Branson, I'm not saying knives were never made from old files, just that Brenard Levine in 1998 found reasons not to take all such stories at face value. Here's a couple quotes from his article — just food for consideration.
"…if you look at the history of files, and look at the history of knives, it is quickly apparent that prior to this century, files were considerably more scarce, and considerably more valuable than plain working knives. And much like old knives, but unlike modern files, old files were routinely re-sharpened for use, until they were nearly worn away." [This I'd heard about but have never knowingly seen. -bear]
"…Look at the earliest issues of any American frontier newspaper -- Ohio Valley, Mississippi Delta, Rocky Mountains, Pacific Coast, you name it -- the local merchants are advertising bars of Sheffield cast steel, alongside bacon, flour, crockery, and glassware. The man who wanted to make his own knife could obtain steel just as readily as gunpowder, lead shot, calico, or whiskey." [Elsewhere he mentions the re-use of metal during our "frontier days." I worked for an 80 y/o fellow in the late '60s who routinely tossed rolls of used bob wahr onto a fire to anneal it for re-use, who told me about being paid to burn down old "line shacks," after which he'd salvage the nails. I've also read of abandoned wagons being taken apart for similar salvage, and know that metal was highly prized in any shape or form. Nowadays you can see pickups full of "scrap steel" heading for "recycling" — think: shipment to China. Sheesh.
"…In 1771 [Jean Jacque] Perret [of Paris] made his hacksaw blades and sharp-edge files out of old knives. This is not especially surprising, however. When knives, saws, and files were all hand-made, saws and files were much more difficult and time-consuming to make than plain knives, and therefore they were more valuable.]
"And what about all the "frontier knives made from files" shown in some knife books? None of the authors of these works has been able to explain how he determines the "frontier" provenance of his knives. They might equally well be products of high school forge shops, Boy Scout merit badge projects, World War II G.I. improvisation, or calculated chicanery. Perhaps a few of these file-knives really were made prior to 1907. But in 27 years studying knives, and researching their history, I have yet to see one that could be proven that old."
The oldest verified file knife Bernard found was one on a postcard dated 1913, courtesy of someone named Brian Huegel. As he also noted, the concept became popular with novelists and so on — which, due to his special interest in knives, led him to search for "verified examples."
I apologize for not opening my copy and cutting-and-pasting the nore interesting parts (to me, anyway) of Bernard's 9-page (10 pt. Times) article. I'd thought to just hit the high points (again, to me) for the thread conversation. So much for my being suck-sinked, eh? *bear grins*