Garab Pattern

[Spunjer]

nine out of ten, whenever i see a blade that has those rough, horizontal grind lines, i tend to think "no way this blade is laminated". on top of that, it's visayan, which in a way, doesn't normally use laminated steel.
well, my vacation started today and with nothing to do, i decided to clean a garab i've had for awhile. the blade was covered with a thin coat of cosmoline, so i decided to work on this. beneath the coat, i can see those deep horizontal grooves which was no big deal. what attracted me with this particular piece is that it's complete, save for the talismanic button at the base of the scabbard. also, i thought it was rather neat that the handle has a nice contrast to the scabbard (yes, the scabbard is original to the sword as far as i can tell). also, this piece is a beast. with just the blade at 20 1/2" long, the thickness closest to the handle is 1/2"! needless to say, it feels awkward, but hey, whoever owned this originally prolly knew what he was doing.
anyway, back to the blade:
as i was stripping the cosmoline with hot running water, i noticed that i could see some lines popping out, so i went ahead and etched the blade. i couldn't believe the lamination pattern that was coming out. i etched the spine as well. never would've thought i'd see this much layer on a sword's spine.
well, enjoy!