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Old 20th March 2005, 08:34 PM   #30
tom hyle
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Houston, TX, USA
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Interesting. Perhaps the man I saw was doing an unusual process for some reason, or perhaps in original manufacture it might be done prior to final polishing, to see what's going on? It was long ago, so I'm not sure....Then, as I have no idea what these Japanese words mean, further thought or comment are impossible.....my knowledge of Japanese swords is limitted to a few examples in poor condition (from which however I learned much), books, and television....most older "Western" sources are obviously off-the-wall (light slashing swords; give me a break!), and most sources are almost proprietarily secretive about polishing processes; and also I'm fairly disinterested in polishing processes; I'm more concerned with structural process; it's in my nature somehow; but it's been a while, too, since I've read anything new on the subject, and I think quite a bit more has been published in English in the last decade or two.....

Kukuris I've sharpened are soft in the tip, too, which I always thought interesting, and had attributed (wrongly) to the straightness of a partial imersion quench. So that's quite intentional.....

Conogre; I found a couple photos of old kopsh; not Egyptian though; one Palestinian, one Assyrian. When I have some money I'll send you copies to check out, as I think you might like them. Both have tang-band/I-beam type handle design. One has and I-beam type "shaft", the other a flat-looking one with grooves down both edges. The blade itself on the Palestinian (Gezer) one has two wide grooves and looks fairly light. That on the Assyrian one looks to have a wedge type section, with a narrow groove at the spine (a continuation of the one on the shaft portion); it looks somewhat heavier, but not dauntingly so. They need to put measurements in these sword books.

Movies often make swords too big; with reproducers it can go either way; some full size swords like salwar yatagan and kris sundang are regularly made now with blades around 18", which would have formerly been distinctly on the small side......

Last edited by tom hyle; 20th March 2005 at 08:51 PM.
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