Thanks, White Bear.....That's what I needed.
This blade design is common through out the middle islands. The picture is a bit deseptive. It lacks the recurve of the khukuri. The blade has a forward cant and think of a long arc for blade profile, with a long, bent choil. The spine is stright or very slightly dropped point. All of the examples I have or have seen are chisel ground on the reverse side with the flat on the obverse side.
These knives are made out of car springs. Some are forged and some are just cut out and ground to shape. The heat treat ranges from nothing to outstanding (fully hardened or zone tempered). As you may have surmised, quality is all over the place. They sell from dirt cheap to $20-$30 (ne plus ultra of type). They range by blade length from about eight or nine inches to about twenty inches. They tend to be about a 1/4" thick oe less, but they are too thick and stiff to qualify as a machette. They only have a short stub of a tang of three to four inches (1/2-3/4) of the handle. The user uses up handles like painters use up throwaway brushes. Few of them have anything but a friction fit for holding the handle on the blade, except for the better grades. In PI. these knives often sell for $1-$2, so the maker doesn't waste much time hafting them.
These are working blades. The better examples do quite well for their designed job. Who ever bid $75 on E-Bay was nuts. If someone was interested in making a few contacts in PI. they could get quite a few for that price.
Happy Trails,
Dan
