jars. This wax is great on just about anything.
If you are looking at a laminated blade and want to bring out the contrast in the metal, clean it, wipe it with lemon juice, and repeat on and off for a few dozen times, then clean it very carefully in warm water, dry and oil.
Generally: knives are never dishwasher safe. Don’t leave them in the sun if they are modern because knifemakers these days don’t worry about the effect of ultraviolet (I’ve seen “every day carry” blades come apart after a year…) For long-term storage, I wipe with WD40 and wrap in butcher’s paper. Leather sheaths get neatsfoot oil and wrap in butcher’s paper.
Feel free to email me or otherwise ask if you have a particular knife maintenance issue.
I’d suggest … keeping it protected from the elements but otherwise leave it alone. Wear and tear in familial artifacts like these especially drive the imagination as it gets passed down over the years.
Yeah, it’s been sitting ignored in a box for maybe 50 years, so the lack of tarnish made me a little suspicious, too.
Nickel silver is a lot tougher than pure silver, so there’s that. Pure silver will dent and scratch but will also look insanely great when it’s finished up properly. Nickel silver is a lot harder and holds scratches like a !*#$&!(#& but it also buffs up great.
I’ve done a few habaki out of AlAg (aluminum silver bronze) which right now is my favorite beautiful, tough, light, cheap, insanely hard to work with stuff.
Norway has a confusing language split between the danish-inspired bokmål and the more nationalistic nynorsk.
“Whittling knife” has another link to old Scandinavia by the children’s stories by Astrid Lindgren about Emil of Lönneberga – he locked himself into a carpentry booth every time his dad needed time to ‘cool down’ after discovering yet another of Emil’s mischiefs. He did produce quite a lot of carved items, having spent many an occasion in that shed.
Also; only the true heir can yield the full powers of this blade.
And it will shine in the dark if orchs are nearby.
We don’t have much heirlooms in my immediate family. Greedy relatives, alcoholic father (would have inherited a nice farmhouse…) and an allied bomb raid.
I do own a few things from my grandfather that grandma gave me after he had died. Nothing really old, everything pretty cheap, but they do have value for me. No pretty knives though, grandpa had a few knives in his workshop, but he used them as tools in a way they were not designed to be used – including a WWII bayonet he seems to have at some point used to stir green paint by the look of it.
I am pleased to report that my mother’s house is orc-free.
I believe that any American woodworker will recognize this as a classic sloyd knife. That’s a Swedish word, you can google it.
What about lawyers?
Traveling With a Knife
For the beeswax, I’m more a fan of food grade mineral oil and wax. Good for most surfaces and wooden cutting boards (I still use wooden cutting boards, despite their being a pain to sanitize, compared to plastic (which is rougher on blade edges)).
And I’m fond of using that same oil on blades and my oil stones.
For that, if it were my choice, I’d either leave well enough alone and simply hone it or use course, medium steel wool on the blade, fine to finish off and on the hardware. Largely, to preserve the patterns on the hardware and blade.
Marcus, what does UV do to modern blades? Never ran across that myself, but then my blades are either sheaved or in use and not left to just lay in the sun.
Whoa, great find! Sometimes even modest objects will broadcast on a family warmth frequency that will pleasantly resonate on your inner receptors (sorry for the imagery).
Not so impressive as that blade, but my gramps’ leather mallet or my gran’s wool blanket will do that for me.
Also, thanks to Marcus and Wzrd1 for their excellent technical advice, ’tis much appreciated.
OT
Are you looking for someone who might need something sharp placed in his back on the ides of March ?
This is more disgusting than usual.
Complete with made-up general and everything.
https://youtu.be/OICb-Z4wBtQ
Perhaps, once it is fully refurbished/restored, it may have one opportunity to be an actual knife, to fulfil its (gasp!) purpose.
Maybe peel an apple with it, or something of similar import.
@19 Reginald Selkirk: I get what the regulations say there. But a liberal minded professor with a reasonably high profile who happens to come across the wrong Trumpistian red neck TSA agent might not have a good time just the same. I wouldn’t risk it either.
Are you looking for someone who might need something sharp placed in his back on the ides of March ?
If you strike at the devil, or the king, be sure to aim for all of us.
Marcus, what does UV do to modern blades?
The problem is heat (over time) and loss of flexibility in epoxies. I would put my trust in anything from West System because they do a huge amount of UV testing on their products. They are concerned with nautical uses, not vampires. Most epoxies are actually thermo-cure, and cure from the heat of their own reaction, which means they may soften if you leave that everyday carry knife on a sunny window ledge. For an “every day carry” dishwasher safe is a fair standard. Please, nobody, run one of my knives through a dishwasher or I will hunt your soul in hell. The knife may survive but, uh, ah, ugh, neither will any of us but, uhhh…
Not that much UV indoors, even less in a box.
I inherited by maternal grandmother’s combination wedding/engagement ring. They were poor, and the ring probably isn’t worth much in the way of money; but I think it’s pretty and old-fashioned and should stay in the family. Since I’m the end of my particular line, I should probably give it to a cousin or something.
We just my husband’s great-grandmother’s silver cream and sugar set, that was given to her in 1901 by her mother in Denmark. They are a lovely modernist type of design. What was called “Modern Danish” started over a century ago. We visited Denmark several years ago, and toured a castle that was literally a history of Danish art. The oldest on the first floor, and the modern in the third floor: https://dnm.dk/en/the-collections/
The engraved bit on them was translated for us by my daughter-in-law who went to some Norsk camps as a child. Her grandmother is from Norway. My younger son and she spent some of their honeymoon visiting her relatives.
