Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Skiendubh · 23rd June 2021, 02:41 AM

I thank all of you people for your replies. So, on the whole, I take it that the consensus is that I do have an atypical Khyber knife?

Anyhow, for my replies.

Firstly, skien dubh is celtic for black knife/sword. I read that dubh can also refer to something hidden/covert, and it was a hidden/covert blade when worn in the sock of a Scot, and maybe Irish? It is usually written as sgian dubh, but this is usually already taken, so I use this alternate phonetic spelling as my nom de plume.

As for the hole in the blade, which is 0.125" in diameter, I was informed that it was used by the English to mount blades on their walls, so you say that it was also used by the Russians. Or was it just the Russians? Good to know anyway.

The bolt in the picture is used to mount my machine vice to a lump of wood, which gives a mobile and reasonably stable work place to hold pieces to work on. Not ideal, but a whole lot better than the Mark 1 mobile vice. a.k.a. Hand.

More measurements. The blade is 18” long, and 1.970” wide at the base. As seen, it tapers gradually towards the point, and the taper increases within the last inch or so, to the point. The cross section of the blade isn't really flat, more flat/oval ish, The edge is sharp and is the entire length of one side, and has a 0.250” bevel associated with it. It has a 'butter knife' sharp swage/false edge, is 5” long, which then tapers out to 0.100” wide at the hilt. The blade does have a distill taper, and starts at 0.150” at the hilt, going down to 0.125” measured at 0.500” [ where the bevels of both edges start ] back from the point.

The handle is 4.950" from the blade to the butt, and has a full profile tang with the bolsters attached to the hilt, don't know how, as I cannot see any rivets or solder. The wood is attached by 3 rivets. The wood also tapers, starting at 1.175” behind the bolsters, and goes to 1.375” thick, 0.750” from the butt.

It had a basic wooden scabbard, which followed the shape of the blade. which was covered in thin black leather, same as a Kukeri scabbard normally uses. It was in extremely poor condition, so I discarded it.

I have also heard that English doctors of the era commented about the normal habit of using these blades was to slash the enemies, and rarely, if ever, were they used to stab, though the shape cries out that they were really well designed to stab with. My opinion. And the fact that my blade is flat, as opposed to the normal 't' cross section blades, is why I wondered if it really is a Khyber knife or not. One time I cleaned the blade and thought that I saw it was patterned, like wootz steel. Though I haven't seen it since that one time. Imagination?

23rd June 2021, 02:41 AM	#17
Skiendubh Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 5	Khyber knife? I thank all of you people for your replies. So, on the whole, I take it that the consensus is that I do have an atypical Khyber knife? Anyhow, for my replies. Firstly, skien dubh is celtic for black knife/sword. I read that dubh can also refer to something hidden/covert, and it was a hidden/covert blade when worn in the sock of a Scot, and maybe Irish? It is usually written as sgian dubh, but this is usually already taken, so I use this alternate phonetic spelling as my nom de plume. As for the hole in the blade, which is 0.125" in diameter, I was informed that it was used by the English to mount blades on their walls, so you say that it was also used by the Russians. Or was it just the Russians? Good to know anyway. The bolt in the picture is used to mount my machine vice to a lump of wood, which gives a mobile and reasonably stable work place to hold pieces to work on. Not ideal, but a whole lot better than the Mark 1 mobile vice. a.k.a. Hand. More measurements. The blade is 18” long, and 1.970” wide at the base. As seen, it tapers gradually towards the point, and the taper increases within the last inch or so, to the point. The cross section of the blade isn't really flat, more flat/oval ish, The edge is sharp and is the entire length of one side, and has a 0.250” bevel associated with it. It has a 'butter knife' sharp swage/false edge, is 5” long, which then tapers out to 0.100” wide at the hilt. The blade does have a distill taper, and starts at 0.150” at the hilt, going down to 0.125” measured at 0.500” [ where the bevels of both edges start ] back from the point. The handle is 4.950" from the blade to the butt, and has a full profile tang with the bolsters attached to the hilt, don't know how, as I cannot see any rivets or solder. The wood is attached by 3 rivets. The wood also tapers, starting at 1.175” behind the bolsters, and goes to 1.375” thick, 0.750” from the butt. It had a basic wooden scabbard, which followed the shape of the blade. which was covered in thin black leather, same as a Kukeri scabbard normally uses. It was in extremely poor condition, so I discarded it. I have also heard that English doctors of the era commented about the normal habit of using these blades was to slash the enemies, and rarely, if ever, were they used to stab, though the shape cries out that they were really well designed to stab with. My opinion. And the fact that my blade is flat, as opposed to the normal 't' cross section blades, is why I wondered if it really is a Khyber knife or not. One time I cleaned the blade and thought that I saw it was patterned, like wootz steel. Though I haven't seen it since that one time. Imagination?