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Help identifying knife

Hello, my name is Daren from Juneau Alaska, I am a small-time collector and knife fanatic, I came across this knife but can't seem to identify it, hopefully one of you experts can assist,

Thank you and I appreciate any information you all can send,

Daren

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Permalink Reply by Kevin D on September 29, 2023 at 22:49

Hey Daren! Welcome to iKC! We are certainly glad to see you here!

Now. Lets see what your knife looks like...

"GB" is not a maker's mark that I recognize, nor am able to find easily doing some research of the computer.

To me his looks like a solid little skinner. Hand made, probably by a part time bladesmith. The fit and finish are not what I would expect to see from a production type of knife. While there is no single thing that leads me to this conclusion, there are several small features that to me give credence to my suspicions.

The "GB" is definitely a stamp; not engraved, laser marked, or etched. You can see a small ghost of a perimeter of displaced metal around the initials. This had a touch of finish sanding/polishing done after the stamping of the maker's mark. The maker's mark was applied before the handle scales were applied.

The layered micarta in the handle was probably hand sanded. The layers between the layers of fabric are a tiny bit more recessed than the slightly harder fabric layers. Sanding by hand, emphases this variance in hardness. I personally have experienced that with my handles, but the concept is the same, regardless of the handle material.

The brass pins in the handle are not consistent. This indicates that the pins were hand hammered (then filed and sanded flush) to expand the ends slightly to provide a fairly solid mechanical lock of the handle scales.

The jimping is a nice touch, but is not perfectly even. Another indication of this being hand made.

All in all, I would say that this bladesmith had made at least a few knives prior to this one, and had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done to make a solid knife. Decent, solid quality (provided good steel was used), but not exceptional.

Of course this is just some of the stuff that can be seen in the photos. Seeing, touching the knife firsthand might provide other clues that we are not seeing.

Certainly a knife to be kept and continued to be used; skinning/cleaning game, EDC, etc. Looks like a solid little knife to me.

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Permalink Reply by Daren Denney on September 30, 2023 at 11:58

Hello Kevin, thank you so much for the great feedback!!! it is defiantly a knife worthy of keeping in my collection, I am new to this site and just now finding the time to explore it, again thank you for your input you are truly appreciated.

Daren,