It's not much...

Now that's a work of art! I can't even imagine the amount of craftsmanship that went into that thing.

As for my khanjar, it looks like it's on the verge of crumbling to pieces. I don't intend to "play" with it like my other knives/daggers/swords, I'm just going to scrub the silver with silver polish and hang it on the wall. I understand the blade is usually glued to the hilt with a natural resin similar to what they use in khukris. It tends to dry up over the decades so I fully expect the blade to detach from the hilt at the slightest provocation.
 
There are 3 main folks at Raven. A Smith, a designer and a jeweler/precious metalsmith. Truely a perfect combo for their style of work. They used to be the only game in town for functional fantasy and near reproductions. though now there are quite a number of competitors, they still seem to be able to keep a 3-5 year waiting list for their work last I inquired. Simon Fearnhamm became a friend of Ewart Oakeshott's and his reproductions have over the years become more and more true reproductions than works based on originals. But they are still probably best known as the version of Stormbringer that Michael Moorcock favors as closest to what he envisioned writing the books. But some of their more modern blades are just incredibly sleek aren't they? and the gold, silver and jewel work is first class.
 
Looks like it is cleaning up beautifully not the over bright of the dip to clean cleaners. I like the way it is staying slightly dark in the nooks and crannies. Definately going to be worth the effort you are putting into it. Can't wait to see it completely done.
 
I'm going to give it two more head to toe scrubbings with a toothbrush and tooth paste. There's also some sort of gray waxy substance in the nooks and crannies of the hilt, I think I'll take a brass brush and see if I can remove most of it. It seems like somebody tried to repair the back of the hilt with bondo.
 
I really like Wright's Silver Cream for polishing anything silver. It is less abrasive than most toothpastes, but cleans very well. You can use the supplied applicator sponge for flat areas, or use it on a toothbrush to get into the tight spots.
 
honestly looks great man, -- just won this on the thing , I really was taken with it and its another dha, so you know I cannot resist. anytime I see one with a good fuller I go for it.





 
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yeah I thought it was pretty unique, definitely not a traditional grip for burma, nor the guard, but the blade certainly , I really like the copper plug , but am curious about the name or what the word is on the blade
 
The Dha, except for the fact it seems to flair out a tiny bit it almost looks like someone cut off the tip of a saber blade. But that decoration work on the spine is really cool too. Another unique but awesome find Gehazi!

Blue, that pair together is pretty awesome too. Great work on that delicate clean up. looks 1000% better and doesn't appear to have as much damage as it originally appeared in the first pics. What is the green on it?
 
Thanks! I always thought Jambiyas and Khanjars were basically the same dagger but with different decorations, but these two are really quite different.

The Jambiya is quite flat. It doesn't fill your hand up at all and I don't think you could weild it very effectively in a fight. This may because it's a newer blade that was made for comfort of wear rather than as a weapon. Or it may be because the Jambiya is worn behind the belt so it has to be flat to not press your gut in.

The Khanjar hilt is much thicker and more barrel like. Even with all the ornamentation on the grip you could still use it comfortably. All the decorative bits are firmly attached, I scrubbed the hell out of that thing and I didn't manage to knock anything off. And considering that the hilt sustained some massive damage yet didn't lose any ornamentation, I think it could withstand about anything.

The Jambiya blade is much wider and more "boomerang" shaped. The Khanjar blade is more like a claw. If you sharpened both edges on it I think it'd be an effective, efficient little weapon. If you stabbed somebody down to the hilt, you'd leave a huuuuge hole in them. You could also do some nice slashing.

Basically, the khanjar is a weapon and the Jambiya is a weapon shaped fashion accesory. This might be more because the khanjar is much older. Maybe older jambiyas are more weaponesque


What confuses me most about these kinds of daggers is that they seem massively wasteful. They take up a ton of space and weigh a ton, yet you only get 5 or 6 inches of reach with them. If you took the same weight and put it into a thinner blade with a lighter hilt and scabbard, you'd have a nice 10 inch dagger. It seems to me that having twice the reach would be more useful than twice the width. Plus, nomads wore these things. Why would they carry so much extra baggage with them?

My first guess is that they were made this way for stylish reasonsbut what if there was some tactical advange? Am I missing aomething? Supposedly these blades were derived from animal skinning blades. I can see that from the shape, but who on earth would skin an animal with a double edged blade?? They may have also been used by Omani sailors, so maybe they needed close quarters weapons
 
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enter the dha continues -- picked this up from oriental arms







obviously a slightly older blade fitted to a vintage or recent simple carved horn handle. could be as old as sword, these things just usually have a bamboo and wire grip with brass caps or silver
 
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