Odd pole arm

kronckew · 25th October 2019, 01:56 PM

Thought of that, have a hudeidao or two, this one is WAY too thin for that.

Philip · 25th October 2019, 02:52 PM

Agreed, too thin (and small) to be from a hudiedao or any polearm, The non ferrous additions don’t look very Chinese to me, the workmanship reminds me of some SE Asian areas. The lamellar structure with differential heat treat is a pan-Far East phenomenon, seen on blades from Siam up to Korea and Japan to Inner Asia. Even on domestic tools. It is characteristic of Moro blades from Mindanao, and so forth. If you polished your hudiedao blades you’ll see the same thing.

That being said, there could be a possibility that your piece, wherever it was originally made, may have started out as a domestic knife rather than intended as a weapon, per se. It’s been around the block quite a bit and I find the additions and modifications interesting.

kronckew · 25th October 2019, 03:09 PM

was coming to the conclusion it might be north Vietnamese/Montagnard or other mountain tribes of the SEA area. Hard to pin down. May indeed be a repurposed item.

p.s.- my 'hudei dao are singletons with full checkered oval section wood grips and bronze guards, NOT half round 'butterfly' versions, they have already been tidied up and cleaned, and the laminations/hamons are visible on in-hand inspection; photos are so limiting....

a before view on the chubbier Qing dynasty one, was covered in rust and muck. It cleaned up nicely, still a razor too. both blades somewhere around a half inch thick or so at the guard, both guards are also monsterously thick.

25th October 2019, 01:56 PM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	Thought of that, have a hudeidao or two, this one is WAY too thin for that. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 25th October 2019 at 02:18 PM.

25th October 2019, 03:09 PM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	was coming to the conclusion it might be north Vietnamese/Montagnard or other mountain tribes of the SEA area. Hard to pin down. May indeed be a repurposed item. p.s.- my 'hudei dao are singletons with full checkered oval section wood grips and bronze guards, NOT half round 'butterfly' versions, they have already been tidied up and cleaned, and the laminations/hamons are visible on in-hand inspection; photos are so limiting.... a before view on the chubbier Qing dynasty one, was covered in rust and muck. It cleaned up nicely, still a razor too. both blades somewhere around a half inch thick or so at the guard, both guards are also monsterously thick. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 25th October 2019 at 03:21 PM.

25th October 2019, 02:52 PM	#2
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Agreed, too thin (and small) to be from a hudiedao or any polearm, The non ferrous additions don’t look very Chinese to me, the workmanship reminds me of some SE Asian areas. The lamellar structure with differential heat treat is a pan-Far East phenomenon, seen on blades from Siam up to Korea and Japan to Inner Asia. Even on domestic tools. It is characteristic of Moro blades from Mindanao, and so forth. If you polished your hudiedao blades you’ll see the same thing. That being said, there could be a possibility that your piece, wherever it was originally made, may have started out as a domestic knife rather than intended as a weapon, per se. It’s been around the block quite a bit and I find the additions and modifications interesting.