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A new toy arrived today from Romania. A Dacian Falx made by Cristian Iamandi. Specs 37" 50.44 Ounce
Beautiful. A little while back I developed a liking for the Falx, and that looks like a particularly nice specimen. Only thing I would do is a darker wood hilt and maybe more subtle patterning on the hilt. Now what is it with my blade preferences, kukris, yataghans, and now the Falx, and other forward curved blades. Apparently I have a thing for a forward-curved blades. I've even got a design in my head for something interesting with a forward-curved blade. I just need to find my sketchpad to draw it out.
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new toy is here. it's a naval hanger from the era of the war of spanish succession, first decade of the 1700's. was in a lot (no. 337) of 'old household items' including a cranberry red glass oil lamp, a large decorated meat platter and a copper clothes washing plunger thingy called a 'posser'. it was listed as a 'decorative short sword'. no scabbard. probably long gone...
anyhow, i won the whole lot for one increment over the initial minimum bid. there was one other bidder but they dropped out after it. nobody else saw what it was i guess. cost me more for the diesel to drive 130 mi. to pick it up, and it was still cheaper than the postage would have been
blade has a dark patination and some pitting overall, but for 300+ years old, not bad.
weight: 408 grams
LOA: 25.25 in. (64cm)
Blade Length:21 in. (53cm), it is not fullered.
width at guard: 1 3/16 in. (3cm)
thickness at guard 4mm. ~ 3/16 in. distal tapered to tip.
1st 7 in. has a sharpish false edge, rest of blade is sharp. blade slightly pitted and black oxide rust overall, slightly rounded tip, a few small nicks on the edge. stag grip is tight to blade, brass guard shows slight movement, tang end peened over keeper. guard is plain, slightly dished on the blade side, decorated with what look like scaled dolphins and maybe a winged cherub face. floral decor & dolphins (?) on knuckle guard. decorated pommel. marked about 7 in. (18cm) from the guard with a Y shaped mark both sides with a spike bisecting the fork, and a branch to the left and right from join and with a curled end on left. mark is about 3/8" sq.~1cm sq. antler grip has a crack along the top side centre, but stops a couple inches from the ends. top extension of guard is not there as in the example at the end below. maybe broken off. where it would have been is well rounded and smooth from wear, so break is not recent...
blade showing mark, looks blacker in real life, i've stabilised it in tannic after scrubbing off any red stuff with a brass brush since the photos.
macro of the mark, which i'm not sure what it means...
here's a screen shot of one somebody bought at a major arms auction earlier from a magazine article on it. it stuck in my memory from way back in sept.'16
i blanked out the sale price as it's embarrasing how little i paid for mine in comparison, it was a 4 figure number. mine is of similar dimensions, they were all approx. 21" bladed.
mine has a more richly decorated guard, but a slightly more aged blade w/o a fuller. mine is not for sale
anyhow, i won the whole lot for one increment over the initial minimum bid. there was one other bidder but they dropped out after it. nobody else saw what it was i guess. cost me more for the diesel to drive 130 mi. to pick it up, and it was still cheaper than the postage would have been
blade has a dark patination and some pitting overall, but for 300+ years old, not bad.
weight: 408 grams
LOA: 25.25 in. (64cm)
Blade Length:21 in. (53cm), it is not fullered.
width at guard: 1 3/16 in. (3cm)
thickness at guard 4mm. ~ 3/16 in. distal tapered to tip.
