Philippine Punal ?

Ferguson · 25th November 2005, 11:51 PM

Found this sweet little punal on Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

As you can see, it was in terrible shape. Tip broken, edge had been ground on a grinder. But it looked like it had promise. I don't really like to take older pieces to the belt grinder, but this one required it. Reshaped the tip to what I've seen on other pieces, and cleaned up the edges to get rid of the grinder marks. Turned out ok I think. After etching, it had a really nice pattern. One thing that I couldn't show in the pictures, is that the steel in the center of the blade kind of sparkles when you turn the blade in the light. I haven't seen this before. Kind of crystalline looking. Neat but strange effect.

Blade lenght is 5 1/2"
Overall length is 9 1/8"
Blade thickness at center ridge is .215"

Thanks for looking. Comments welcomed.

Steve Ferguson

nechesh · 26th November 2005, 04:20 AM

Hey Steve, looks like you did OK for your 16 bucks! Yes, going to the grinder is a bit servere, but given what you paid for the blade you didn't have much to lose really. You did a nice job keeping the new point in line with the lamination lines. The cleaned up ferrule is a bit too bright for my tastes, but i'll bet it will look nicer when it tarnishes a little. It's a shame you couldn't have cleaned it up without losing the patina.

Ferguson · 26th November 2005, 02:46 PM

Thanks Nechesh,
I hate to reprofile the blade on an antique, but I felt it was warranted in this case. Don't think I did more than a native smith would have done. Yes the brass is too bright. Someone had buffed part of it, so I just evened it out. I'll handle it every night until it tarnishes again.

Thanks,

Steve

tom hyle · 26th November 2005, 04:58 PM

Looks very nice; certainly better than it was; seemingly a "real" piece with use scars; nice to see it returned to proper status.
I don't see a temper line. Moros sometimes temper along (mostly on se swords) or across (as on kris sundang) if you follow. but I don't see what's up here. theoretically within the line the core steel would all be similarly hard, but another perspective (particularly with old hand made swords that have a thick spine; gunongs are often thin; which would alleviate much of this concern) is that the very core may not acheive proper heat exchange to fully harden (IMHO purposefully sometimes), and so on such blades, a native SE Asian will often regrind a broken point so that it goes to one edge, rather than central. I don't know if I'm clear enougjh, but I'm out of time, and this blade may be thin enough to obviate the concern...............just rambling.
Nice dagger. Nice job. Thanks for helping a blade.

Battara · 26th November 2005, 08:40 PM

Love what you've done with the piece. Isn't it nice when you find buried treasure in a piece?

The crystalization is not surprising - I have the same thing in a Budiak spear and I think it was accidental. Happens at times, even have a little bit in my kampilan.

25th November 2005, 11:51 PM	#1
Ferguson Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kernersville, NC, USA Posts: 793	Philippine Punal ? Found this sweet little punal on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1 As you can see, it was in terrible shape. Tip broken, edge had been ground on a grinder. But it looked like it had promise. I don't really like to take older pieces to the belt grinder, but this one required it. Reshaped the tip to what I've seen on other pieces, and cleaned up the edges to get rid of the grinder marks. Turned out ok I think. After etching, it had a really nice pattern. One thing that I couldn't show in the pictures, is that the steel in the center of the blade kind of sparkles when you turn the blade in the light. I haven't seen this before. Kind of crystalline looking. Neat but strange effect. Blade lenght is 5 1/2" Overall length is 9 1/8" Blade thickness at center ridge is .215" Thanks for looking. Comments welcomed. Steve Ferguson

26th November 2005, 04:20 AM	#2
nechesh Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 940	Hey Steve, looks like you did OK for your 16 bucks! Yes, going to the grinder is a bit servere, but given what you paid for the blade you didn't have much to lose really. You did a nice job keeping the new point in line with the lamination lines. The cleaned up ferrule is a bit too bright for my tastes, but i'll bet it will look nicer when it tarnishes a little. It's a shame you couldn't have cleaned it up without losing the patina.

26th November 2005, 02:46 PM	#3
Ferguson Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kernersville, NC, USA Posts: 793	Thanks Nechesh, I hate to reprofile the blade on an antique, but I felt it was warranted in this case. Don't think I did more than a native smith would have done. Yes the brass is too bright. Someone had buffed part of it, so I just evened it out. I'll handle it every night until it tarnishes again. Thanks, Steve

26th November 2005, 04:58 PM	#4
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Looks very nice; certainly better than it was; seemingly a "real" piece with use scars; nice to see it returned to proper status. I don't see a temper line. Moros sometimes temper along (mostly on se swords) or across (as on kris sundang) if you follow. but I don't see what's up here. theoretically within the line the core steel would all be similarly hard, but another perspective (particularly with old hand made swords that have a thick spine; gunongs are often thin; which would alleviate much of this concern) is that the very core may not acheive proper heat exchange to fully harden (IMHO purposefully sometimes), and so on such blades, a native SE Asian will often regrind a broken point so that it goes to one edge, rather than central. I don't know if I'm clear enougjh, but I'm out of time, and this blade may be thin enough to obviate the concern...............just rambling. Nice dagger. Nice job. Thanks for helping a blade.

26th November 2005, 08:40 PM	#5
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,139	Love what you've done with the piece. Isn't it nice when you find buried treasure in a piece? The crystalization is not surprising - I have the same thing in a Budiak spear and I think it was accidental. Happens at times, even have a little bit in my kampilan.