How they do that?

Thomas Linton

Thomas Linton

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Jun 16, 2003
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I acquired a late-1940's Indian military khuk. Nothing special. A somewhat fancied up MkIII - bolsterless with combo horn/bone grips instead of the usual wood and a fancuer kauri/cho. JP pictured its twin in his article on military styles as a "post WWII, made for an officer or NCO."

Now here's the bugger. It has an inscription in 1.5 mm letters at the bend. I could NOT read it. Finally it dawned on me. It's stamped in the steel in mirror-reverse - the usual "Made in India Temper Steel" (Well, actually "ade in India").

How - mechanically, could they get it mirror reverse? I cannot for the life of me visualize how the mistake was made. Can't be tiny little letters that they line up in a holder, can it? 1.5 mm. I pictured a fixed stamp.
 
Maybe they made a mistake on the stamp itself. :confused:

Or you got a khukuri made by Leonardo da Vinci himself. :D
 
Thomas Linton said:
I acquired a late-1940's Indian military khuk. Nothing special. A somewhat fancied up MkIII - bolsterless with combo horn/bone grips instead of the usual wood and a fancuer kauri/cho. JP pictured its twin in his article on military styles as a "post WWII, made for an officer or NCO."

Now here's the bugger. It has an inscription in 1.5 mm letters at the bend. I could NOT read it. Finally it dawned on me. It's stamped in the steel in mirror-reverse - the usual "Made in India Temper Steel" (Well, actually "ade in India").

How - mechanically, could they get it mirror reverse? I cannot for the life of me visualize how the mistake was made. Can't be tiny little letters that they line up in a holder, can it? 1.5 mm. I pictured a fixed stamp.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's like the 3 legged buffalo nickle? Worth more?
 
If the letters "line up" across the bottom, then it's likely a single stamp.

If you see any of the letters "rotated", then it's likely multiple letter stamps, and further, could have been put in later....by a dyslexic forger perhaps?
 
Maybe, if you don't speak the language, the letters' positioning (backwards or forwards) doesn't make any difference to you.

The words could have been given to the diemaker or whomever, and he just inverted them. Set them or cast them backwards.

dunno. Kinda neat, though.
 
It was made in the parallel but opposite universe. I think it's called Bizzaro world. Don't worry... Superman will be here to save us.
 
Interesting find! But as long as you use the knife while facing yourself in a mirror you should be OK. ;)
 
If you have a letter die set and you arrange the letters to spell the words, when you stamp them - they come out mirrored. Just my guess.
 
I don't see the solution but don't much care for puzzles anyway. You'd be surprised at just how many stamps are made in mirror reverse at the manufacturer though.:rolleyes: :grumpy: ;)
 
Here's a funny thing... Many years ago, I broke my right wrist. I'm right handed, so that was a real problem at work. I sorta learned how to write left handed - slowly and with some difficulty - it was just-barely legible. Then I noticed that when taking notes spontaneously and quickly, with my left hand - I was unconsciously and inadvertently doing mirror-writing. I could only read my notes in a mirror.

Could it be, that Leonardo, while dissecting with his right hand, was taking notes with his left? :confused:
 
OK. Times up.

Functional fixedness on my part. I KNOW the words are to be read with the edge down. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I lose. The worker who applied the stamp thought they looked nice set to be read with the edge up OR used the stamp upside down.

Try it.
 
I think we were visualizing it mirrored along the vertical but with the bottom of the letters in the proper orientation. In your case the letters would have been mirrored and upside-down as well.

Eric.
 
I think it is part of the DeKukri Code. If you can decipher it you may learn the secret to great wealth. Or something.

Thanks, Steve
 
the punch was made incorrectly. When making a impression punch you have to make the letters backwards .That way when they have been impressed into the metal they will read correctly. Here is a simple test to prove my point take a sheet of paper and write in block letters H I then draw a circle around it. Pretend that is the face of the die ,now turn the paper over so you are looking at the blank back page. Now hold it up to a light source.. the monitor will do. You will see I H in a circle that would be the image left in the steel if you had stamped it . So in my humble opion the die was made wrong and no one caught it.
 
Congrats on the blade.....looked like a nice one. Interesting stamp dilemma.....

Steve
 
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