It's not much...

realized I posted stuff from another website and should not link to things in forum !

so here are pictures of the other dha Im buying from the guy I got the nice fullered dha from, he is slowly selling his collection to me for his lady, which is great for me, having no lady to leash my wanton desires for blades, he is being very generous in letting me take a while to buy them all as I certainly could only afford the one I got at the moment, but these are "on hold" for me until I get the cash for them:










my best guess for the white grip is early 20th or mid 20th maybe even like the 70s just a high quality one
the silver and green one I think more late 19th

just by the spines the white one is much choppier the green is almost pure display, but I just dont know about blades that arent thick all the way to tip, makes me think they are not made for fighting? or perhaps not authentic !!! but i have seen very thin bladed antiques , i just like the heavier ones
 
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Gawd almighty fast the green one looks! Those are soooo. Khul! The thin one may make up for it in speed. It does have a good distal taper. Would love to swing those!
 
You've really amassed a fantastic collections of dhas in a very short period of time. It makes my wall o' rusty steel look pretty crappy by comparison!

curious blue did europeans ever sell blade blanks ,
Click to expand...

I don't know about in SE Asia, but I believe Europe would export finished blades to North Africa for mounting in the local style. Or oftentimes you'll find North African blades cut down from larger European blades. But I've never heard of anyone taking a European blade to a forge and pounding it into a different shape or the Europeans selling blank billets.





Speaking of which, I went ahead and bought another Kaskara because the deal was too good to pass up. The steel looks nice and old, possibly European, and it has the little "man in the moon" guys on it that I like so much.


The only problem is the hilt...



It looks like somebody heated up a stick of aluminum and jabbed the sword tang into it! I don't know if this was done indigenously or by some westerner who broke the original hilt. I read once of a guy who bought a Kaskara at an antique shop, didn't know what it was, and used it as a hiking machete for 25 years before the hilt finally gave out.
 
I absolutely love the moon guys on those swords, those look like the older kind too , not yet gone into just D shapes. and yeah nobody can tell you better than auntie how bad I am about amassing things very fast, I think im a bit obsessive compulsive considering how I collect, basically until my money runs out , then I collect something else when I save up some new cash. Hence my last period of ghostliness on forums lol.
 
The moon guys are the most common so the least desirable of the blade markings, but I love 'em. They have character. Some other marks you see are a hornet, the sun, a lion, an eyelash, or a globe with a cross on top. They're all locally done copies of European maker's marks or decorations, but they've taken on a different meaning to the locals. For instance the hornet mark is supposed to make the owner jump higher and I think the globe and cross are supposed to represent a drum to give the owner courage. I've also seen a mark that looked like an exploding grenade or maybe a comet.

I'm in the same boat as you as far as collecting, and my money pretty much just ran out. I have one or two things in the pipeline but once those arrive I'm going to cool my jets for a bit. This one's on the way right now.



It's an Chassepot 1866 bayonet sword. I'm not too interested in bayonets but this one's swordy enough for my tastes and I like the funky blade shape. It reminds me a little of a khukri, but it's based on the Turkish Yataghan sword. These bayonets are fairly common and this one isn't in very good condition, but it was in my price range.
 
I have seriously considered picking one of those up , and imo thats a great example, i love those saber bayonets! also the stuff about the other marks is amazing, I love things like that, adds loads of character
 
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This one just arrived. The seller said he traded a bedoin in the Saudi Arabian desert for it. It might just be a giant butter knife made from scrap metal but I like how it's constructed. The back story is pretty cool too assuming it's true. I don't know if it's "wall worthy" or not though.

I read somewhere that the desert nomads used to make knives out of old English table knives that they highly prized because of the quality steel. This one has a very crude blade that's obviously native made, but maybe that explains the overall style and shape.
 
ebay is such a temptress , dangling its antique baubles, that looks pretty hand made to me regardless, which is what I am usually after. age is a plus but not a must , as long as the skill is there, I could not make that butter knife-- also tracking on kora shows it is somewhere in michigan!
 
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I bid 25 bucks on this rusty thing sure that somebody would outbid me, but they didn't so it's mine now.



I don't know what it is exactly except some sort of African sword possibly in the Takouba family. I found a nearly identical one (in much better condition) on ebay, and that seller says it's a Tuareg sword from Mali.



I like the patterns on the leather but it's in serious need of a cleaning. What should I use to gently clean the dirt and dust off the leather? I'm planning on using saddle soap.



