collections

ndoghouse · Feb 8, 2014

Nice blades Gehazi! Im just in love with that Kora. Thats got to be one of my favorite for sure! Love the mandau too. The processes in which they forge these are very interesting. Bellows used to forge these is cool. I did find a good description here:

http://old.blades.free.fr/

Did it come with the other blade?

Gehazi · Feb 8, 2014

no I actually find those very difficult to obtain, there is one now at a dealer for 395 dollars and another much cheaper one (low quality) for 125 on another website, if I had a top quality mandau I would probably buy the side knife for 395, but my mandau are pretty low end right now , it is extremely interesting though, the magic especially the complex head hunting beliefs of the various tribes in the archipeligo plus near india, its really interesting stuff.
Like one tribe of the dayaks believed you could not get to paradise unless someone cut off your head, and the other spirits formed from the holy division would ward off bad spirits if you welcomed them into the village as equals ( they would light smokes for them and put them in places that are pleasant to look at )-- they actually prized children's heads because it showed your prowess of getting past the parents and child spirits were especially powerful at crop growth, as they also believed you needed a strangers blood to grow rice, and they would leave heads in the fields with arrows through the eyes to keep the spirits pinned to the field.

on the older mandaus actually used for headhunting, the blades would be reforged for kills, with punched holes in the back of the blade, and they would put gold or brass or copper plugs into these holes representing the soul of the person taken by the blade, I have seen some with well over 100 plugs...

Bawanna · Feb 9, 2014

Here's a quick shot of my collection of triangle boxes affectionately referred to as "Auntie Boxes". I have a couple more at work under my desk I neglected to bring home.

Gehazi · Feb 9, 2014

we should get together and build an igloo out of triangles

ndoghouse · Feb 11, 2014

Lol! Bite your tongue Gehazi! I put enough triangles together for while

Gehazi said:
we should get together and build an igloo out of triangles

Heres my triangle collection Bawanna! One hundred and thirty of them.

Bawanna · Feb 11, 2014

That's a lot of work right there. All the cutting and nailing. Any of them joints glued too?

That must have taken awhile.

ndoghouse · Feb 11, 2014

Bawanna said:
That's a lot of work right there. All the cutting and nailing. Any of them joints glued too?

That must have taken awhile.

No glue. I quit counting screws in this house after 12000 or so. Each node has thirty 3 1/2" 316 stainless steel screws and on the outside there are stainless staps across each joint. The external insulation panels are glued to each other so it aint goin nowhere! I put six steel high tension cables around the equator to keep it all tight in case tornado. Yes lots of work and all by hand. Heaviest piece of equipment used was probably a saw or shovel but i only had to do it once so it was worth it. Outside of these triangles is three inches of continuous rigid foam all the way into the ground. My electric bill last month was less than $18 and I havent even insulated the inside between the studs yet. That means more Khukri money

My bones are aching just thinking about it! Ill consider my house my collection until I can unpack my rocks and fossils.

Gehazi · Feb 11, 2014

love it ndog, your house has always been admirable !, geodesics for life

ndoghouse · Feb 11, 2014

Thanks brother! My grandkids love this house! I have a rope swing inside hanging from the middle they love to play on! Hopefully it will be one of theirs one day.

Gehazi said:
love it ndog, your house has always been admirable !, geodesics for life

Bawanna · Feb 11, 2014

Were I you I'd smear acoustic over the whole deal and make it fire proof too. You DO NOT want to have to do that all over again. And I might add I sure hope you don't have to do it over again. You've been through enough.

The moat will help with that too now that I ponder it some.

That's a lot of screws too!

ndoghouse · Feb 11, 2014

Thats pretty much the plan. Spray foam then intumescent fireproof coating over the foam. Ill sheetrock the lower walls but no way im going to sheetrock all them triangles. I kinda like the industrial look anyway. Im still pondering how to do the moat and what critters to install. Might have to commission Kronck for that!

Bawanna said:
Were I you I'd smear acoustic over the whole deal and make it fire proof too. You DO NOT want to have to do that all over again. And I might add I sure hope you don't have to do it over again. You've been through enough.

The moat will help with that too now that I ponder it some.

That's a lot of screws too!

Bawanna · Feb 11, 2014

Kronck is definitely without question my go to guy for critters. Sounds like he's got plenty, might be able to send ya some.

I've hung a ton of sheet rock in an earlier life, your place would not be fun. None at all.

pugs75 · Feb 11, 2014

Very nice work Ndog, must have thousands of hours in there for sure, as for the moat, I can round up some gators for ya, they should thrive in the heat in the summer, and they got nasty tempers.

Silverjohn · Feb 11, 2014

You guys have a diverse range of collections :thumbup:

I'm a kukri fanatic at heart, but in my pursuit of kukri I've picked up a few other pointy objects too (Good kukri often seem hidden in mixed lots at auction)

I thought I'd share some pics of half my kukri collection (it's rapidly expanding and I don't take group photo's very often) and my other old pointy stuff.

Old kukri (Circa 1800 at the top & Kathmandu cache kukri)

WWI era kukri

WWII era kukri

Top to bottom: 1838 pattern East India Company socket bayonet, Japanese Arisaka bayonet, M1903 Turkish Short bayonet, Katar, Kurdish Jambiya (sadly minus handle)

Anyway, just thought I'd share some pics to help keep a good thread going.

Very impressed with the geodesic timber frame by the way!

Gehazi · Feb 11, 2014

very cool collection silver, love the range, super siru ?(at the top the old guy), and love those ww 1!

Bawanna · Feb 11, 2014

Man oh man, I love every last one of those. Very nice. Thanks for posting those great pics. I can feel the history flooding over me.

blue lander · Feb 11, 2014

Love that katar, I've never seen one with a sheath before. Fantastic collection!

Berkley · Feb 11, 2014

Silverjohn said:
I'm a kukri fanatic at heart

And you have the collection to prove it! :thumbup: Thanks for sharing.

ndoghouse · Feb 11, 2014

Very fine collection Silverjohn! That Vic Siru and GAK's are always cool! Love the deep chirras on the WWI's too. Thanks for posting you collection. Ill definitely be coming back to this thread!

Silverjohn · Feb 12, 2014

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I've been pretty obsessive with kukri collecting over the last 6-7months, prior to which the only knife I owned that wasn't a kitchen utensil was a Leatherman! There is just something about this blade type that makes me want to buy them all! I'm sure some of you guys can relate.

I hope it's not too self-indulgent to post up the rest of my collection (minus my modern kukri, sadly they're not HI)

This hanshee lambendh is made from damascus steel. Incidentally I'd call my other old piece a hanshee lambendh too, rather than a Siru, as the blade and long handle have a strong curve (not best displayed in that pic as it's at a slight angle). Though one thing I've learned in the last few months is that I shouldn't get too hung up on names!

This one is modelled after the famous Fisher Kukri.

This one is also pattern welded damascus.