Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

kronckew · 14th May 2008, 07:37 PM

well it arrived yesterday, he sent it EMS as a 'gift' tho i only paid for std. mail.

the wood scabbard is carved all over with a fine set of parallel lines, with decorative panels every 6 in. the throat protrusion and the area just above the polished black horn chape are also decoratively carved. the back only has the parallel lines except for a decorative band around the throat which goes right around.

the grip is polished horn, there are three inlaid white circles on either side which may cover rivets thru the tang. the sides of the grip are rippled-like smooth finger grooves, highly polished. the open 'mouth of the alligator' has been left fairly rough inside, not polished and showing sanding grooves tho it feels smooth to the touch.

there are two holes, one that appear to have been a void in the horn, the other looks like a slot for the tang, its filled with what appears to be sumatran cutlers cement, what some of us would call 'laha'. i'll probably fill them level with plastic steel & polish them a bit more.

the end of the horn next to the bolster is carved somewhat crudely with checkering which is also over the 1st set of white inlays. the octagonal scalloped bolster has a small forging flaw on one side, apparent in the photo below.

the 54cm. (21.25in.) blade itself is well balanced, feels good in the hand, starts out with a flat spine and changes to a V spine after about 76mm. (3 in.), blade is distally tapered, 5mm at guard, 3mm at the tip end of the fuller, 32mm wide blade, has a forged fuller either side almost to the tip, and has a steel guard disk slightly smaller in dia. than the scalloped end of the bolster, this appears to have been formed with or welded to the blade, then machined or filed flat (hopefully added before the final heat treatments). about 3mm (1/8 in.) sticks out ahead of the bolster, the rest appears to taper into and then under the bolster scallops for an unknown distance, tho the indications are it's at least 3/8" thick...

there is a stamp on the blade spine that looks like 'LO G' and the remains of a 4th letter which may be an N, H or M in between. i'll have to ask the vendor.

blade is wickedly sharp, convex edged.

now the pics.

the dark 'stain' on the blade just under the sundial's gnomen is actually the reflection of my head.

14th May 2008, 07:37 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	well it arrived yesterday, he sent it EMS as a 'gift' tho i only paid for std. mail. the wood scabbard is carved all over with a fine set of parallel lines, with decorative panels every 6 in. the throat protrusion and the area just above the polished black horn chape are also decoratively carved. the back only has the parallel lines except for a decorative band around the throat which goes right around. the grip is polished horn, there are three inlaid white circles on either side which may cover rivets thru the tang. the sides of the grip are rippled-like smooth finger grooves, highly polished. the open 'mouth of the alligator' has been left fairly rough inside, not polished and showing sanding grooves tho it feels smooth to the touch. there are two holes, one that appear to have been a void in the horn, the other looks like a slot for the tang, its filled with what appears to be sumatran cutlers cement, what some of us would call 'laha'. i'll probably fill them level with plastic steel & polish them a bit more. the end of the horn next to the bolster is carved somewhat crudely with checkering which is also over the 1st set of white inlays. the octagonal scalloped bolster has a small forging flaw on one side, apparent in the photo below. the 54cm. (21.25in.) blade itself is well balanced, feels good in the hand, starts out with a flat spine and changes to a V spine after about 76mm. (3 in.), blade is distally tapered, 5mm at guard, 3mm at the tip end of the fuller, 32mm wide blade, has a forged fuller either side almost to the tip, and has a steel guard disk slightly smaller in dia. than the scalloped end of the bolster, this appears to have been formed with or welded to the blade, then machined or filed flat (hopefully added before the final heat treatments). about 3mm (1/8 in.) sticks out ahead of the bolster, the rest appears to taper into and then under the bolster scallops for an unknown distance, tho the indications are it's at least 3/8" thick... there is a stamp on the blade spine that looks like 'LO G' and the remains of a 4th letter which may be an N, H or M in between. i'll have to ask the vendor. blade is wickedly sharp, convex edged. now the pics. the dark 'stain' on the blade just under the sundial's gnomen is actually the reflection of my head.