- Joined
- Jan 28, 2006
- Messages
- 7,035
Just received two new blades from HI.
One was the DHARAN PC (PANJABI CHURI II) KNIFE BY DHARAN KAMI
from this DOTD: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498508
The other was an engraved tarwar similar to the one here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500715, the only difference being the one I got is engraved on one side, not both.
First, the PANJABI CHURI.
The blade and scabbard are beautiful. There is one spot ont he scabbard where the brass along the edge was buckled a bit. It'd a manufacturing blem, not mishandling by the post office (box was in perfect condition). Not a big deal, nothing that 5 minutes of elbow grease couldn't fix. The engraving is very detailed and the detail work on the scabbard and handle are absolutely wonderful.
There's all kinds of ways to describe the blade, however, "sharp" is not one of them. It was a butter knife. I had to use a file to get the edge close to sharp, and then use a diamond stone and ceramic hone from there. Now it's very sharp. Not that it really matters, I'll probably never use it for anything but looking nice hanging on the wall under the Masterpiece kukri that I snagged. Overall, I'm very happy with the blade and it was well worth the price.
Now, the tarwar.
Damn this thing is nice. The engraving is very, very detailed, but not gaudy. I don't need engraving on a sword, but since the chances of using it in battle are nonexistant, it'll look real nice on the wall. The only criticism I have of the engraving is that it does spill over onto the primary bevel near the hilt, and if this was to be a "user", eventually sharpening would start to wipe out the engraving. But it's a nonissue as I don't get into sword fights that often.
That being said, it'd obvious this is no wall hanger. I remember asking about HI swords and people said I might not want to cut wood with them, but they aren't wall hangers, either. Well, I think this very well could be used to fell trees. The spine is nearly 3/8" -- almost as thick as the 15-16" Ang Kholas! I mean if I put this thing up next to a lot of other "battle ready" swords out there, the other swords would pee themselves!
The handle is nice and girthy, letting my meat hooks get a good, firm grip, and it's just barely wide enough to get a good two-handed grip should I want to.
Sharp? Sharp enough. I'm one of those guys that thinks swords should not be razor sharp -- too much chance of damaging the edge. The edge on the tarwar was sharp, but a little wavy, as in not straight its whole length. So I used one of my chakmaks to straighten out the edge. Note, I did not sharpen it. Then proceeded outside. I just couldn't help myself, I had to kill some plants with it. I started out with some stalky proto-trees (at the stage where they are still stalks, and not quite "wood" yet. I have them growing in a thick clump beside the house, and have to remove them anyway. I took a half-hearted one hand swing and lopped one off clean (1/2" thick) with little effort. So I took a good, hard one hand swing and I felt a little drag ont he blade, but it cut through about 20 of them in once wide arc like a scythe! WOW. OK, now for some wood.
Pine sapling 1" thick, two handed swing, cut clean through. Yes, I swung at an angle, not straight in. 1" birch. One handed swing, took two tries. Two handed swing, made it through in one, but I think this is the limit for the one-swing criteria.
I started eyeballing some larger pieces of wood, but the sword spoke up and told me "Damn it Jim! I'm a sword, not a kukri." I conceded the point and went inside, oiled it up and hung it on the wall.
Very happy.
One was the DHARAN PC (PANJABI CHURI II) KNIFE BY DHARAN KAMI
from this DOTD: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498508
The other was an engraved tarwar similar to the one here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500715, the only difference being the one I got is engraved on one side, not both.
First, the PANJABI CHURI.
The blade and scabbard are beautiful. There is one spot ont he scabbard where the brass along the edge was buckled a bit. It'd a manufacturing blem, not mishandling by the post office (box was in perfect condition). Not a big deal, nothing that 5 minutes of elbow grease couldn't fix. The engraving is very detailed and the detail work on the scabbard and handle are absolutely wonderful.
There's all kinds of ways to describe the blade, however, "sharp" is not one of them. It was a butter knife. I had to use a file to get the edge close to sharp, and then use a diamond stone and ceramic hone from there. Now it's very sharp. Not that it really matters, I'll probably never use it for anything but looking nice hanging on the wall under the Masterpiece kukri that I snagged. Overall, I'm very happy with the blade and it was well worth the price.
Now, the tarwar.
Damn this thing is nice. The engraving is very, very detailed, but not gaudy. I don't need engraving on a sword, but since the chances of using it in battle are nonexistant, it'll look real nice on the wall. The only criticism I have of the engraving is that it does spill over onto the primary bevel near the hilt, and if this was to be a "user", eventually sharpening would start to wipe out the engraving. But it's a nonissue as I don't get into sword fights that often.
That being said, it'd obvious this is no wall hanger. I remember asking about HI swords and people said I might not want to cut wood with them, but they aren't wall hangers, either. Well, I think this very well could be used to fell trees. The spine is nearly 3/8" -- almost as thick as the 15-16" Ang Kholas! I mean if I put this thing up next to a lot of other "battle ready" swords out there, the other swords would pee themselves!
The handle is nice and girthy, letting my meat hooks get a good, firm grip, and it's just barely wide enough to get a good two-handed grip should I want to.
Sharp? Sharp enough. I'm one of those guys that thinks swords should not be razor sharp -- too much chance of damaging the edge. The edge on the tarwar was sharp, but a little wavy, as in not straight its whole length. So I used one of my chakmaks to straighten out the edge. Note, I did not sharpen it. Then proceeded outside. I just couldn't help myself, I had to kill some plants with it. I started out with some stalky proto-trees (at the stage where they are still stalks, and not quite "wood" yet. I have them growing in a thick clump beside the house, and have to remove them anyway. I took a half-hearted one hand swing and lopped one off clean (1/2" thick) with little effort. So I took a good, hard one hand swing and I felt a little drag ont he blade, but it cut through about 20 of them in once wide arc like a scythe! WOW. OK, now for some wood.
Pine sapling 1" thick, two handed swing, cut clean through. Yes, I swung at an angle, not straight in. 1" birch. One handed swing, took two tries. Two handed swing, made it through in one, but I think this is the limit for the one-swing criteria.
I started eyeballing some larger pieces of wood, but the sword spoke up and told me "Damn it Jim! I'm a sword, not a kukri." I conceded the point and went inside, oiled it up and hung it on the wall.
Very happy.
