It would be very nice to find a cache of old and good blades somewhere.
I fear though, that at least part of the answer is not good;
Some years ago I had dealings with a very reliable chap un in Rajasthan who sent me a few hilts, and showed me photos of many more, and a lot of them had blade stubs present.
Some of these I purchased as his prices were very reasonable and to my horror on receiving them, I found the blades had been freshly broken off!
There is no doubt about this, as the break was still shiny metal whereas the remaining blade surface was rusted.
I enquired about this, and he seemed rather reticent. On pressing him further, all he would say is that he had hilts with blades still attached for sale as well.
I think there are two parts to his answer;
One, many more hilts can be sold as some areas of the world have restrictions on blades, and
two, probably to him, a rusted blade is nearly worthless and therefore can be discarded and money still made on the hilt.
A good friend reminded me recently, that in India anything can be purchased, it all comes down to money. generally, the Western idea of interest in and value of antiques is not widely understood. it is Us that appear a little odd to them, but are quite happy to cash -in on our "Odness"!
I know this reply is unpalatable, but this is at least the reason in part.
I did press him to Not break off any more blades just for the hilts.
After all, a blade can be heated a little and soften the resin to extract the blade without too much trouble, but breaking the blade is quicker yet. (sadly)
Richard.
This gent also has hilts for sale on Ebay at times.
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