Machete ? Agricultural tool ?

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Peter Dekker

Interesting piece!

While I agree that laminated steel is seen on pretty much all pre-industrially made Asian edged tools, from chisels to scissors to knives and swords of all types and all qualities.. what we see here is a rather deliberate effect..

So true, and remarkable considering the twist-core pattern welding on many keris blades of the southern Philippines is similar to that on some Anglo-Saxon and Viking swords.

Collectors often forget that that lamellar forging has been a hallmark of European blade craft for much longer than the so called "Dark Ages" and has even persisted after the start of the Industrial Era (for quality cutlery). Take a look at this, from Alan Williams' The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords up to the 16th Cent. -- the caption introduces us to the what and how, and in the rest of the book he explains the why