[Roland_M]

Let me introduce this silver Badik with a well-made triangular blade. It was a very strange online buy from an auction house in Austria (Galerie Zacke). I placed my bid just for fun ~16 hours after the deadline, during the auction, and the bid was unreal low…winner.

The blade was covered with a dense layer of dark brown rust but no deep rust-pitting (pic 1). I polished the blade from grit 180->400->1000 to Steel wool from 00 to 0000. After around 15 hours of polishing (total loss of 2.3 Gramm material include the rust) the blade was ready for etching. For pattern welded steel I preferably use sodium persulfate (fine etch crystal), 20 Gramm in 100 mL distilled water (~70°C ) with a pad, brush or Syringe (pic 2).

I am unsure about the origin of the blade; could it be European, the tip of a small sword or so? The forging is very fine and flawless. The shape and the symmetry are close to perfection; one still can see the hammer strokes, one by another in a narrow row, breathtaking for me. It is obviously laminated steel but hard to see if folded mono-steel or pattern welded steel of more than one kind (pic 3 & 4). It needs special equipment to forge such a type of blade, like different hammers with v-shaped cuts as far as I know. This makes me believe, it could be European. What is the opinion of the experts here?

Another interesting fact is that the only tip of this blade is a permanent magnet, strong enough to lift up ~1 Gramm, my first magnetic blade.

One picture (5) shows another Badik with a more traditional pattern welded blade, which is very thin, with a razor sharp cutting edge and a sharp back edge. The forging is also skillful made but much coarser compared to the triangular blade.

What does the experts think about the origin of the blade and the age? All I know is written in the text and I am appreciative for any opinion.

Measurements:
Length of blade only: 27 cm
Height at base: 20mm
Thickness at base: 8.5 mm
Weight without sheath: 175 Gramm

Kind regards Roland