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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

98/05 bayonets converted to trench knives


Kris1981

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I'd like to share these with you. Both are trench knife conversions, or at least they look like it. Both have the press-stud mechanism and the ears filed down. I don't know if that would count as evidence for wether or not the conversions were done during the war, but at least you can say they were done thoroughly.

One of these has peculiar pins / badges attached to the wooden grips. I know caution is advised with these, but in my experience I think there's something to them. The imperial crown seems legit, the horsehead seems... weird :-) It might be a personal touch, or a fantasy piece altogether. In any case, both bayonets are (or were) real, and I like the conversions made. The custom made leather frog/scabbard (which I haven't touched yet, and I think I won't) is a non-German looking one. I only managed to find a few privately made ones of WW2 knives that are remotely similar in construction. This one seems to be wartime, judging by the period stitchings and the leather being used. I've never seen one like it, but it has a faint imprint of both badges so it looks like they've been paired up for sometime now. Just a thought, but the horse could mean cavalry of some sort and I believe (regular) frogs with straps like this were in use for mounted personell (?)

The one with the attached badges has the blade shaped like some of the trench knives of the great war, double sided edge and a narrow fuller.

The other one looks more like a knife for home and garden use, but I doubt one would go through the trouble of both deactivating the press-stud and rounding the low ears.

I'm somewhat into trench knives and own an ERN production piece aswell. Do you have any thoughts on these conversions, or on the added badges?

PS: picture one is the hilt before and after cleaning.

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I'm afraid that the attachments do not open for me.

Regards,

JMB

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2 minutes ago, JMB1943 said:

I'm afraid that the attachments do not open for me.

Regards,

JMB

 

I've edited the post and attached new images, how about now?

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Yes, your edit has done the trick.

I only wish that I could add something substantive, but there are people on here who can.

Does the crown badge represent a particular kingdom, or match any in "Seitengewehre.."?

Regards,

JMB

Edited by JMB1943
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On 29/07/2017 at 08:18, JMB1943 said:

Yes, your edit has done the trick.

I only wish that I could add something substantive, but there are people on here who can.

Does the crown badge represent a particular kingdom, or match any in "Seitengewehre.."?

Regards,

JMB

 

I'm no expert at all, but quick googling might have pointed me into the direction of Grossherzogtum Hessen as opposed to Prussia or Bavaria, which have different crowns:

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Kris,

Yes, it gets my vote for Hesse rather than the others shown.

Possibly another pair of nail-holes just above the cross-guard; I wonder if the crown was there originally ?

I saw the before/after cleaning shots on GBF; did you do anything special to the grips?

Regards,

JMB

Edited by JMB1943
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1 hour ago, JMB1943 said:

Kris,

Yes, it gets my vote for Hesse rather than the others shown.

Possibly another pair of nail-holes just above the cross-guard; I wonder if the crown was there originally ?

I saw the before/after cleaning shots on GBF; did you do anything special to the grips?

Regards,

JMB

 

Hi,

Yes they just might have been another pair of nail holes!  The horsehead is oddly placed, it looks like the crown was there first since it has been neatly centered.

 

I never 'restore' my bayonets, but I do remove all active (red) rust.  I only use grade 0 steelwool and a lot of oil to do that.  Wooden grips are tricky, I never sand them or do anything drastic at all.  Only a small amount of bee-wax to polish and feed the dried out wood, that's all the protection it needs :-)  If the washers and bolts are in good condition, I'll even take the grips of - but that really is a 'don't try this at home' operation!

 

 

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