Not a military knife blade

[Fred Pillot]

I bought this Cattaraugus "bread knife" so I thought it was.
Its' cutting edge is about .075 thick, and the back of the blade is
about .045 thick.
The serrations are about 1 inch long and go back and forth between
the left side of the blade and the right side.
The blade cuts great on the left side and the right side, but in the
middle it just makes mush.
I thought maybe for cutting a round hole in Ice for ice fishing, but
the ice just clogged up in the middle serrations.
It cut french bread in a very coarse way, and besides the crusty mess,
It gave a coarse cut surface.
Have any of you knife collectors seen a blade like this and know what
it is for?

[Johnny P]

Cattaraugus made a line of serrated knifes in the 1950 time period. I don't think it is any more than some type of specialty kitchen knife.

[TMB]

maybe its for sawing through bone?

[Fred Pillot]

TMB, That's just it. It does not cut in the center of the blade. I tested it on a soft piece of pine and when the blade cut about 1/32 inch deep it stopped cutting.
The only thing the blade did well was to chip ice with light blows of a pivoting wrist. This knife must have been designed for something. I just can't figure out
for what. If some of you have trouble seeing the design of the blade, let me know, I can try and post clearer pics of the blade. Really, I just don't get the
design of this blade.

[Fred Pillot]

I figured it out. It's a cake knife. It took me forever to test it because I don't buy cakes. Used it at my nephews birthday.
You don't saw with it, you just go straight down. It cuts beautifully this way. Iceing doesn't stick and the profile of the cut is perfect. Gives a rough surface to the face of the cut that is visually appealing. They did well with this design.

[Johnny P]

Must work great on cocoanut cakes.

[Richard Turner/Turner Saddlery]

Fred:

Great find, I never realized that Cattaraugus made such a wide variety of knives. I was familiar with most of their military knives, but have since picked up several of their butcher knives and hunting knives at estate sales over the years. I have three fishing/hunting knives that have a hard rubber or bakelite handle, that I picked up at estate sales. One is a filet knife and each holds an edge well. If there is no decent tools at an estate sale, the first place I hit is the kitchen drawers. Those old butcher knives and sharpening steels are great for making skinning knife sets. You can pick most up for $1-$2 each.

Regards,

Richard

[Sunray]

That's a bread knife. No serrations of a cake knife.