Green river through the years

I

InTheSticks

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Oct 24, 2013
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I am curious about Green river knives was very aware of them back when I was into black powder in the 80s and they were definitly one of the favored at that time for that group.

The current Green rivers are great nice thin little slicers but I was reading something the other day that implied the the old ones (19th century) were quite a bit thicker. Note I said implied he did not state it as fact. I was wondering if any of you had vintage Green River knives and if they were thicker. If so about when did they change?

Thanks in advance,

Don
 
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Unashamed bump, because...

I love Green River blades.

If anyone has a CAD file of one of their handle shapes I would love to have it.

I don't know anything about the thickness changing, but it would make sense. Although many of the utility knives back then were butcher's knives. They *were* trappers. Interesting subject.
 
I have one rather old Russell Green River that's pretty thin for a big cook's knife. Maybe just the one, and I have no idea how old it is. They might always have been thin, though- the mountain men had axes and hatchets for chopping.
 
The older ones were thicker. The early ones that were forged had tapered tangs and the logo was stamped or deep acid etched into the blade. They even offered some with stag handles. I have a buffalo skinner with a thick blade and tapered tang. {Loveless invented that you know} Tapered tangs goes way back, it was a way of using less metal by stretching it out.
 
Tony Bose said:
Tapered tangs goes way back, it was a way of using less metal by stretching it out.
Click to expand...

That makes perfect sense Tony but I see modern custom makers (Rick Menefee for one) doing the game thing on fixed blades. Why do you suppose that is?

Best regards,

Mark
 
Tapered tangs help balance out a knife so it is not handle heavy. Some of the handle material adds quite a bit of weight and when you heavily hollow grind the bevels, tapering makes up for it.
 
Thanks for the info everybody, it's exactly what I was looking for. So the older knives were forged and thicker. I found there is a book on these knives up to 1936 and I will have see if I can get my hands on a copy.

Mr Bose, I would have guessed you knew the answer but I am honored you took the time to share it with us, Thanks again.

Don
 
On the subject of tapered tangs, here's a couple of pics. The two knives of the 'Green River' type are Sheffield made, as is the Joseph Elliott butcher knife. The bottom knife was made by Joseph Rodgers in the first decade of the 20th century and features a hand-forged blade and tapered tang (like the Elliott). The top knife is shown for contrast.



 
Classic old knives you have there Jack. They sure did stretch the tangs out on the Joseph Rodgers knives. Thanks for sharing.
 
Markesharp said:
Classic old knives you have there Jack. They sure did stretch the tangs out on the Joseph Rodgers knives. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Mark, the Rodgers is a very recent acquisition. I think they were shipped across the pond by the barrel-load back in the days when they were stamped 'GR' rather than 'ER' (the 'E' standing for Edward in this case).
 
Markesharp said:
That makes perfect sense Tony but I see modern custom makers (Rick Menefee for one) doing the game thing on fixed blades. Why do you suppose that is?

Best regards,

Mark
Click to expand...

On 5/32 and 3/16 stock. If the grind is over 3/4 height on a big contact. Its becomes front heavy with a (thin tapered tang). The knife will work for you while in use.
 
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