WW1 1917 Trench knife for my Marines

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VictorVincimus

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Sep 23, 2018
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hey all. New to the forum and new to knifemaking. I’m a huge history buff and collect old rifles from WW1. With that said I got into knife making and am currently working on a couple trench knives that will be deployed with my two Infantry Marines. These are working models out of 1095 with a blade that has the same specs as a Kbar Marine fighting knife from Vietnam era. My question is, the handles are going to be walnut to keep true to original design but since marines get their “blood Stripe” on their class A uniforms I thought it would be cool to put a couple stripes into the handle with blood wood. Since these are gonna be actual functional combat knives that could potentially be used under the harshest conditions, will an epoxy joint hold under extreme conditions. If not, I will just go with walnut but I want to make them really unique. I have a model quickly built for sizing and such. It’s only my second knife I ever made. First was a kitchen chopper. Also, how do I post pics on the thread. I will post pics of the quick model and finished product. Thanks
 
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This is the knife. Keep in mind that it is not glued up and does not have the skull crusher on the bottom yet. Still needs to be threaded and the cap added but I won’t do that to this model. I want to be able to break it down to use for measurements and such.
 
VictorVincimus said:
hey all. New to the forum and new to knifemaking. I’m a huge history buff and collect old rifles from WW1. With that said I got into knife making and am currently working on a couple trench knives that will be deployed with my two Infantry Marines. These are working models out of 1095 with a blade that has the same specs as a Kbar Marine fighting knife from Vietnam era. My question is, the handles are going to be walnut to keep true to original design but since marines get their “blood Stripe” on their class A uniforms I thought it would be cool to put a couple stripes into the handle with blood wood. Since these are gonna be actual functional combat knives that could potentially be used under the harshest conditions, will an epoxy joint hold under extreme conditions. If not, I will just go with walnut but I want to make them really unique. I have a model quickly built for sizing and such. It’s only my second knife I ever made. First was a kitchen chopper. Also, how do I post pics on the thread. I will post pics of the quick model and finished product. Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Epoxy will give you the strongest or one of the strongest weatherproof joints you can get on wood. Mix the epoxy, and then add a thickener, so that you have a thin paste. Cab-O-Sil (Colloidal Silica), fine wood dust (flour), or even white wheat flour, will work for a thickener. Spread it on, and clamp it tight. But not to tight. If you over clamp it, you will squeeze out all the epoxy and starve the joint. If you have a wood with a lot of natural oils, you may have to wash it down with acetone before gluing. Walnut glues fine, I don't know what kind of gluing properties blood wood has.

O.B.
 
For most face jointed wood-to-wood glue ups, titebond 3 will have more holding power and be just as waterproof as epoxy. Just make sure to get your joints flat and clamp securely. Can guarantee the handle material will fail before the glue.

I find paduk holds its red longer than does bloodwood. Dyed hard maple would probably be the best stripe and should never fade.
 
try the poly glue for wood, never used it or tried it on metal. the stuff uses water to cure and if clamped and seam is done properly it is impervious. I had to temporarily repair a spot in my kitchen floor and used it wood to hardwood,when I redid the floor that spot had held up more than what I ripped up would have. the 2 joists it was used on had to be replaced because I couldn't get the glue to turn loose.
 
Poly works too, but TB III is stronger than wood already, and poly is a bit of a pain.

I would avoid using anything but epoxy if i was going wood to metal.

CA is the best option for most plastic-to-plastic and some metal-to-plastic.
 
Not to rain on your parade but those knuckle duster trench knives were not popular among the soldiers who had them.
They are brutal weapons but almost useless tools. Most soldiers want a multi functional knive; a last ditch weapon but mostly a sturdy tool.
 
Your not raining on my parade at all. I agree in part. The original m1917 was designed after the “french nail” which was pretty much a steel spike. The reason for its unpopularity was the design itself. It had a long slender three edged spike that was designed to pierce the thick wool trench coat that the Germans wore. The M1917 was only a thrusting weapon and prone to snapping because of its slender design. It also had limited use because it was not an edged weapon for any kind of slashing. Because of this they were unpopular. Enter the M1918. This was a true knuckle knife with a short edged blade. They were issued to special troops such as Airborne, Marine Raider....etc. it was a pricey design with metals that were expensive so mass production for front line troops was nixed by the Govt. Anyone that watched boardwalk empire will remember Jimmy Darmody using this one. That’s why I’m not staying true to the design and put a1095 Kbar spec blade minus the blood flute in its place. I thought about a double edged blade like the Raider knives the Marines used after ww2 but these two are limited to fighting knives and not general usage. You can’t beat on the top side with anything. I tried to upload the pics again through the apps but can’t figure how to upload pics to the app so,will have to wait till my tech savvy kids come home. Hopefully soon so I can get ideas for improvements from y’all. Thanks for the info everyone.
 
The 1918 with the full brass handle wasn't popular either.
The brass knuckles limits very much the way it could be held.
It also was a weapon only and hardly a tool.
That's why knives after that come without knuckle duster handles.

I am also very interested in the WW1 eara. Some of the most extreme situations where knives were used as weapons were in those trenches.
Have a look at the M3 fighting knife.
Slender, 6inches and one and a half edge.
Basicaly copying the German officially issued trench knives during WW1.

I'd go more along that route
 
I also suggest the M3 knife style. Construction is very simple, the handle can be stacked with some red stripes, the blade can be battoned, and there is no fuller ( It is NOT a blood flute/groove).
 
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