1st 7 in. has a sharpish false edge, rest of blade is sharp. blade slightly pitted and black oxide rust overall, slightly rounded tip, a few small nicks on the edge. stag grip is tight to blade, brass guard shows slight movement, tang end peened over keeper. guard is plain, slightly dished on the blade side, decorated with what look like scaled dolphins and maybe a winged cherub face. floral decor & dolphins (?) on knuckle guard. decorated pommel. marked about 7 in. (18cm) from the guard with a Y shaped mark both sides with a spike bisecting the fork, and a branch to the left and right from join and with a curled end on left. mark is about 3/8" sq.~1cm sq. antler grip has a crack along the top side centre, but stops a couple inches from the ends. top extension of guard is not there as in the example at the end below. maybe broken off. where it would have been is well rounded and smooth from wear, so break is not recent...
blade showing mark, looks blacker in real life, i've stabilised it in tannic after scrubbing off any red stuff with a brass brush since the photos.
macro of the mark, which i'm not sure what it means...
here's a screen shot of one somebody bought at a major arms auction earlier from a magazine article on it. it stuck in my memory from way back in sept.'16
i blanked out the sale price as it's embarrasing how little i paid for mine in comparison, it was a 4 figure number. mine is of similar dimensions, they were all approx. 21" bladed.
mine has a more richly decorated guard, but a slightly more aged blade w/o a fuller. mine is not for sale
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- Jun 13, 2006
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Ain't got nearly the blade money I used to... times are tough for frivolous knifely purchases, but I've been indulging in mostly cheap-n-cheerful wares now and then.
In the 90's, I recall seeing one of the kiridashi shown second from bottom in a catalog, and wanting one for over two decades. A couple months ago I pulled the trigger,
I was intrigued by the Morakniv Eldris, and despite not knowing that it fills any particular niche, was drawn to it:
I had also taken a break from Spyderco for over 20 years until picking these guys up:
In the 90's, I recall seeing one of the kiridashi shown second from bottom in a catalog, and wanting one for over two decades. A couple months ago I pulled the trigger,
I was intrigued by the Morakniv Eldris, and despite not knowing that it fills any particular niche, was drawn to it:
I had also taken a break from Spyderco for over 20 years until picking these guys up:
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- Aug 17, 2003
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Been quiet for a while, then these show up.
1. mandinka hanger sword from north africa, timbuktoo area - 23.25in. locally forged blade
2. unknown fighting knife - 10.25in. blade, 1.5 in. wide - possibly a repurposed part of a broken sword, kind of a seax, the convex razor edge is on the bottom, same as the hefty knuckle guard. top has a flat spine it's whole length. possibly a theatre-made combat knife. if anyone has seen a similar one. please post. thanks.
sword:
knife: no scabbard/sheath) marked "1 8" near guard one side, "S A" or "8 A" badly struck on the other side. bronze fittings, squarish tapered wood grip with grooved sides. hidden tang. all tight and sturdy. token fuller ground in both sides, one side fuller is much longer than the other side.
1. mandinka hanger sword from north africa, timbuktoo area - 23.25in. locally forged blade
2. unknown fighting knife - 10.25in. blade, 1.5 in. wide - possibly a repurposed part of a broken sword, kind of a seax, the convex razor edge is on the bottom, same as the hefty knuckle guard. top has a flat spine it's whole length. possibly a theatre-made combat knife. if anyone has seen a similar one. please post. thanks.
sword:
knife: no scabbard/sheath) marked "1 8" near guard one side, "S A" or "8 A" badly struck on the other side. bronze fittings, squarish tapered wood grip with grooved sides. hidden tang. all tight and sturdy. token fuller ground in both sides, one side fuller is much longer than the other side.
Forgive us all, brothers. For we have sinned. Over a year without any posts in this thread. May mercy be had upon our souls.
This is my latest acquisition of interest. It's a Fox 479 Karambit. I decided I finally needed a serious folding karambit, so I looked around and found one. I love this thing already. It's big, really big. Supposedly it was designed for Italian special forces, and they wanted something big enough to use while wearing gloves. Yet it's still very comfortable in my hand. Took a little while to get good at opening it in the reverse grip, but now I've got the hang of it. All in all, it's very well made, and I'm glad I got it. Now I just need to get a trainer version.
