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Old 22nd March 2024, 03:49 PM   #1
Marc M.
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Hi Peter
It seems to me a very complex way to make a hollow blade in the way you describe.
The two examples I have are welded on the cutting edge of the blade. After grinding away the weld, there are sometimes places where the seam is visible again. This is the case with both blades and it is therefore easy to determine that the blade is hollow.

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Marc
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Old 23rd March 2024, 02:27 AM   #2
Peter Hudson
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Hello Marc,

I agree it is very odd how they appear to have been made. I almost never encountered single piece blades. Joining the two plates of blade seems peculiar but that is how they were apparently produced...although I never actually took a blade apart to confirm it. The other oddity about blades is the very short tang... something like half an inch only....and not rivetted ...simply glued. Khanjar makers in Oman imported blades and the performance of some buyers was quite amazing and despite the expense of a good hilt...Rhino or Giraffe...or Ivory much attention was given to the blade where it was said ...that the finest steel was obtained from metiorites!!
Having said that...
The following is a brilliant treatise on Khanjar making at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/195632974.pdf where the whole story unfolds including the forging of the single blade...
Peter Hudson.

Last edited by Peter Hudson; 23rd March 2024 at 03:04 AM.
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Old 24th March 2024, 02:27 PM   #3
Marc M.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Hudson View Post
Hello Marc,

I agree it is very odd how they appear to have been made. I almost never encountered single piece blades. Joining the two plates of blade seems peculiar but that is how they were apparently produced...although I never actually took a blade apart to confirm it. The other oddity about blades is the very short tang... something like half an inch only....and not rivetted ...simply glued. Khanjar makers in Oman imported blades and the performance of some buyers was quite amazing and despite the expense of a good hilt...Rhino or Giraffe...or Ivory much attention was given to the blade where it was said ...that the finest steel was obtained from metiorites!!
Having said that...
The following is a brilliant treatise on Khanjar making at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/195632974.pdf where the whole story unfolds including the forging of the single blade...
Peter Hudson.
Hello Peter
indeed, the very short tang is a bit strange, but seems to be that way.
Perhaps because the jambiya has lost its function as a weapon, the tang has become shorter.
I try to read as much as possible about these objects, but haven't found anything yet that it had a longer tang in the past and was riveted through the handle. As a weapon, the blade was the most important part and much attention was paid to it, unlike today.
Fascinating objects, these Arabic curved daggers.
regards
Marc
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