Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Mark · 13th March 2006, 06:44 PM

Puff asked one key question I had on my mind, namely the spine width. From the photo it appears fairly thick near the handle. How much does it taper in thickness toward the tip, and how quickly? It is typical to see a 1/3-1/2 cm thinkness to the blade near the handle, which narrows over about the first half of the length down to just a few millimeters. At the tip the thickness is usually little more than that of the edge itself. This is a very characteristic feature of dha/daab. It looks like yours has a pretty good taper.

I hesitated to make a comparison, but the only daab I have handled with this kind of a handle wrap is one of my own which was one made with a uniformly (more-or-less) thick blade, such as you would see in a nihon-to. My blade was clearly home-made and by someone who was not very well-informed about how one should be made -- a bad e-bay purchase

. The uniformly-thick blade makes it very tip-heavy, which is not correct for a daab (the POB on a dha/daab should be just a few inches in front of the grip). It also has the plate attached with four nails.

So, I am glad that Ian has seen others with this kind of wrapping which are "legitimate."

PS: I think the black wrapping on the grip is cord, not rattan, since it is twisted rather than braided.

13th March 2006, 06:44 PM	#16
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	Puff asked one key question I had on my mind, namely the spine width. From the photo it appears fairly thick near the handle. How much does it taper in thickness toward the tip, and how quickly? It is typical to see a 1/3-1/2 cm thinkness to the blade near the handle, which narrows over about the first half of the length down to just a few millimeters. At the tip the thickness is usually little more than that of the edge itself. This is a very characteristic feature of dha/daab. It looks like yours has a pretty good taper. I hesitated to make a comparison, but the only daab I have handled with this kind of a handle wrap is one of my own which was one made with a uniformly (more-or-less) thick blade, such as you would see in a nihon-to. My blade was clearly home-made and by someone who was not very well-informed about how one should be made -- a bad e-bay purchase . The uniformly-thick blade makes it very tip-heavy, which is not correct for a daab (the POB on a dha/daab should be just a few inches in front of the grip). It also has the plate attached with four nails. So, I am glad that Ian has seen others with this kind of wrapping which are "legitimate." PS: I think the black wrapping on the grip is cord, not rattan, since it is twisted rather than braided.