Hi everybody always been fascinated with crooked knives since I was a kid some 50 years ago when my dad bought an old tool chest from a widow in our small town it had this knife handle but with out blade since then i have been trying to grab every knife i can find so this is the handle that starte my small collection of knives since i live in the heart on malecite country and not to far fron micmac country i still find knives ounce in a while i will post pictures of them every once and a while Luc
Thanks Luc,
Please feel free to call me Ned.
I think you are speaking of the slight indentation in the grip that is the thumb rest ? Yes, quite commmonand practical. Handle and blade are usually crafted specifically for the task the user intends, Straight baldes with straiht handles are for splinting, curved baldes with off-set handles often for hallowing-out.
The hole in the butt end of the handle was used by the carver to secure his work while he was crafting this handle. So this hole offers no clue as to the makers intention .
I personally would not add a blade. It's a fine turn of the century handle with fine carving. To add a blade would not only bastardize it, but would, I think, reduce some of it's " value " . And then the notion of what wrapping to use............ Yikes !
We will never know the intention of the maker as far as the blade and wrapping go, nor why he abandoned his project. To me that only adds to the lovely mystery of the piece.
Ned