Bicol blades, from the Philippines

[Guille]

Hi all am an avid reader in these forums but don't post as often as i'd like , recently I went to a conference in Bicol (which is in the southeastern end of the island of Luzon in the Philippines)this past week and was pleasantly surprised to see a table full of knives,scissors and other assorted sharp things.
well suffice to say that my curiosity was roused.... and upon asking around I find out that there is a whole town of smiths that create these beauties. The town is called tabako and had the chance to visit the smiths in this area. they use the old truck and car leaf springs or "molle" as they are called.

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in this picture the knives have a full convex grind and are very thick , but taper towards the tip so they have a nice heft to them and are balanced very nicely.The first and biggest knife hasa full tang and a handle made of buffalo horn and it has a wooden sheath, the knife in the middle is a small cleaver which i got that i am planning to modify into a bushcraft type knife or similar (thanks for the idea sammy!) the third knife will be my work horse as it has a stick tang and no sheath... so am planning on making one for it as well as modifying it a little.

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the knife in the second picture was a find, it is a small ginunting according to the smith and was custom made, he actually shaved off a sliver of mild steel with the knife !
all the handles have been rough finished and still need to be a bit more refined
am looking forward to using these blades and will post their performance when i have the chance

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Thanks for posting the pictures and the information! It's always good to see knives made within a real working environment.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Excellent post, Guille. Thanks for sharing.

Doc

 

[sadiejane]

any pix of the workshop where these are being made or the makers?
thanks

 

[Calebklyne]

my bro lives in the philippines is the maker anywhere near san pablo?

 

[Guille]

@sadiejane: a friend of mine has the pics will ask permission from him if i can post em

@calebklyne: bicol is quite a ways from san pablo,your bro might have better luck finding quality blades in batangas which is closer. good balisongs or butterfly knives there as well

 

[lambertiana]

I like that ginunting, I wouldn't mind picking one up. I got a nice blade in Banaue last time I was there; I may go back at the end of this year and I hope to find something sharp to bring home. My wife is from Dagupan, so we spend most of our time up in that area.

This is what I got last time I was there:

 

[Ultraman]

The area you've described sounds like Tabaco, Albay. This is near Mayon Volcano, I recall!

Nice knives, wish I had bought some when I used to work there. :thumbup:

 

[untamed]

Nice to hear from a kabayan ! Thanks for sharing!

The area you've described sounds like Tabaco, Albay. This is near Mayon Volcano, I recall!

Yep! :thumbup: Along with Japan's Mt. Fuji, Mayon Volcano enjoy's the reputation as the "Most Perfect Cone Symmetry", the difference being Mt. Mayon has a shield/composite shape while Mt. Fuji's a flat-top

One key feature about Bicol blades: their "lighter" weight as compared with other cutlery works of other regions. Really don't know why what accounts for this, but they are a joy to handle especially for utility and kitchen tasks.

 

[untamed]

This is what I got last time I was there:

Nice! Thanks for sharing as well Lambertiana :thumbup:

What strikes me though is that the design appears to be a newer one; this is evidenced by the pointier tip. Traditionally, the large blades from the Cordillera highlands of Northern Luzon like the pinahig above have squarish heads with little or no tips at all and large bellies. The local smiths are probably adapting to the low-land patterns.

The open-faced wooden scabbards are something we share with our local SE Asian neighbors which I believe the Arizona custom maker Tai Goo's designs are based on.

 

[k_estela]

Guille,

Excellent blades buddy. My father is from Luzon. I'd love to get a blade homegrown from there. We'll have to talk!

Kev

 

[Ultraman]

Nice to hear from a kabayan ! Thanks for sharing!



Yep! :thumbup: Along with Japan's Mt. Fuji, Mayon Volcano enjoy's the reputation as the "Most Perfect Cone Symmetry", the difference being Mt. Mayon has a shield/composite shape while Mt. Fuji's a flat-top

One key feature about Bicol blades: their "lighter" weight as compared with other cutlery works of other regions. Really don't know why what accounts for this, but they are a joy to handle especially for utility and kitchen tasks.

Untamed, Kumusta pare ko?

I was a volcanologist in one of Mayon volcano's eruptions and was jumping off helicopters to install monitoring equipment. I have a few memorable experiences working there (and a couple of close shaves). Wish I took the time off to buy some bolos, though :grumpy:

 

[Calebklyne]

@sadiejane: a friend of mine has the pics will ask permission from him if i can post em

@calebklyne: bicol is quite a ways from san pablo,your bro might have better luck finding quality blades in batangas which is closer. good balisongs or butterfly knives there as well

thanks for the tip i may have to send him a money order soon

 

[untamed]

Untamed, Kumusta pare ko?

I was a volcanologist in one of Mayon volcano's eruptions and was jumping off helicopters to install monitoring equipment. I have a few memorable experiences working there (and a couple of close shaves). Wish I took the time off to buy some bolos, though :grumpy:

Hey there!

So you're with Philvolcs I suppose? (somewhat Phil-version of the USGS). And then some frikken "enterprising" locals decides to steal and make money off of them survey equipment/monitors :grumpy: LOL!

Funny, one of my gal pals growing-up in the neighborhood has an older bro working for Philvolcs.

Ingat ka boss!

 

[dfarmerknives]

Thanks for all of these cool pics. I love seeing knives that are for "use". I would love to get a couple of these blades, if anyone on the islands can help me.....

pm me please....

 

[Ultraman]

Hey there!

So you're with Philvolcs I suppose? (somewhat Phil-version of the USGS). And then some frikken "enterprising" locals decides to steal and make money off of them survey equipment/monitors :grumpy: LOL!

Funny, one of my gal pals growing-up in the neighborhood has an older bro working for Philvolcs.

Ingat ka boss!

Hey Untamed,:
Stopped working for PHIVOLCS years ago. Still remember somebody stealing levelling benchmarks (those metal disks with a knob), probably to sell for scrap metal. Takes a lot of effort to do that.:thumbdn:

I recall a lot of the bolos being stick tangs, so the handles could conceivable come off. The full tang ones looked nice!

 

[Guille]

The place is in tabaco ,albay like you mentioned ultraman, the blades do have a nice balance to them and should be excellent choppers

here are a couple more pics :

first is a couple of blades a friend got... seems my blade fever is rubbing off.. hehehe so far 5 people influenced into the love of everything sharp hehehe

top blade is a long bolo and the lower one is a kitchen knife/cleaver very good heft

next is a pic of one of the shops we visited.... as you can see cleanliness and order are not very high on the priorities list

and following is a picture of the knives from the shop

here are a couple of picture of the forge setup

and the forging process

 

[Guille]

here are pictures of the differential heat treat that they use.... the edge is heated and then dipped in water and so on for several cycles... not sure how the smith decides when it is enough but i saw him go thru this cycle at least 5 times

and a shot of the semi finished products

and finally a shot of the shop.. with me in the background in the red shirt

And a big THANK YOU to Mike Caballes for the pictures and permission to use them!

 

[Ultraman]

The pictures are very cool. Nice looking scabbards! A good bolo is a must have in the jungle.

Thank you for posting them!

(off topic note: Bicol express and pinangat- man that's good eatin'! )

 

[Guille]

hehehe that is exactly what were having for lunch ultraman!