This is my latest acquisition of interest. It's a Fox 479 Karambit. I decided I finally needed a serious folding karambit, so I looked around and found one. I love this thing already. It's big, really big. Supposedly it was designed for Italian special forces, and they wanted something big enough to use while wearing gloves. Yet it's still very comfortable in my hand. Took a little while to get good at opening it in the reverse grip, but now I've got the hang of it. All in all, it's very well made, and I'm glad I got it. Now I just need to get a trainer version.
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Scara, I just picked up a couple of those this past winter along with a trainer. It’s a very interesting knife and some really good videos on YouTube. They are scary sharp. A lot more dangerous than they look.Forgive us all, brothers. For we have sinned. Over a year without any posts in this thread. May mercy be had upon our souls.
This is my latest acquisition of interest. It's a Fox 479 Karambit. I decided I finally needed a serious folding karambit, so I looked around and found one. I love this thing already. It's big, really big. Supposedly it was designed for Italian special forces, and they wanted something big enough to use while wearing gloves. Yet it's still very comfortable in my hand. Took a little while to get good at opening it in the reverse grip, but now I've got the hang of it. All in all, it's very well made, and I'm glad I got it. Now I just need to get a trainer version.
My son...26 yrs old...was gifted one from me. I watched him pull it from his pocket having his finger in the wrong location. While it opened and a pool of blood poured on the floor below. Took 5 stitches from a bad draw!
I can see how dangerous it can be if used as a weapon!
Nice photos!
I can see how that would have happened. Early on I drew it, and the blade didn't deploy very far, only an inch or so. As I went to close my grip one of my fingers brushed the tip of the blade. Thankfully I didn't close my grip further. So I have avoided being injured by it. But there are a lot of techniques that I would like to practice, but knowing how sharp this thing is, I am unwilling to do them with a sharp blade, at least for now.
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- Aug 16, 2011
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This is my only acquisition of the year, a Mongol bow.
It’s laminated with horn glued on one side and sinew on the other
I haven’t strung it up yet because it makes scary creaking noises when I start bending it backwards. Worried it’s gonna snap and take my head off!
It’s laminated with horn glued on one side and sinew on the other
I haven’t strung it up yet because it makes scary creaking noises when I start bending it backwards. Worried it’s gonna snap and take my head off!
Bawanna
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- Dec 19, 2012
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Where have you been blue, I was fixing to form a search party. You need to check in more frequently.
I'm with you on the creaking noises being scary, that's a cool looking bow and would be a shame for it to snap and have two halves of a cool looking bow.
I'm with you on the creaking noises being scary, that's a cool looking bow and would be a shame for it to snap and have two halves of a cool looking bow.
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- Aug 17, 2003
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Be careful. they do not string like normal western recurves. any twisting can damage or break it.
http://turkishflightarchery.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-string-turkish-bow.html
http://turkishflightarchery.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-string-turkish-bow.html
Bawanna
Moderator
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And Mr. kronckew, you've neglected us around here for quite a spell as well. Hey I'm a poet and didn't know it.
Please visit more often.
Sure seems like if anything went wrong, things could get ugly very quickly.
Good way to do it and perhaps the only best way.
Please visit more often.
Sure seems like if anything went wrong, things could get ugly very quickly.
Good way to do it and perhaps the only best way.
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One more: Bowie number one....
A design collaboration between Myself, A friend who is a sword-smith that makes museum pieces, and a friend of his that roughed out the blades when he was sick.
12in. blade, guard-less, blade/hilt angle is deliberate for an edge up gutting stroke or a downward strike/thrust with the sharp clip point, in the style of the one found at the Arkansas smithy of James Black. 13in. blade.
A design collaboration between Myself, A friend who is a sword-smith that makes museum pieces, and a friend of his that roughed out the blades when he was sick.
12in. blade, guard-less, blade/hilt angle is deliberate for an edge up gutting stroke or a downward strike/thrust with the sharp clip point, in the style of the one found at the Arkansas smithy of James Black. 13in. blade.