Traditional/aboriginal blades - any collectors?

[pialia]

Hiya folks,

Being a history buff I've always had a fascination for old stuff, now that my interest in blades has sprung up again I'm looking to learn more about traditional blades, no specific location in mind. I'm looking to pick up my first khukuri and I'm trying to gather some info on traditional bladesmiths from Taiwan, the design that caught my eye is a type of machete used by aboriginals in Taiwan:

Native American blades have also been on my mind since I saw Apocalypto

I figured I might as well see if there are any other like-minded people out there, feel free to share your experiences about your traditional style blades - there are usually quite a bit of mixed opinions since it seems to be hard to find makers that produce blades of decent quality.

Many thanks!
Pia

 

[Bastid]

Can not say I collect them, but you may have just gotten me hooked. I know some work of at least one excellent maker that may have been influenced by this style. Thank you for taking the time to post that picture. You never know who you may have inspired here.

There is something about that style to me that makes me want to check it out, it looks more compact than a machete and I am thinking it might be even more efficient.

 

[pialia]

Can not say I collect them, but you may have just gotten me hooked. I know some work of at least one excellent maker that may have been influenced by this style. Thank you for taking the time to post that picture. You never know who you may have inspired here.

There is something about that style to me that makes me want to check it out, it looks more compact than a machete and I am thinking it might be even more efficient.

Do you have a collection of works or a website or something of this maker?

I don't know about the compact part, the depicted blade is somewhere around 25" overall

 

[Haze]

That is often called a mountain knife here in Taiwan, I have a good few knives of different sizes similar to the one you have. The larger blades were made famous for being used for head hunting by the Aboriginal tribes way back in the day.

The piece you show in the picture is a fairly typical utility knife. It will be forged from carbon steel and may even be san-mai. I find the heat treat is often very shallow on these knives and the geometry can be a little thick but it makes for a useable knife. I would usually re-heat treat the blade and regrind it a bit if I'm going to be using it though.

That's a cool knife you have and the sheath looks like a pretty good one too. This is two knives I picked up last week. :thumbup:

 

[Bastid]

Do you have a collection of works or a website or something of this maker?

I don't know about the compact part, the depicted blade is somewhere around 25" overall

The maker that came to mind is a friend Tai Goo.

 

[pialia]

The maker that came to mind is a friend Tai Goo.

Wow! Very nice blades right there Would be interesting to know the dimensions

 

[ron_m80]

That is often called a mountain knife here in Taiwan, I have a good few knives of different sizes similar to the one you have. The larger blades were made famous for being used for head hunting by the Aboriginal tribes way back in the day.

The piece you show in the picture is a fairly typical utility knife. It will be forged from carbon steel and may even be san-mai. I find the heat treat is often very shallow on these knives and the geometry can be a little thick but it makes for a useable knife. I would usually re-heat treat the blade and regrind it a bit if I'm going to be using it though.

That's a cool knife you have and the sheath looks like a pretty good one too. This is two knives I picked up last week. :thumbup:

I was just about to come and ask you if you wanted to post in this one. Those are some nice knives you got on that mountain trip.

 

[kukulza28]

@ PIALIA: That's my machete you have pictured there, glad you like it. Kinda funny seeing someone show a picture of my most prized possession. They are called laraw in the Sculiq dialect of Atayal language group. Laraw like larao, or larow with the "ow" as in the word "cow". Very useful machete indeed.

@ Haze: I know that shop, the guy makes good knives, no? Daxi has a few good blacksmiths.

I am 90% sure I can hook any of you guys up with these Taiwanese Aboriginal style knives, as I have been in touch with smiths.
In fact I am in the process of working out a relationship, and maybe these blades will be easier to attain in the future for anyone interested.
I happen to be Taiwanese American and have family all over the island, so on my trips to the homeland I usually buy myself some blades.

 

[Blade Yang]

That is often called a mountain knife here in Taiwan, I have a good few knives of different sizes similar to the one you have. The larger blades were made famous for being used for head hunting by the Aboriginal tribes way back in the day.

The piece you show in the picture is a fairly typical utility knife. It will be forged from carbon steel and may even be san-mai. I find the heat treat is often very shallow on these knives and the geometry can be a little thick but it makes for a useable knife. I would usually re-heat treat the blade and regrind it a bit if I'm going to be using it though.

That's a cool knife you have and the sheath looks like a pretty good one too. This is two knives I picked up last week. :thumbup:

It's really a beautiful integral knife, but the price is far less than Chrss Revee:joyous: (just a kidding, I knew it's different things) It's forged by a traditional blacksmith in a small town of the North Taiwan. Taiwain is a special ilsand comes with many marvelous landforms, of course, includes many big mountains. And the mountain lifes contribute to the growth of special mountain culture of the Aboriginal tribes. During this special process, blade become one of the most important part of the culture. Very nice to hear your guys like our traditional blade Thanks.

PS: I was going to post some pictures but it seems I am still not qulified to do that.

 

[Haze]

Hay Blade, we have sure had some fun with that big knife so far, when Jimmy gets back I'll fix up that smaller knife. :thumbup:

 

[Blade Yang]

Hay Blade, we have sure had some fun with that big knife so far, when Jimmy gets back I'll fix up that smaller knife. :thumbup:

Yes, the big one performs good!(good balance and good design) And let's see what happen when you re-grind the small one to razor-sharp.

We may meet any day of next week to see what you have brought back Tarkuru will be with me too.

 

[nepki]

@ PIALIA: That's my machete you have pictured there, glad you like it. Kinda funny seeing someone show a picture of my most prized possession. They are called laraw in the Sculiq dialect of Atayal language group. Laraw like larao, or larow with the "ow" as in the word "cow". Very useful machete indeed.

@ Haze: I know that shop, the guy makes good knives, no? Daxi has a few good blacksmiths.

I am 90% sure I can hook any of you guys up with these Taiwanese Aboriginal style knives, as I have been in touch with smiths.
In fact I am in the process of working out a relationship, and maybe these blades will be easier to attain in the future for anyone interested.
I happen to be Taiwanese American and have family all over the island, so on my trips to the homeland I usually buy myself some blades.

Any news about this 'relationship' with the Taiwanese smits yet? Am really interested in getting one of these knives.

 

[The_Monkeyboy]

There are several forms of machete-like blades all throughout southeast Asia. It seems like every cluster of islands has their traditional style. I actually like these traditional styles more than many of the other styles that are available. And you can often pick them up relatively cheaply if you can find a local contact. There was a village blacksmith from the Philippines who had quite a thriving business going a few years back selling bolos, barongs and other traditional blades to people on another board. They were usually made out of jeepney springs, with wood or buffalo horn handles, but they were wicked sharp and could handle all kinds of abuse. I still use one of his susuwats to trim brush and dispatch the odd chicken or two. Valiantco also offers some good reproductions of Asian primative knives, but they can cost significantly more. If nothing else, their website can give you an idea of what forms are out there.

-Mb