My first dharb for comment

Valjhun · 11th March 2006, 10:14 PM

What do you think about my only and lonely Dha?

The hilt is rosewood wrapped with rattan. Verry well done. Good balance. Blade seems to be folded.

Nagawarrior · 11th March 2006, 11:25 PM

Congrats! Sweet Dha. Don't feel bad. I have only one Dha in my collection too. Your other pieces will keep it company. At least your one and only is a real nice one.
Best,
Stephen*

RhysMichael · 11th March 2006, 11:36 PM

Congratulations on your first dha/darb. A word of warning though they are addictive.

Valjhun · 11th March 2006, 11:45 PM

Thanks Guys!

What can you tell me about the origin? Is it a Thai piece or Burmese? Which tribe? Is it late 19th?

Mark · 12th March 2006, 01:34 AM

I would say Thai. The slight waist, and the swelling toward the tip, are what you see in blades from Aranyik. Probably not terribly old, but its hard to tell from the photos if it is 5-years-old "not old" or 50-years-old "not old." Is that engraving on the blade, or grinding marks, or just distortion in the photo?

Titus Pullo · 12th March 2006, 06:46 AM

Looks like a sweet daab for sweet cutting! I use to have one like that, but the hilt was much better made, with thick brass guard and pomal. I heard that thing can pretty dangerous. I've heard of stories like people getting cut from the shoulder down toward the middle of the breast...typical cutting movement...and in the end the person is left with his shoulder and arm hanging from the side. Ofcourse, he would dead from the shear trauma, and maybe shock!

PUFF · 14th March 2006, 04:11 PM

I don't think bottom cap was missing. Here 's an example of a similar handle. The dahb 's from south Lanna (Utaradit province).

My "Household Dahb" means "Dahb" for home defence not for army.

PUFF · 15th March 2006, 06:24 AM

The matter of spine tapering 's quite important. I 'd studied some speciments with single tapered, double tapered and untapered.

Single tapered blades usually associate with folded steel. Blades has little or no belly which were ID as older blade (early-mid Ayuthaya).

More recent one has double tapered spine which are highly tapered at the base (first 1/4 at the base) and then gently tapered from the rest to the tip. This style can be found in late Ayuthaya to Mid Rattanakosin. Many sword have a ring at the middle of the handle. The ring indicates site to put index and middle fingers on.

In many case, modern Thai swords could be both untapered or tapered up to any point tip, belly or from 1/2 to tip. Plain steel sheet (HC or spring) are materials of choice. Then belly part 's forged out. This cause thinner blade near the forged out belly. Bigger belly and upward tip style became popular for Krabi-Krabong practice. Since balance 's moved forward, its grip has to move up, close to furrule.

Mark · 15th March 2006, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valjhun

I'm not so sure what taper-tapering means... Could someone explain me more precisely?

Thanks!

"Taper" just means "getting progressively narrower/thinner." In a sword, one often speaks of "distal taper," meaning the amount the thickness of the blade decreases as you go toward the tip ("distal" end) of the blade.

Most blades have what Puff is calling a "single taper," meaning that the thinning of the blade is at a pretty even rate, while most dha have a "double taper" (good terms, by the way -- I definately am going to use them

), meaning that there are different rates of thinning along the length of the blade.

Imagine holding a sword straight up, in front of you, with the spine directly towards you and the edge away, tip pointing up. A "single taper" blade will have a profile like a very long, thin triangle, with essentially straight sides. A "double taper" blade will have curved sides, slanted toward each other more at the base of the blade, then gradually gradually becoming more parallel, like the outline of the Eiffel Tower. If you look on my web site I have for many of the swords measurements of the blade thickness in four places: at the forte (base), 1/3 of the way to the tip, 2/3 of the way to the tip, and basically at the tip. You can generally see that the width of the blade decreases a lot in the first 1/3 of the blade, usually by more than half, and by the second third of the length has almost reached the full taper seen at the tip. You can see it pretty well in this photo:

The spine is almost a centimeter wide, 95 mm, at the base, and tapers to only about 15 mm at the tip over a blade length of about 50 cm. But about 3/4 of that taper happens within about 10 cm from the forte. Since dha and daab generally do not have a heavy pommel to counter-balance the weight of the blade, this kind of double taper moves the point of balance back toward the grip instead, actually further back than your typical Western or Japanese sword, which makes the blades very light in the tip and "fast."

Valjhun · 15th March 2006, 05:57 PM

hmmm...

If you are saying that my darb is not pristene, I can say only that I like it verry much and (as you said before for another darb) it trully feels alive in the hands.

Mark... Your page is I-MPRE--SS-I-VE

I'm not so sure what taper-tapering means... Could someone explain me more precisely?

Thanks!

Andrew · 15th March 2006, 10:57 PM

Alright, since this has turned into a show-and-tell, I'm going to split the thread to prevent any further hijacking of Vlajhun's topic.

Mark · 15th March 2006, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew

Alright, since this has turned into a show-and-tell, I'm going to split the thread to prevent any further hijacking of Vlajhun's topic.