And it comes with a cute little side knife.



What attracted me to it were these eyelashes on the blade. I think this mark originated on Indian swords, but the North Africans apply it to their blades as a mark of quality or talismanic purposes sort of the like the man in the moon guys.

Some of the leather looks moldy, are there any extra steps I need to take to clear that up? And I assume I have to aggressively remove all the "active" rust on the blade to keep it from deteriorating further?
 
awesome get, definitely clean it up, nothing restores leather like soaking in neat feet oil its very fine oil that penetrates most leathers and restores really old ones, I use it on all my ww2 leather bags and stuff, def refurbish that leather with neats feet and mineral oil after getting that rust out you will be golden, seal with mineral oil or linseed oil
love everything about this sword ! (I have decided my collection direction as well as a side note), I , without realizing it collected blades of headhunters already so i am just going to commit to headhunter collecting, looking at some dayak mandau right now, the kachin and naga are both headhunting tribes , as well as the kalinga, so that will be neat
 
I can't wait to see what kind of headhunter blades you end up with. Mandaus look cool, especially the ones with hair.

My concern with neatsfoot is that it can darken leather. Obviously not a problem with a black scabbard, but I'm afraid to use it on my other leather stuff. I've also heard it can rot certain kinds of stitching. I'm not too worried about applying neatsfoot today and the sheath being ruined tomorrow, more about 20-30 years from now. I have a little neatsfoot left from a previous project, I'll try dabbing a little on the sheath and see if it discolors it. I should try Lexol too, it seems less likely to discolor.

I looked at Renaissance wax, but that can soften the leather and make it lose its form. And it has petroleum in it which can dry the leather out. I think it's okay to use on leather that isn't being used, but you wouldn't want to put it on a sheath you still intended to carry around.

Lanolin is another option, but that can soften leather as well. Beeswax might be my best option. The only problem with it is that it hardens leather but that isn't a problem if it's just hanging on my wall. That or clear shoe polish. It won't restore the leather but it will keep it from getting worse.
 
good thinking on the stitching I have only actually used it on stuff that was stitched relatively modern or not sticthed at all, I think its for saddles more than anything, but I had good experience on my old leather belts and bags, proves it pays to research, lanolin is a good nontoxic non oil thing that can refurbish leather too. and I have heard others here say beeswax is a good one, so thats probably your best bet as you imagined , I will follow this advice as well , never realized about the stitches!
 
I have some beeswax I can test with, but I think it's mixed with mineral oil which can also darken leather. I'm going to see if I can find the pure stuff.

I just cut my dang finger cleaning my Kaskara blade. Pretty sure all my tetanus shots are up to date... Maybe I should invest in some kevlar gloves.
 
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this thing is intense!
 
Lookie what came in the mail today...



The blade's about the same length as my other Kaskara, the blade's a little wider and thicker, but the hilt is petite. I can barely fit my hand on it. I've always wanted to have crossed swords hanging on my wall, now I just need a shield to put in the middle.
 
man you have made me love kaskaras and I never even heard of them before this thread-- and yeah im pretty sure that is koftgari silver wire work, I don't yet own that one but have put a down payment on it , it looks really high quality from most angles, but I probably wont actually have it till midsummer :D

love both those kaskaras, they have so much character its ridiculous
 
Thanks! But let's be honest - your dhas are head and shoulders above these rusty old things. You got yourself some real works of art!

I think I'm at the end of my "Kaskara" road as nicer ones would cost too much. I would like to get a nicer Takouba than the one I currently have, though. But now I'm seriously thinking about buying a shield. The correct shield to match these swords would be a rhino or hippo hide Sudanese one. They cost several hundred dollars and are sort of homely IMHO, though, so I might get some other type of antique shield. Dhal shields from India are fairly cheap but it seems like there's a lot of modern tourist ones floating around e-bay. I'll have to do way more research before I pull the trigger.
 
I don't know kaskaras and dhas from the Good Year blimp but I do know I think these things are cooler than cool.

I'm rapidly learning that there isn't enough time for me in this lifetime to learn all there is to know about sharp pointy things. Every time I get to thinking I'm really getting knowledgeable about knives you guys brutally knock me off my imaginary pedestal and remind me I don't know diddly. Truth be told I love you for it. Keep it up. You give me the wants but your expanding my limited brain capacity to the limit.
 
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