my latest barung (chinese markings)

[Victrix]

Looks amazing after the cleaning!

[kino]

I like the blades pattern welding. Smart decision on not grinding out the big chip, if you did, it would look funny.
I mirror Victrix’s comments.

[Battara]

That barong looks like a sipput barong with that slender blade. Might be from Palawan where they are made. I like the striped laminations.

You did a nice job of of clean up.

Also the "Chinese" characters are a sign of being made from a Chinese smith, and thus to be a more valuable and better made blade. The only problem is that some of these characters are faked and placed on blades to make them look like they're more valuable to command higher prices (like "Andrea Ferrar" on Scottish basket hilt swords). So it would be good to get this looked at who can read Chinese.

[Pinoy Blade Hunter]

thank you guys,

The chinese markings read "CLAW" according to a friend who speaks chinese.

But as i understand it, this is chinese steel (imported to mindanao) and crafted by the locals, stamped with the "chinese brand" to distinguish itself from the local sourced steels (no stamps). because back then, chinese steel imports are better regarded as to quality. thus fetching higher prices.

my question is: do faked chinese stamps often have symbols with no meanings?

[Philip]

The symbols look like an attempt to render the Cyrillic letters T over P in a semi-cursive form.

[Sajen]

Very nice barong! And a good cleaning job like others mentioned before. But I would try to polish the blade a little bit more.
What you use to reattach the handle?

Regards,
Detlef

[Pinoy Blade Hunter]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Very nice barong! And a good cleaning job like others mentioned before. But I would try to polish the blade a little bit more.
What you use to reattach the handle?

Regards,
Detlef

hi Detlef,

sorry to have responded so late, i used 2part epoxy to reattach the handle to the hilt (might be sacrilege to some?). i will try to polish the blade a bit more in the future when time allows.

PBH

[Spunjer]

Originally Posted by Pinoy Blade Hunter

thank you guys,

The chinese markings read "CLAW" according to a friend who speaks chinese.

But as i understand it, this is chinese steel (imported to mindanao) and crafted by the locals, stamped with the "chinese brand" to distinguish itself from the local sourced steels (no stamps). because back then, chinese steel imports are better regarded as to quality. thus fetching higher prices.

my question is: do faked chinese stamps often have symbols with no meanings?

not just faked chinese stamps, but some legit ones as well might or might not have any meanings. understand that a lot of Moros back in the days can't really read chinese characters. they see what appears to be chinese characters and it's assumed it's imported steel, hence a better quality.