- Joined
- Feb 20, 2003
- Messages
- 415
I had two "recently produced" bolos sent from the Philippines, one for myself and the other, a gift for my brother. I couldn't tell you the type of steel used but I suspect spring steel similar to 5160. I was never told the identity of the maker but I suspect the bolo to be from either one of the tribes in the Cordilleras (Igorot, Ifugao, or Bontoc) because of the carved handle or Cebuano because of the blade style. Definitely not made for the tourist trade because of the simple "bowie-like" design, crude manufacture, and sharpened edge. Very much a hard use "working" blade used in everyday life but with an uncommonly long blade length rarely found in new production knives outside of Mindanao.
The bolos arrived with the blades coated in cosmoline and wrapped in plastic. They were shipped with a molded and stitched leather sheath with a simple tooled pattern and brass accents. The epoxied 5 1/2" handles hides a spiked tang that runs the length of the handle secured by a welded "cap" and the end. The handles are shaped carabao horn with a hand carved male human head pommel (kinda looks like Gen. MacArthur without his glasses and pipe!) and a brass ferrule which meets a simple brass "S" guard. After unwrapping and wiping off the cosmoline, I found the blades crudely shaped with. The blades are clip-point, about 3/16" wide and 16 1/2" long, with "Made in Philippines" hand punched into one side. The blades almost seemed unfinished because of all the tool marks and obvious intent to leave them that way.
The edge was not visibly obvious yet extremely sharp regardless of the crudeness and tool marks. The blades passed every cutting test I was able to conduct as well as any knife I currently own and some quite impressively. The bolo handles MUCH smaller that the 22" oal would suggest. Cutting thin ribbons out of 8.5X11 paper was very easy and almost as efficient as a 3" knife. The bolo made very little time out of 2X4 whether I was splitting or chopping. After 20 minutes of making wood chips and toothpicks, the edge diplayed no damage and was still cutting ribbons without catching or dragging.
I decide to clean one up to before sending it to my brother. I spent about two hours sanding the flats with my Makita palm sander, going fron 60 to 100 to 150 and finishing with 220. I cleaned up some of the tooling marks left on the guard and smoothed out the bevels in the handles. I removed most of the tooling marks just to make out the temper line, leaving a bright brushed finish. In the end, I held a well constructed, aesthetically pleasing handmade knfe with just enough modifications to improve tactility, functionality and general appeal.
My brother is quite happy with his bolo. He was surprised by how well I was able to "pretty" it up with what I had in the garage. I've cleaned mine up but plan on doing a bit more. I think the time and money spent on it is far less than some productions a third of its size. It's great for FMA applications and would consider it for combat worthy, especially if I get the clip sharpened. I think a kydex sheath would be a great accesssory and perhaps some kind of handle treatment to prevent degradation and improve utility. Beyond that, I think it's the best $45 I've spent on a blade, let alone $45 I've spent on anything in recent memory.
Let me know what you guys think
Dayuhan
The bolos arrived with the blades coated in cosmoline and wrapped in plastic. They were shipped with a molded and stitched leather sheath with a simple tooled pattern and brass accents. The epoxied 5 1/2" handles hides a spiked tang that runs the length of the handle secured by a welded "cap" and the end. The handles are shaped carabao horn with a hand carved male human head pommel (kinda looks like Gen. MacArthur without his glasses and pipe!) and a brass ferrule which meets a simple brass "S" guard. After unwrapping and wiping off the cosmoline, I found the blades crudely shaped with. The blades are clip-point, about 3/16" wide and 16 1/2" long, with "Made in Philippines" hand punched into one side. The blades almost seemed unfinished because of all the tool marks and obvious intent to leave them that way.
The edge was not visibly obvious yet extremely sharp regardless of the crudeness and tool marks. The blades passed every cutting test I was able to conduct as well as any knife I currently own and some quite impressively. The bolo handles MUCH smaller that the 22" oal would suggest. Cutting thin ribbons out of 8.5X11 paper was very easy and almost as efficient as a 3" knife. The bolo made very little time out of 2X4 whether I was splitting or chopping. After 20 minutes of making wood chips and toothpicks, the edge diplayed no damage and was still cutting ribbons without catching or dragging.
I decide to clean one up to before sending it to my brother. I spent about two hours sanding the flats with my Makita palm sander, going fron 60 to 100 to 150 and finishing with 220. I cleaned up some of the tooling marks left on the guard and smoothed out the bevels in the handles. I removed most of the tooling marks just to make out the temper line, leaving a bright brushed finish. In the end, I held a well constructed, aesthetically pleasing handmade knfe with just enough modifications to improve tactility, functionality and general appeal.
My brother is quite happy with his bolo. He was surprised by how well I was able to "pretty" it up with what I had in the garage. I've cleaned mine up but plan on doing a bit more. I think the time and money spent on it is far less than some productions a third of its size. It's great for FMA applications and would consider it for combat worthy, especially if I get the clip sharpened. I think a kydex sheath would be a great accesssory and perhaps some kind of handle treatment to prevent degradation and improve utility. Beyond that, I think it's the best $45 I've spent on a blade, let alone $45 I've spent on anything in recent memory.
Let me know what you guys think
Dayuhan
