Tibetan Sword

Dave Rishar

Dave Rishar

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
3,178
I scored one of these on the 10/27 specials and boy, is it a keeper. I'll let the pics do the talking.

tibet1.jpg


tibet2.jpg


I haven't really worked the handle yet - just cleaned it up a bit and soaked it for a day in mineral oil. I'll trick it out a bit when I have some more time. It seems a bit dark for rhodadendron.

I'm very happy with the hardened zone. It's got a nice shape to it and covers pretty much the entire edge. Compared with my EK the difference is amazing. The blade is nice and straight (there's a fold of cloth covering a bit of the edge in the first pic) but has enough hammer marks on it to know how it was made. Bura's still got the touch.

The guard seems to be made of steel and is nice and thick. What's not evident from the pictures is that it's engraved on its top surface.

How does it swing? Well enough, I guess. It's heavier than I expected but still pretty easy to use. The PoB is about 5" forward of the guard; in spite of this, it seems to thrust better than it swings. It's actually pretty sharp as is but I'll tidy up the edge tomorrow and start chopping things up to see how it performs. The pumpkins should be going on sale right about that time.

Good stuff. :thumbup:
 
awesome blade! and some great pics, Dave.
 
Nice yeti-poker.

HI swords are all great, and understated. A well-kept secret.

I would never part with my carved katana. It's the only sword I have that isn't a wallhanger.


Ad Astra
 
That's a nice looking etch. Handle scales have an almost goldish hue to them. They look pretty nice. Seems to be a great all around package.

mike
 
That is really superb. Nice to see the hardened zone covers the whole blade. I've never cut much with my Tibetan swords, so I'll be curious to see how you like it. Thanks for the pics and report. :thumbup:

Steve
 
Nice looking blade, Dave.

What are your thoughts on the depth of the handle carving? If you had to hold hard and swing, would it help grip, or be uncomfortable?
 
I was surprised to see that much hardened area along the full length of the sword as well.:thumbup: :D :cool:
One of these days I'll have to etch my Tarwar and see how it was hardened.
I sure don't expect to see that much as it's an older model.
 
Wow, I love that golden handle! I had no idea when I saw it for sale. I have a nice carved horn handled one with darker sheath, but really like this combination. All my carved sword handles are either horn or chandan.

What else do you plan on doing to the handle?

Thanks for sharing.

Norm
 
It's a single edged blade.

I suspect that the carved handles improve the grip a bit over a smooth one but it's hard to be sure. The shape is far more important to me. Note the swell in the middle and at the ends - it's a sort of double hourglass shape. I've seen such a configuration on western swords before; it might be typical of some eastern ones as well but I never paid attention. Regardless, it's actually a very good shape. A hand in either depression will tend to stay there; additionally, if the strong hand shifts back onto the raised area, it tends to force its way into the palm. It gives additional grip options.

As for how I'll handle the finish (pun intended), it seems to be absorbing oil pretty well and I don't like Tru Oil on carved pieces. I figure that I'll hit it a few times with the Walosi Special to get some depth and then seal it all up with Watco. This ought to darken the color just a little bit more and get it right where I want it to be.
 
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