A Philippine Punal

[Ferguson]

Sometimes you get lucky on Ebay. Ebay Auction Ended (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=130100207744&rd=1&rd=1)

It looked like a nice old one, and Lew thought so too. So I bid and was lucky to win it. Wood guard, horn ferrule that split and was repaired with some twisted brass wire. 13 3/4" overall length, with a 9 1/8" blade, about 2" wide at the maximum. The blade was bright, but showed signs of some pattern, so I went through the etch/polish, etch/polish, etch routine, and it showed a very nice pattern. Comments welcomed.

Thanks for looking,
Steve Ferguson
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/punal7-overall-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/punal7-overall-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/Punal7-hilt-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/punal7-hilt-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/punal7-tip.jpg

[Lew]

Steve

I just love the blade but you must do someting about that cracked ferrule.

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPER GLUE!!! :D ;)


Lew

[Ferguson]

:) LOL, I already superglued it to stabilize it. I can mix up some translucent black epoxy to fill the crack. I just wonder what folks think about the idea? Some believe that one should leave problems like that alone. Some think it's ok to fix them. I'm on the fence on this piece. Opinions?

Steve

[Berkley]

Steve,
If it were mine (say, there's an idea ;) ), I'd fix it. (Of course, if it was mine, I wouldn't have the skill to do the job right :o ).
Berk

[David]

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPER GLUE!!! :D ;)
Oh Lew....PLEASE, not super glue!!! :eek: :)

[Rick]

The problem one runs into is Organics vs Inorganics (for want of a better term); one material changes with the relative humidity, and one does not .

[Bill M]

Very NICE! Congratulations, Steve!

I would use the epoxy. Don't like super glue.

[Tim Simmons]

A PVA and powdered charcoal would make a more sympathetic native looking fill in repair. The other glues will not fill and really do look like you have used a modern glue. If you glue it under pressure with super glue the horn will split again somewhere else. You could just live with it. I have a similar problem and with counseling I am learning how to get by with it. :shrug:

[Ferguson]

Ok, I just couldn't stand the cracked ferrule. Mixed a tiny bit of black epoxy colorant and an even smaller bit of red with some Devcon 2 Ton epoxy. Made an ok repair. Took 2 applications to build it up to the proper depth. Sanded it down, polished it up by hand. I wouldn't do this on a thousand dollar piece, or something with a lot of historical significance, but it works for me on this piece.

Steve


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/sferguson53/Public/Gunong/Punal7-repaired.jpg

[kronckew]

looks good to me, steve

(i'm still drooling tho)

[Lew]

Steve

Now you have gone and done it ruined a perfectly good punal. :eek: I guess at this point the only right thing to do is to mail it to me and I will have to find a place deep in that closet of mine to hide it ;) :D

Lew

BTW nice work buddy!

[David]

Yeah, way to go Steve...you ruined it! :rolleyes:
But Lew is way over burdened with stuff so my recommendation would be that you send it to me and i will make sure that no one ever sees that nasty little blade again! :rolleyes: :D
...nice repair bro... :)

[Battara]

Nice job Steve....and yes I am with the "fix it" crowd. :D

Nice pattern on the blade. :)