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|  24th June 2009, 12:47 PM | #1 | |
| (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal 
					Posts: 9,694
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   Fernando | |
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|  24th June 2009, 05:46 PM | #2 | 
| Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end 
					Posts: 2,928
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			Hi Gentlemen, I must admit I did initially wonder that myself, but the other disks are polished and finished   Also the rest is finished and it has a scabbard. You dont think this is a crude way of adding grip? Lol, unfinished wouldn't be a problem they are soft metal disks. | 
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|  24th June 2009, 10:07 PM | #3 | 
| Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Australia 
					Posts: 685
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			Hi Gen, I have the feeling that this will remain one of those unresolved mysteries. Are you going to sand the disks down and finish it? Cheers Chris | 
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|  26th June 2009, 01:57 AM | #4 | |
| Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end 
					Posts: 2,928
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 I'm Undecided Chris! I can't imagine its not deliberate to have these disks there but they are weird for sure.... hmmm, not a decision I'lll rush  Regards Gene | |
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|  27th June 2009, 12:51 AM | #5 | |
| Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: PR, USA 
					Posts: 679
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			Hi, There are lots of spanish terms for the small armas blancas. The facon tends to be a larger, more brutish type of field blade. Cuchillo is a generic term, that can be applied to all, even to cooking/eating utensils. A daga/dagger suggest a more elaborate affair, more knightly and developed, elegant even, and usually sporting a developed cross guard. They are highly personalized. A puņal is virtually any fighting blade that can be held in a fist, not refined, its crossguard being either very small or absent. The navajas and cuchillas (feminine terms) apply only to folding knives, albeit they can be of herculean dimensions. Me'self, I highly dislike the traditional spanish knives in general. like the Albacetes. Their brute shape seems to infer a decidedly ruffianish nature. OTOH, I find the shape of the old swiss daggers extremely attractive. I guess that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...: ) Best Manolo Quote: 
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|  27th June 2009, 01:47 AM | #6 | |||
| Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Australia 
					Posts: 685
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			Hi Manolo, Quote: 
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 Cheers Chris | |||
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|  27th June 2009, 02:23 AM | #7 | 
| Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: PR, USA 
					Posts: 679
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			Nicely put, though I would add that such a grip emphasizes the use of the point, so it is not really applicable to a knife primarily intended to cut. Very true, that what characterizes a puņal. And yet, it is still generally considered a cuchillo, or knife. I am not sure about current Spanish colloquialisms (the old ones are largely forgotten or of uncertain meaning due to the vide spread illiteracy that persisted until WWII ) but in South America, a "cuchilla" is applied to any broad fixed blade. But the folks who use them are not all that concerned with correct terminology and cuchillo/cuchilla are often used synonimously. Castillian / Spanish is differently used in America. (Even in Spain itself, the usage varies between regions). In Mexico, often times they call it Mexican instead of Spanish, and it can prove very difficult to understand for a Spanish national, since words and phrases from the local American tribes are often mixed with the former. Sometimes, European Spanish words may actually have the opossite meaning elsewhere. I certainly agree with you on this one. Generally daggers were intended as companion weapons an were often lavishly decorated, but even the simpler ones had a certain gracefulness about them, albeit a deadly one. Cheers Chris Yep, and they are also easier to exhibit and store, compared to pikes, montantes and fusiles. : ) I must confess a certain predilection gor the fabled main gauches... : ) Salud y Fortuna Manolo    Last edited by celtan; 27th June 2009 at 02:18 PM. | 
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