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Post by maztec on Sept 19, 2019 7:21:40 GMT
I recently inherited a 16 inch knife/sword from my grandfather. At first glance it appears to be somewhere between a kopis, falcata, or kukri, but on closer inspection it does not appear to be any of those. It might have been acquired while he served in WW2 in the South Pacific, but it may also be something given to him at some other random point in his life. I've looked around and haven't found anything quite like it. It has a forward curved blade, with a very slight widening to the belly, but overall tapers quickly and then curves back up. The pommel and hilt appear to be hand carved in a fairly simple design. Blade came in a hard leather scabbard. At some point I will need to figure out how to clean it all up and restore it. Any input on what it may be would be much appreciated! Thank you.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Sept 19, 2019 7:59:22 GMT
Philippine bolo, from northern Luzon, probably Ilocano. These come with a variety of blade shapes and sizes, but the hilt is distinctive (both guard and pommel). Looks like a buffalo horn grip, which is usual. Some discussion of these, including an example of similar shape, at www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22318From the condition of the scabbard, I'd have guessed this to probably be an end-of-war souvenir, which agrees with your grandfather's service. I'd clean the rust off the blade - plenty of it, but it doesn't look too deep, so light sanding should remove the worst of it (using, say, 400 grit silicon carbide wet-and-dry, lubricated with oil).
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Post by maztec on Sept 19, 2019 19:00:33 GMT
Thanks Timo!!! That's very useful to know. So most likely bought somewhere as a souvenir then?
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Sept 19, 2019 20:37:03 GMT
Yes. As WW2 bringbacks, they were usually just bought in the Philippines. While tourist souvenir knives from many places are basically shoddy junk, tourist souvenir knives/swords from the Philippines, especially WW2 era, are usually good functional blades. The only things that make them "tourist" or "souvenir" is just that they were sold to US servicemen or tourists, and sometimes have inscriptions like "P.I. 1945", "VICTORY 1945", "Negrito bolo", etc.
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