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Post by unlikely on Feb 21, 2017 22:21:36 GMT
Howdy folks. My uncle gave me his old panabas which he got from HIS uncle, who supposedly got it as a thank-you gift from a village he liberated in the Philippines in the Pacific Theater of WWII. I'm calling it a panabas but I am definitely NOT educated enough to make that sort of call. The story I was told was that it was made out of a spring from an abandoned military truck, and I think this holds to be true because the steel is very hard. It had some rust on it, nothing too terrible (since sanded away), some pitting and a rough forge finish down towards where the handle was presumably burned onto the tang. Also has a lot of scratch marks. Currently as dull as a butter knife. I'm new to sharpening things on a grindstone. Any tips for sharpening a curved knife like this? What can you tell me about a panabas in general and how I should treat the edge? I'll add pics here in a bit for those that want to see it.
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Post by Croccifixio on Feb 22, 2017 4:39:03 GMT
I'll wait for the pics, but sharpening it would be the same a sharpening any other blade. Unlike Visayan blades, Moro swords have convexed edges so just follow the general contour of the blade with some sandpaper backed by something soft (rubber, mousepad, etc). It'll take some time, but you get to preserve a lot of material that way. Also, think first if you want to use it or not. If not, there's really no point in sharpening it. If you plan to use it, the hilt will be the bigger problem since it's likely only held on with resin, and old resin isn't that durable.
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pgandy
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Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Feb 22, 2017 12:57:15 GMT
Croccifixio gave good advice but I would like to add when using sandpaper best results are obtained with wet/day paper and oil. Any light oil will do. Personally I use WD-40.
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Post by unlikely on Feb 22, 2017 22:01:01 GMT
Heya folks. Pictures here. Also, yes that is a boot lace on the scabbard, it was like that when I got it. If you could give me the proper terminology as to what to call it I'd appreciate it. And also, I don't really intend to use it nor do I intend to get it paper shaving sharp, just get it to a point that it can do basic tasks like opening boxes, because I'd feel it were somewhat of a disservice to use it just for decoration. But nor will I take it into the jungles of SE Asia.
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Post by Croccifixio on Feb 23, 2017 1:19:10 GMT
This is a talibon/talibong. A whole host of these weapons were brought to the States by soldiers during WWII and those who did a tour in the Military Bases Agreement of 1951. With this in mind, I'll change my answer. Talibon are chisel ground (only one side is ground, which makes for a very acute edge angle). So if you want to be historically accurate about it, you should only sharpen one side (the side already sharpened if the blade is dull, or the flat side if it just needs honing).
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Post by unlikely on Feb 23, 2017 3:52:11 GMT
This is a talibon/talibong. A whole host of these weapons were brought to the States by soldiers during WWII and those who did a tour in the Military Bases Agreement of 1951. With this in mind, I'll change my answer. Talibon are chisel ground (only one side is ground, which makes for a very acute edge angle). So if you want to be historically accurate about it, you should only sharpen one side (the side already sharpened if the blade is dull, or the flat side if it just needs honing). Thanks man. And yeah, I found that weird that there was only an edge on one side... can you tell me what role the talibong was created to fill? It seems an awful lot like a pocket machete to me.
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Post by Croccifixio on Feb 23, 2017 4:30:22 GMT
This is a talibon/talibong. A whole host of these weapons were brought to the States by soldiers during WWII and those who did a tour in the Military Bases Agreement of 1951. With this in mind, I'll change my answer. Talibon are chisel ground (only one side is ground, which makes for a very acute edge angle). So if you want to be historically accurate about it, you should only sharpen one side (the side already sharpened if the blade is dull, or the flat side if it just needs honing). Thanks man. And yeah, I found that weird that there was only an edge on one side... can you tell me what role the talibong was created to fill? It seems an awful lot like a pocket machete to me. It's a farmer/fisherman's tool and sidearm named after a municipality in the region. It's basically the EDC of the Visayas Bohol region. Probably has killed more people there than guns since it's just so prevalent. The longer ones (anything above 12 inches) are mostly weapons, so you see much better taper and more well-carved and decorated hilts and scabbards.
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Post by unlikely on Feb 23, 2017 20:10:56 GMT
Thanks man. And yeah, I found that weird that there was only an edge on one side... can you tell me what role the talibong was created to fill? It seems an awful lot like a pocket machete to me. It's a farmer/fisherman's tool and sidearm named after a municipality in the region. It's basically the EDC of the Visayas Bohol region. Probably has killed more people there than guns since it's just so prevalent. The longer ones (anything above 12 inches) are mostly weapons, so you see much better taper and more well-carved and decorated hilts and scabbards. I quite like the limited carvings on it, I wouldn't expect anything else from something like this. But yeah, I got the idea that it wasn't anything ceremonial :b do the decorations normally have meaning, or are they purely aesthetic?
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Post by Croccifixio on Feb 24, 2017 2:12:29 GMT
Mostly artistic, but leaf carvings (termed "okir" in the southern Philippines) are often connected with wealth and power. It was possibly in reference to that (or a local custom that I'm not aware of). If you can get more detailed shots I can ask far more knowledgable folk about them :)
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