what is the material used in knife to attach steel blade to silver handle

[PeterKob]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum, from Denmark, please bear with me.

I have about 12 knives with 830 silver handles and steel blades (I think it is steel). The type is common in Scandinavia and possibly elsewhere. but seems to be different from what I have seen with US and British silver/steel knives (apart from them being mostly 925/sterling).

I have separated the blades from the handles. The attached pictures show the blade part and the attached "rod" part, as I call it here (the rod parts used to be "wrapped" inside the handle parts of the knives). The rod part consists of a core bar, that I guess is of steel (like the blade), and some shiny material around it, that I suppose is used to attach/hold the handle and blade together and act like a filler or some material for soldering.

The shiny material is dull in places and to my untrained eye looks a bit like lead. If lead, I should take my precautions, but what is it made of?

Thanks a lot for any ideas or suggestions!

 

[Martijn]

I guess it's to provide counterweight to the blade so maybe it's lead? It seems like a fixed weight was poured in each one because the cavity on each pour was not filled completely. And i suspect it's a metal of low melting point.

 

[justinhcase]

Mostly I find a nasty mix of wax and resin over a thick silver foil.
The same with some candle sticks.
I suppose they use the cheapest gunk that will do the job with very little standardisation.
They have been doing this since the 1700's, so it would be interesting to actually have some analysed to see what else they used.

 

[Helian]

Lead is often used to connect steel blades to sterling silver handles. You can tell if it's lead by heating it for a while with a cheap propane torch. The lead will melt. Make sure it drops in a safe place.

 

[snail]

Never read about it being tested.
Melting easily is not necessarily a test for lead.
Tin melts at a lower temperature than lead.
Most lead was removed from food contact items a great while ago.
Many high tin alloys including pewter are used in food contact items.
I am also curious.

 

[Helian]

If there's any doubt you can always test a piece in nitric. Add HCl and lead will precipitate in cold solution. The other metals won't unless the material is contaminated with silver.

 

[Finmad]

It is lead. I refine a lot of scrap silver knives. the older ones use lead either all the way to the end of the handle or half way and the back is filled with sawdust. The newer ones, use a pink plaster. I stay clear of the lead ones, too much trouble pealing the silver off and the lead is a pain to remove.

 

[$ilverWolf]

I have the same issue with a gold pocketknife - pried off the gold sides only to find the insides covered in lead (as per XRF). Any easy way to get the Pb off the Au? Thanks.

 

[PeterKob]

It is lead. I refine a lot of scrap silver knives. the older ones use lead either all the way to the end of the handle or half way and the back is filled with sawdust. The newer ones, use a pink plaster. I stay clear of the lead ones, too much trouble pealing the silver off and the lead is a pain to remove.

your description of your old knives fits my knives excatly (lead halfway + sawdust).

Thanks for your reply
PeterKob