PUFF · 16th March 2006, 02:31 AM

Your Dahb 's supposed to be alive. It was carefully made for home/self defence purpose, not for only practice. From the way he apply black pitch/resin, I think the smith/maker did the best of his knowledge.

Like Ian said, the little metal plate 's not that uncommon. But from my exp. it is usually associated with metal encased handle (for older metro sword) or metal ferrule (modern one). This also shows that the smith put efforts on his craft.

Andrew · 16th March 2006, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PUFF

Like Ian said, the little metal plate 's not that uncommon. But from my exp. it is usually associated with metal encased handle (for older metro sword) or metal ferrule (modern one). This also shows that the smith put efforts on his craft.

Puff, what do you mean by "metro sword"?

PUFF · 16th March 2006, 03:27 AM

By means of Shan/Metro classification (I 'm quite newbie for your western system

). Do I use it in context?

Feel free to correct me

Valjhun, since your sword require higher grip, you will need a right art/technique to use it properly. Modern Krabi-Krabong will do.

11th March 2006, 10:14 PM	#1
Valjhun Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 692	My first dharb for comment What do you think about my only and lonely Dha? The hilt is rosewood wrapped with rattan. Verry well done. Good balance. Blade seems to be folded. Attached Images

15th March 2006, 06:24 AM	#8
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	The matter of spine tapering 's quite important. I 'd studied some speciments with single tapered, double tapered and untapered. Single tapered blades usually associate with folded steel. Blades has little or no belly which were ID as older blade (early-mid Ayuthaya). More recent one has double tapered spine which are highly tapered at the base (first 1/4 at the base) and then gently tapered from the rest to the tip. This style can be found in late Ayuthaya to Mid Rattanakosin. Many sword have a ring at the middle of the handle. The ring indicates site to put index and middle fingers on. In many case, modern Thai swords could be both untapered or tapered up to any point tip, belly or from 1/2 to tip. Plain steel sheet (HC or spring) are materials of choice. Then belly part 's forged out. This cause thinner blade near the forged out belly. Bigger belly and upward tip style became popular for Krabi-Krabong practice. Since balance 's moved forward, its grip has to move up, close to furrule. Last edited by PUFF; 15th March 2006 at 08:37 AM.

16th March 2006, 03:27 AM	#15
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	By means of Shan/Metro classification (I 'm quite newbie for your western system ). Do I use it in context? Feel free to correct me Valjhun, since your sword require higher grip, you will need a right art/technique to use it properly. Modern Krabi-Krabong will do. Last edited by PUFF; 16th March 2006 at 04:43 AM.

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11th March 2006, 11:25 PM	#2
Nagawarrior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Inland Empire, Southern California USA Posts: 160	Congrats! Sweet Dha. Don't feel bad. I have only one Dha in my collection too. Your other pieces will keep it company. At least your one and only is a real nice one. Best, Stephen*

11th March 2006, 11:36 PM	#3
RhysMichael Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 520	Congratulations on your first dha/darb. A word of warning though they are addictive.

11th March 2006, 11:45 PM	#4
Valjhun Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 692	Thanks Guys! What can you tell me about the origin? Is it a Thai piece or Burmese? Which tribe? Is it late 19th?

12th March 2006, 01:34 AM	#5
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	I would say Thai. The slight waist, and the swelling toward the tip, are what you see in blades from Aranyik. Probably not terribly old, but its hard to tell from the photos if it is 5-years-old "not old" or 50-years-old "not old." Is that engraving on the blade, or grinding marks, or just distortion in the photo?

12th March 2006, 06:46 AM	#6
Titus Pullo Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 123	Looks like a sweet daab for sweet cutting! I use to have one like that, but the hilt was much better made, with thick brass guard and pomal. I heard that thing can pretty dangerous. I've heard of stories like people getting cut from the shoulder down toward the middle of the breast...typical cutting movement...and in the end the person is left with his shoulder and arm hanging from the side. Ofcourse, he would dead from the shear trauma, and maybe shock!

14th March 2006, 04:11 PM	#7
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	I don't think bottom cap was missing. Here 's an example of a similar handle. The dahb 's from south Lanna (Utaradit province). My "Household Dahb" means "Dahb" for home defence not for army.

15th March 2006, 05:57 PM	#10
Valjhun Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 692	hmmm... If you are saying that my darb is not pristene, I can say only that I like it verry much and (as you said before for another darb) it trully feels alive in the hands. Mark... Your page is I-MPRE--SS-I-VE I'm not so sure what taper-tapering means... Could someone explain me more precisely? Thanks!

15th March 2006, 10:57 PM	#11
Andrew Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,725	Alright, since this has turned into a show-and-tell, I'm going to split the thread to prevent any further hijacking of Vlajhun's topic.

16th March 2006, 02:31 AM	#13
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	Your Dahb 's supposed to be alive. It was carefully made for home/self defence purpose, not for only practice. From the way he apply black pitch/resin, I think the smith/maker did the best of his knowledge. Like Ian said, the little metal plate 's not that uncommon. But from my exp. it is usually associated with metal encased handle (for older metro sword) or metal ferrule (modern one). This also shows that the smith put efforts on his craft.