Kastane for comment

[CourseEight]

Thanks so much for all the kind words!

Personally, I think swords with a COB close to the handle feel "quick". I prefer it, actually.

To be honest I didn't really have much knowledge about how kastanes were used, except as ranks of office given by the Dutch. I've always been under the impression that, for a slashing or cutting type weapon, the best place to strike with it would be at the COB. Having the balance point close to the hilt does make the sword quicker, as you said, which would be good thing for control when thrusting. Of course, I've only done a night course in foil fencing at the local community college, so I'd love to learn whether all this is actually true!

In searching for information on the fighting styles of the Ceylonese, I found this great article:

http://www.pihakaetta.com/sinhala_weapons_armor_low.pdf

It seems they did have a fencing foil type weapon, so maybe this balance fits their preference. I'm curious as to how other kastanes out there are balanced, especially those with native blades. Does anyone else have one to share?

This is a most unusual kastane, especially if that blade is actually wootz. It is quite atypical to see the forte cover, which seems to favor the 'tunkou' type feature on yataghans. It seems that most kastanes I have seen are typically mounted with 18th century European hanger blades ( naturally many of these now very hard to find, had Dutch VOC markings).

When I bought it I thought it would perhaps be such a European blade, with the decorations added later, but this does not seem to be the case. I'm attaching a couple of other examples I've found through searching that are somewhat similar. The first is from Oriental-Arms, and the second is in Stone (Nos. 4 and 6). Both have the forte decoration, but I haven't been able to find one with the decorations in the fuller. Indeed, most with non-European blades don't seem to have fullers at all, and the Oriental-Arms one below has a blade of not nearly the quality, wootz or no.

Another note about the forte decorations: near the border of where the decorations have been lost there appears to be a hole in the blade with a piece of metal filling it in (the piece is a little loose). It almost looks like a rivit. It's unclear whether the brass was put over the hole, or the hole was made after the brass and then filled in. I've read some discussions about the use and meaning of such holes (testing metal quality for export, 100 kills, etc) and I'm interested how such a hole in this sword adds to the debate, if at all.

I'm attaching another couple of photos trying to capture the pattern on the blade, but I fear this one has failed as well. Not owning any "confirmed" wootz myself I'm still not sure whther it is or it isn't. Can oxidation form a pattern on the blade along the entire length of it, that is pretty much the same everywhere and looks a bit like rayskin?