Show us your khodmi/Bou Saadi knife

[fennec]

Originally Posted by Sajen

I hope Khaled (Fennec) sees this thread and will be able to tell us more. In my opinion the wire binding is only a reinforcing.
Detlef

Dear brother, Are you serious with that tread ??
How do you want me not to participate haha...but, LET ME FINISH MY BOOK (actually, more than 400pages, and still a lot of pictures needed... that project is such a bad idea.. I'll probably have to split it in two volumes, one for swords/weapons, the other one for tools, cause it would be impossible to edit that way... so I'm still struggling.. so for the moment, I'll keep sharing this here, even pictures from it... but if I continue to much, you will have nothing to learn in it..haha).

About the handle.. NO, that wire is clearly, originally, a way to avoid the blade from "rolling", because it has usually only one pin. For the oldest models, even the pin, isnt really one, but more like a metal sheet bend into an "S". You can note by this picture. Probably the second pin was added when the wire was damaged, or initally just by "security".
Why only one pin ? I think its because the lack of mmaterial.. most of those knives where made with ancient files (under colonisation era I mean, before probably local made steel). The thicker part of that piece (see those kind of triangle or round files, that goes thinner and thinner), is used to make the bolster, and the longer one is forged for the blade. It wont let you a lot of steel to make a tang... usually only a small "nail" that was insert in a wood handle for the file. Once flatten, and thicken, it is not very long. I only see that reason, and more generally the "economy" of steel.

I've talked about that in my book, and hopefully have this picture of a very old one (probably late 1, (battle one, not to cut vegies.. note the thickness of the spine). I've made lately another wire, but its very ugly and have to replace it one day...
You can not the black surface where was the initial wire, as for Yuri model.
I have some others in the exact same mount, just no picture here but I'll share soon !