Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Gavin Nugent · 11th March 2008, 02:52 AM

Well the good news is that the sword arrived today, they bad news is the macro function has gone kaput on my ole Sony F505V, time to explore new options.

From good examination of the sword I can state the following.

The scabbard is in considerably good condition, upon first glance it just looked like a black lacquer over wood but when looking closer it is black lacquer over ray or shark skin. Although the lacquer hides the grain in places, it looks to be completely intact bar the odd dint, scratch, cut in the hide or small fracture in the wood. It also sports a fine copper type wire at the ends of the scabbard under the fitting, I am guessing being wrapped to hold the skin in place and then lacquered over before having the fittings placed on.

What at first I thought from the images was just a cloth below the guard is in fact what I would consider a tassel, there is a rawhide loop bound with red woollen type fibre that has had glue or a lacquer placed on it to stop it unravelling itself, from there it has three fabric strips bound under the red material. The tassel colour scheme is red blue red, a wider light blue strip then blue again. Images will explain it better when I get the photos up.

The hilt and guard are lovely and look better than the images posted, maybe a better light can reveal this. All fitting are very tight with no movement.

The blade.. I would like some advise before I tackle cleaning the blade. I have rubbed all the inlay and all is present. The blade has a good amount of flex and when pushed against the floor, my grip breaks before I push the blade any further. The first six inches of the 29 inch blade is thicker in the spine then the rest of the blade and when I rub my fingers the full length it too can be felt, to my eyes it also thickens slightly at the tip, remains unsharpened and would be a thrusting weapon rather than a slashing weapon but would leave a nasty gash I am sure if slashed. Between the 13th and 17th inch of the blade there are about 4-5 nicks in the edges.

All for now, time to shop for a new camera.

regards

Gav

11th March 2008, 02:52 AM	#17
Gavin Nugent Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,818	Hmmm, some advise please Well the good news is that the sword arrived today, they bad news is the macro function has gone kaput on my ole Sony F505V, time to explore new options. From good examination of the sword I can state the following. The scabbard is in considerably good condition, upon first glance it just looked like a black lacquer over wood but when looking closer it is black lacquer over ray or shark skin. Although the lacquer hides the grain in places, it looks to be completely intact bar the odd dint, scratch, cut in the hide or small fracture in the wood. It also sports a fine copper type wire at the ends of the scabbard under the fitting, I am guessing being wrapped to hold the skin in place and then lacquered over before having the fittings placed on. What at first I thought from the images was just a cloth below the guard is in fact what I would consider a tassel, there is a rawhide loop bound with red woollen type fibre that has had glue or a lacquer placed on it to stop it unravelling itself, from there it has three fabric strips bound under the red material. The tassel colour scheme is red blue red, a wider light blue strip then blue again. Images will explain it better when I get the photos up. The hilt and guard are lovely and look better than the images posted, maybe a better light can reveal this. All fitting are very tight with no movement. The blade.. I would like some advise before I tackle cleaning the blade. I have rubbed all the inlay and all is present. The blade has a good amount of flex and when pushed against the floor, my grip breaks before I push the blade any further. The first six inches of the 29 inch blade is thicker in the spine then the rest of the blade and when I rub my fingers the full length it too can be felt, to my eyes it also thickens slightly at the tip, remains unsharpened and would be a thrusting weapon rather than a slashing weapon but would leave a nasty gash I am sure if slashed. Between the 13th and 17th inch of the blade there are about 4-5 nicks in the edges. All for now, time to shop for a new camera. regards Gav Last edited by freebooter; 11th March 2008 at 03:37 AM.