Interesting; I just got a Batangas(?) sword whose ferule end and tang tip have been poured in with lead. This is often seen on underclass/Indian N American stuff?
I have an idea that hollow ground flats are something that kind of swept through oceanic E Asia at some time (early 20th....?.....), perhaps viewed as a mark of modernity/Europeanism? Perhaps related to the hollowed-flat kukuri? I've seen it on old Moro swords, Japanese swords, Indonesian swords, and on many newer PI swords that seem to be made on Luzon/Batangas.
I have not owned a shandigan barong. Is it as if a regular barong had been made a wide shallow groove into, or as if a regular barong had an added ridge of metal at the top of a secondary bevel? Seem a fine distinction? It is, and may not be consistant among examples; to some extent a matter of philosophy/viewpoint, but the crux of the biscuit is: Is the angle of the edge bevel more acute, more obtuse, or the same on shandigan and flat barongs? Is the edge bevel also hollow ground?
|