Chisel edge on Filipino Blades
 

I walking to a friend of mine who comes from the mountains of Cebu. I have a Pinute that came from his region. It has wood two piece wood scabbard. The orginal was badley cracked so I made a copy of it. He said the blade is like shovel it was tool and for personal protection. I asked him why the blades only have a bevel on one side. He said that the blades are made for a person and they are made for someone who is right handed or left handed depending upon who the blade was made for. He said that the blade was carried with you when you went watch the Cock fights that why the wood scabbard has a roosters head as the shape. He also said that the beveled blade would serve as a draw knife around your farm. As an experiment being a skilled wood worker, I tried it as draw knife and it worked great. I was able to peel bark and shape very well with good control. Has anybody else hear of this with blades from Asian Pacific island groups?

I have a PI blade that someone said might be for a left hand person. How do you tell which side the bevel is on as relates to the left or right hand of a person?

Hi Bill, Practicality of use always means a bevel on the right hand side of a blade when facing away from oneself equals right handed use, left hand side equals left hand use. Ive seen it on some old custom blades from skandanavia & also on mandau & a couple of other unusual ethnographic blades rumured at the time to be from to be from Assam.

Theres nothing as sharp as a one sided bevel, There more easily damaged though!

Spiral

If the bevel is on the right side (e.g., talibong without scabbard below), it's for a right-handed person. Thus the talibong with the scabbard (bevel is on the left) is for the southpaw :)

Of course we all want to forget those physics equation :D ;)

But for those interested on that aspect, earlier a friend referred me to this site. The illustration there explains the principle:

part 2 of 3:

3rd of 3 parts ... and i'm out of here! ;)

Thanks JS and LL

Then this one of mine is a lefty!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=talibon

Guess that makes it even more rare! One of my favorite pieces. Thanks again CharleS

Great info, thanks guys!

Actually your's Bill is the only Lefty one shown . :)

The lower one in post 4 is a right-handed example .
The bevel is gentle and convex and starts at the spine unlike most ground bevels . :)

The photo fools the eye .

Thanks Rick for pointing that out :)

Can you please show us a pic of that talibong from another angle that shows that gentle convex bevel? Additionally and if it's not too much to ask, can you pls. show us also a close up of the pommel? Thanks in advance! :)

Your wish is my command . :D
Even in -0c temps .
Brrrrr .

Nice pics, and many thanks indeed, sir! :)

Technically speaking thus, would that mean then that that talibong has a combination of flat grind and convex grind, and it's not a chisel grind after all, as explained here? :shrug: In any case, it looks like for some the convex grind is a cut above the rest.

Hi Miguel,

Maybe chisel grind is not quite the word we're looking for here .
The other (left) side of the blade is absolutely flat .
The bevel on this blade looks to be forged in rather than ground ; would you agree ?

Hello Rick,

Yes indeed, chisel grind is not quite the word. Thanks again ... and I owe you a hot drink ;)

Thank you Miguel ; buttered Rum will do nicely . ;) :D

So what do we call this edge then ? :)

Rick, buttered rum it shall be then ;)

Hmm, I don't know what to call the edge. How about "right-handed half-convex forged blade"? But 'tis too long. I think you should be the one to name it because it's yours :)

C'mon now ... no one here's ever seen a Talibon blade like this ?! :confused:

Inconceivable !! :eek:

http://fototime.com/CF7CCEB9F8A135E/standard.jpg

http://fototime.com/BE07414DDED0AF5/standard.jpg

:D

No suggestions still from anybody?

How about right inside-convex knife, or even shorter, right convex knife? ;)

I think somehow that rings a bell ;)

PS - Hello Rick, I think the honor is well deserved :)

Sorry Miguel, I hit edit instead of quote .... :o :o

While some might differ, I know with the laraw (Taiwanese aboriginal headhunting/survival knife of the Atayal group) I have handled, their single-bevel blades are kind of like what migueldiaz is saying...

Here's a diagram I made. The flat side is angled to make the edge centered instead of to the side so to speak. Where-as others are to the side and others have a double bevel.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/5...huminblade.jpg

How about convex bevel ? :shrug: :confused: :D