- Joined
- Aug 17, 2003
- Messages
- 3,409
snagged another curvy knife from the internet. thought i'd share it with you. love the blade shape. steel seems very good, horn handle had a few age/drying cracks which i've filled with superglue.
horn scabbard was a bit twisted, binding the blade, but after a session on the stove in boiling water, it straightened nicely.
two brass bands used to hold the dovetailed wedge of horn that was removed to allow hollowing out the remaining one piece horn scabbard were missing, so i made two replacements. turkshead knot at top is also by me.
loa is 18", blade is 9 in. x 7/8 x 1/4 in at finger guard tapering to the needle point. handgrip is 5 in. & wrist guard is 4 in.
blade is mirror polished steel with a decorative fuller partway up the blade, not very visible in photo. spine is v-shaped. balance is just behind the finger guard, which is not only serrated and hooked to catch the enemies blade before the guard, but has three pointy spines on the grip side, i guess to dissuade you fron putting your fingers near it. not a speck of rust or patina. knife supposedly 19th c. but has been stored in a thick layer of grease until now. not sure about that, ethnographic weapons site makes interesting reading tho.
I quote from Barbara Leigh (http://old.blades.free.fr/daggers/rencong/rencong_bl.htm)
“A non-tarnishable steel is used for blades that will be fitted with buffalo horn hilts and scabbards…
The scabbard, whether horn, wood, or ivory, is shaped to fit the blade. The bottom end is decoratively worked first, then the inside is hollowed out, gouging out the core of the scabbard material from both the top end and through a small slit cut into the convex curve of the scabbard. When finished, the small wedge removed to make the slit is replaced and secured with three narrow metal bands spaced at an even distance from each other down the length of the scabbard. The completed weapon measures about 40 cm. (15 in.) in length; smaller ones are made for visitors to the capital.”
horn scabbard was a bit twisted, binding the blade, but after a session on the stove in boiling water, it straightened nicely.
two brass bands used to hold the dovetailed wedge of horn that was removed to allow hollowing out the remaining one piece horn scabbard were missing, so i made two replacements. turkshead knot at top is also by me.
loa is 18", blade is 9 in. x 7/8 x 1/4 in at finger guard tapering to the needle point. handgrip is 5 in. & wrist guard is 4 in.
blade is mirror polished steel with a decorative fuller partway up the blade, not very visible in photo. spine is v-shaped. balance is just behind the finger guard, which is not only serrated and hooked to catch the enemies blade before the guard, but has three pointy spines on the grip side, i guess to dissuade you fron putting your fingers near it. not a speck of rust or patina. knife supposedly 19th c. but has been stored in a thick layer of grease until now. not sure about that, ethnographic weapons site makes interesting reading tho.
I quote from Barbara Leigh (http://old.blades.free.fr/daggers/rencong/rencong_bl.htm)
“A non-tarnishable steel is used for blades that will be fitted with buffalo horn hilts and scabbards…
The scabbard, whether horn, wood, or ivory, is shaped to fit the blade. The bottom end is decoratively worked first, then the inside is hollowed out, gouging out the core of the scabbard material from both the top end and through a small slit cut into the convex curve of the scabbard. When finished, the small wedge removed to make the slit is replaced and secured with three narrow metal bands spaced at an even distance from each other down the length of the scabbard. The completed weapon measures about 40 cm. (15 in.) in length; smaller ones are made for visitors to the capital.”
