Nichols Bros. 10" Bullnose Scimitar Shear Steel Late 19th early 20th C

Made in Greenfield Massachusetts by the great Nichols Bros. Hand forged shear steel with pinned beech wood handle.

One of the greats of the old 19th C Massachusetts makers, not as prolific as others but always happy to find their knives.

Shear steel was a 19th and early 20th century steel that was made by case hardening bars of iron in ceramic boxes packed with charcoal, large numbers of these were heated for days on end at high temperatures and the resulting bars were broken up (it would break or shear rather than bend once carbon added hence 'shear' steel) and forged welded into a larger mass. Shear steel has a very bitey, long lived edge and was one of the top steels in the 19th century western knife making. 

This knife was used a lot, it arrived sharpened in, the handle shows wear but is still tight and secure. The blade has been thinned and re ground on the faces to bring it back to its original thickness with a fresh sharp edge.