Replacement of grip plates is not only possible, but is quite likely: organic materials do not hold as long as metal parts.
Elgood, in his description of all-metal Indian daggers, specifically mentioned their indestructibility.
I have a khanjarli, also likely 17-18 century, with dried and shrunken bone grip and broken off fragments.
Some of the current Forumites, myself included, can also boast such “ kisses of time”:-)
|