Bhutan Sword ?

[Rick]

Ebay Ian , the blade has a full tang , slight curve , and is weighty and sharp . The hilt and scabbard must have a million tiny tacks holding the decorations on .
Someone put a lot of time into making this sword .

I have just hit the blade with 0000 wool and given it a light etch .
Doesn't seem to be any activity that I can see .

After reading the article I found the faces on the sides of the hilt .
Really unique application work that is 98% still there .
Definitely Baiwan .

I do feel like an idiot for not checking our own resource site .

I'm going to need a bigger wall ......

[Federico]

Just curious at how the hilt feels in the hand, do all the little do-dads feel comfortable or are they as pokey as they seem to look?

[Rick]

They feel kind of pokey , nothing on the hilt is loose but it just feels sort of delicate .

What an incredible amount of close delicate work with nailing those tiny objects into the wood , I believe the nails go through miniscule brass collars then into the piece to be attached .

The tang is bent over a metal pommel plate as described in the article .

The blade on closer examination looks like it is san mai style forging .
The spine of the blade curves 3/16" over its length and I have noticed a subtle distal taper .

[wilked aka Khun Deng]

What a nice find. I just came through the airport in Taipei where they have a disply of the aboriginal artifacts. From what I hear this stuff is pretty rare. They didn't have any weapons but the patterns are a definate match. The patterns struck me as having many similiarities to the Austalian aborigines.
Again nice find!

[Rick]

Thanks Wilk !
Ya know the more I look at it the more I think it was maybe not made expressly for some world traveler to buy ..

I re-etched the blade and the san mai style construction is now much easier to see .

[Ian]

Rick:

Sounds like you found a sleeper. The blade and other elements seems as though they are traditionally made, albeit in somewhat unusual, modern materials.

Congrats.

Ian.

[Rick]

I wish the photos in Mr. Andersons article were larger and clearer .

Does anyone have better photos of this style of sword ?

From my reading I'm coming to the the conclusion that this is a Southern tribe style .

I GIS 'ed for images and it seems Valiantco. made an example but their site seems defunct now .