Searching for a Coftgari artist in Europe

[Roland_M]

Dear forum members,

recently I was the lucky winner of a very high quality Pala Sword. It is made from super fine turkish wootz, with a clear and bright hamon and under the T-section only 2 mm thick (over the whole length of the blade), with a slightly reinforced tip.
The blade length is around 70 cm, the weight of the blade without guard is less than 500 gram. My initial guess was Parade-Sword but it has a few deeper and hundreds of tiny notches.

Now I'm looking for a Coftgari artist in Europe, because the original eight different coftgari are almost completly lost. But there are still shadows of the original coftgari. So it would be easy to restore it to its original style.

I will show more of the Pala after I finished it, because now it's too corroded but luckily enough the blade itself is in very good condition. This picture was made after removing the red rust with the blue japanese rust-eraser (rubber with sand). I can highly recommend this eraser.

Thanks for every advice and best wishes,
Roland

[mariusgmioc]

Hello Roland,

Wootz Pala... that's really a rare find! Congratulations, and good luck with the restauration process!

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Hello Roland,

Wootz Pala... that's really a rare find! Congratulations, and good luck with the restauration process!

Hi Marius,

I have added a picture of the sword as it is after rust removing.

I have already ordered buffalo horn and frankincense plus myrrh for the glue of the hilt. I hope it smells well after restoration .

[Sajen]

Great catch my friend! I am already curious to see the finished sword! Are the remains of the handle scales from rhino horn?

Regards,
Detlef

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Great catch my friend! I am already curious to see the finished sword! Are the remains of the handle scales from rhino horn?

Regards,
Detlef

Hi Detlef my friend,

yes they are from rhino horn but totally corroded, partially almost mineralized.

I'm still unsure whether I make them from buffalo horn or grenadill ebony wood. Grenadill is much more beautiful than buffalo horn but I afraid not really traditional.


Regards,
Roland

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

Hi Detlef my friend,

yes they are from rhino horn but totally corroded, partially almost mineralized.

I'm still unsure whether I make them from buffalo horn or grenadill ebony wood. Grenadill is much more beautiful than buffalo horn but I afraid not really traditional.


Regards,
Roland

Hello Roland,

Fantastic blade and in very good condition. But didn't see too much of the koftgari.

Maybe Grenadil is not traditional, but I have certainly seen Kilij swords with antique wooden scales, although the scales may have been old replacements as well. So maybe dark dyed walnut or ebony would be better than grenadil.

The problem with buffalo horn is that it would be rather difficult to find the adequate size and quality in Europe. You may need to look to Nepal or India for replacements.