Erg: “We just have my..”
One thing that is forgotten about late 19th century immigration from Scandinavia to the US, was there a reason for that migration. Poverty and lack of food. Which is why so many flooded into Wisconsin, Minnesota, and else where in the late 19th century:
https://youtu.be/boaoQi3KusA?t=1344
I was reminded of this bit of this by a Seattle Times article on someone’s Norwegian grandmother’s recipe: https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/potato-klub-is-stuffed-with-norwegian-tradition-and-temptation/
Since there is no way to “gift” this I will include the recipe:
Aggie’s Potato Klub
1 10×10-inch square of linen or cheesecloth
2 cups shredded, raw russet or red-skinned potatoes
1 cup flour
1 cup cubed, cooked ham steak
½ teaspoon salt
Fold the linen square in half, and sew along the bottom and up one side, creating a bag. If using cheesecloth, make sure to have at least 4 layers on each side to create enough of a barrier.
In a large bowl, mix together shredded potatoes, flour, ham steak and salt until the flour is thoroughly incorporated. If you don’t use enough flour, the klub will end up more like mashed potatoes. Stuff the potato mixture tightly into the bag, and sew the top closed.
Bring a large heavy-bottomed pot of water to boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bag from the water, and allow to cool enough so you can handle it. Cut open the bag, or remove the stitches. Slice into coins, top each slice with a dab of butter and serve immediately.
I think of this whenever a white supremacist brings up Nordic heritage as a reason to be superior: “Sure, ya betcha… do you want a potato sausage?”
It looks delightful!
Does anyone have comments on Renaissance wax for this sort of item? I bought a ‘replica’ Beagnoth Seax last year and bought the wax as recommended and the EN45 steel looks beautiful with no further maintenance a year later stored in the sheath.
@submoron: renaissance wax is the gold standard for wax. Museum curators use it. I think it is made with highly refined beeswax and no linseed oil, or nearly none. I use it when I don’t want the normal butcher’s wax smell. It’s just so damn expensive!
Chris@ 30
Denmark and Norway still have some lovely old buildings in their central towns and cities.
In Sweden, politicians wanted new “modern” houses and did to our inner cities what Luftwaffe and Bomber Command did to continental European cities.
Chris @ 32
Yes Scandinavia in general was dirt-poor.
Fortunately there was a comprehensive school system even if the children in the rural areas generally only got six years of school.
Literacy, plus the training in community organisation which came from participation in the baptist “free” churches or the sobriety movement meant many had the skills needed for organising the early labour unions.
Those who had a better education usually did well after emigrating.
I am reminded of a guy who built an armoured steam-powered boat…
@ Marcus Ranum. Thanks for your reply. According to various sources it’s microcrystalline waxes refined from mineral oil with Polyethylene waxes included. Yes it’s expensive but I have so few items that it’ll last me decades!
I have the teapot that my great-grandmother brought to the US from Scotland. According to family stories, her mother entrusted each child with one family treasure to care for on the voyage. It has a prominent spot in one of my china cabinets, flanked by the only two pieces that I have from my grandmother’s china.
I also inherited my mother’s collection of depression glass and my mother-in-law’s collection of blue cobalt glass dishware.
I treasure all of the family heirlooms from both my side of the family and my husband’s side with which I’ve been entrusted.
I also have some antique furniture and jewelry with family stories from both families.
The sad thing is that my children don’t seem particularly interested in having those heirlooms.
I’m hoping that they will change their minds, or that the grandchildren will develop an interest in their family histories.
@birgerjohansson:
Hans Rosling’s last book, his memoir, had a very vivid description of the poverty they lived in early in his life.
PZ – your great-grandfather’s knife is quite a treasure.
My husband has tried to make a huge Swiss Army knife into a family treasure.
He bought it for our son when he joined the Marines and was deployed to Iraq.
Since he would be maintaining his unit’s computers, my husband picked a knife for him that had tools useful for that job.
When our son returned from Iraq, he wasn’t interested in keeping the knife and handed it back to his Dad.
My husband treasures and uses the knife now, and he hopes that one of our son’s two boys will want it in the future.
I expect that for a knife like this, its sentimental value far outweighs its monetary one. Still, even though you do not intend to sell it, before doing anything to it at all, I would recommend a consultation with an antique expert, not just a knifemaker. Just to be sure you do not do anything to it that would diminish its monetary value. Cleaning would be probably fine, sharpening and polishing might or might not, and thoroughly removing the patina could even be considered harmful.
Nickel silver can develop a slight blue-greenish patina in contact with leather and natural fats, but is easily polished simply with untreated paper towels.
@Marcus, as someone who spent 12 years in a lab testing, among other things, UV damage to plastic components, I feel compelled to say that heat damage and UV damage are not the same. UV is not the cause of heat damage from sunlight. The main sources of heat from sunlight are actually visible light and IR. UV is an additional damaging factor to the heat because whilst it is a tiny portion of the sunlight’s energy, it can excite and damage molecules that the other, longer, wavelengths cannot.
It’s a wonderful knife!
I’ve just learned some interesting things about knives I never knew before. Unfortunately the Tiffany style shade that had been there since at least the 1950s was sold by an alcoholic relative so no heirlooms .