id & handle-repair questions

Originally posted by Yvsa


Size is decieving from the pic to the scale.:)
55 mm is only about 2 1/4", longest point.
20 mm is about 13/16", width.
and 4-5 mm is only about 1/4" or so, thickness.
And that's a LOT Smaller than what I had it pictured from the 1st pic!!!!
Click to expand...
Yes, it's not that big of a piece.

Originally posted by Yvsa

And that will help make it easier to perhaps come up with a match for it, but if it's bone one can always cheat a little.:)
I'm gonna wait a while, but it may be another natural material that hasn't been mentioned in that vein as yet.
Ben sorta set us up unintentionally by saying it was bone or ivory. At that point everyone else forgets about any other material.;)
Click to expand...
Actually....;) I just started out saying it was bone, because that's what the seller had it listed as and didn't really even think about it being ivory and then someone suggested it might be ivory...and then I set-up everyone up ;).

Originally posted by Yvsa
Look at the grain in the horn scale underneath the black or dark material an almost white or cream colored material.
What if the material is all from one or two humongous old Horns with both black and white coloring?
I have seen lots of horn that matches the color, only thing is that horn gets thin real quick and to find it in any thickness means it has to be an extra large horn or maybe from more than one animal.
Click to expand...

Yvsa - so you're suggesting it could all be horn? I hadn't thought of that.... I've tried to do some online research on ivory...didn't come up with much on distinguish ivory from bone, something about holding it in the light and looking for some sort of pattern, but that was on buttonhooks which one could twist round in the light and I didn't really get how to do it anyway.

The only other thing I really came across was in another part of bladesforum where someone explained that ivory is really teeth so that if one 'clicks' the suspected-bit-of-ivory against one's teeth it should make the same sound as just clicking two teeth together. So here I am, trying to click the handle of the khukuri against my teeth and determine what it sounds like :D :D ;) ;) :D And somehow I think bone might make the same sound against teeth....

in any case, maybe an ivory expert will come along and advise us. cheers all, B.
 
Horn is fibrous, and Bone is porous, Ivory is a tooth - just smooth enamel. The pictures don't have enough resolution. Check it out with a magnifyer and some light.

n2s
 
This one is Ivory over horn.
 

Attachments

  • ivory horn handled khukuri.jpg
    ivory horn handled khukuri.jpg
    18 KB · Views: 90
Originally posted by not2sharp
Horn is fibrous, and Bone is porous, Ivory is a tooth - just smooth enamel. The pictures don't have enough resolution. Check it out with a magnifyer and some light.
Click to expand...

I'll try that (just as soon as I can find a mag glass) - but I'm not familiar enough with the 3 material to know exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll check and see.

In the meantime, I just stuck it in the scanner and scanned a 1200dpi close-up, maybe the resolution will be high enough for someone to have a better idea:

http://www.cog.jhu.edu/~slade/temp/b-i.jpg - it's a very close-up shot....

Thanks again,

B.
 
I looked at the close up, Beo, and it looks like a close up of one of my few remaining teeth so maybe it is ivory.
 
a general question - I was thinking of repairing the hangers on the frog of this one, re-using the old buckles (which are perfectly fine). Is this sort of repair a 'bad thing' to do to an antique scabbard, or not?

thanks, B.
 
Originally posted by beoram
a general question - I was thinking of repairing the hangers on the frog of this one, re-using the old buckles (which are perfectly fine). Is this sort of repair a 'bad thing' to do to an antique scabbard, or not?

thanks, B.
Click to expand...

Ben Terry has completely remade scabbards and then 'aged' them for different customers in the past.
If it was an old scabbard, one of a very rare few examples complete and yet badly worn a person might not wanna mess with it.
I'm sure an e-mail dropped to Terry, otherwise known as T-Bone would gain you an accurate quick response, that is if his 'pooter's working once again.
I haven't checked to see if T-Bone and Sandi were back online.

Here's their address....T_Sarki@excite.com
 
Originally posted by Yvsa


Ben Terry has completely remade scabbards and then 'aged' them for different customers in the past.
If it was an old scabbard, one of a very rare few examples complete and yet badly worn a person might not wanna mess with it.
I'm sure an e-mail dropped to Terry, otherwise known as T-Bone would gain you an accurate quick response, that is if his 'pooter's working once again.
I haven't checked to see if T-Bone and Sandi were back online.

Here's their address....T_Sarki@excite.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Yvsa. The scabbard can't be any more than 50years old and I don't think it's a really rare one, just based on similar examples I've seen photos of. It's actually in pretty good shape - I just wanted to fix up the hangers a bit (though the boot-lace is sort of cool....).

More interested in repairing the handle in any case :) .

cheers, Ben.
 
Those straps look about due for replacement.... As long as you keep the old ones nothing has been lost -- you could always put the old straps back on if you or some future descendant of yours wants to restore the original straps and donate it to a museum or something (sell it to a museum for millions of dollars? Hey, if your descendants are willing to wait long enough, it could happen ... if only because of inflation....)

So the question isn't whether to replace the straps, it's whether to keep the old ones. That could lead to an argument with your wife, depending on how the two of you feel about saving treasures / cluttering up the house with old junk -- or if you're like me it could lead to an internal argument. Lately my "let's not clutter up the house with any more old junk" persona has been winning most of those arguments ... probably because my preservation persona won too many over the last few decades (in Earth years) and the house really does look cluttered with old junk no matter what viewpoint I use to look at it, and now I'm experiencing backlash. YMMV.
 
thanks Allen & Uncle Bill for the advice on the straps - looking at it I think I can sew new strap together with the old and keep the best of both worlds ;). I think I'll leave the old boot-lace 'hanger' on too - I like the 'historicity' of it.

The entire khuk feels brimming with history to me. I imagine that it was used in the jungles of Burma, where the leather deterioated--but its owner still need to use it of course, so he improvised by tying a bit of old bootlace round and strapping that to his belt. In the same vein I imagine that the humidity and/or changes in humidity caused the one piece of ivory to fall out. Or maybe it fell out after a particular hard CHOP! :D There's a very dings here and there in the blade - which is still quite sharp - so it certainly saw some use....

B.
 
Well, I finished fixing the scabbard for this WWII khukuri--repairing the straps (more or less, I might work on it a bit)....

Still need to replace the 'ivory' piece in the handle...

B.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top