Thats not a knife.

[Jackbequick]

It's not news that not all knives are for fighting as in 'dagger' some are for wielding downwards with weight driving the edge .
I know Mr Temple gave some good advice, I want to suggest an alternative...leave it as it is but change or extend the guard to a hoop...even to something similar to a sword basket. It then will be a utility able to be securely 'held onto' much as would a cutlass. Bolo knives are of that ilk, most don't have the hoop guard but I think it could be useful and attractive.

My own fighting knives include dual edged trenchers, one a modified bayonet and one somewhat heavier and with an edge as dangerous as a Japanese weapon in full polish. It would weigh about 2/5th of yours.

All mine are knives for thrusting. Serious fighting may see two knives...the mainly used hand-fist with the knife held in reverse so back along under the wrist, blade down...the other hand the thrusting knife. The thrusting knife tends to hold an opponent's attention. The hidden blade is useful during distraction particularly when throwing a punch at jaw or other exposed area...the punch enables the slashing, which could be the opponent's face, throat or upper arm. Your knife in that scenaro would be the slashing knife.

The Americans I think commonly confuse I think slashing knives ("Bowies" ), something used to clear vegetation tendrils, pare timber and the like as a 'thrusting' knife. You'd have to be very closely engaged, and strong for it to be effective in that fashion.

Their fighting knives...I have one here from Civil war are a knife from which the Sykes would have been modeled...light, sharp ..and don't have 'blood drains'...Those 'drains' said to be useful to withdraw a bayonet from a body ....I am circumspect.....I think rather that they gave strength and some lightness to the blade.

You did a nice job of what you did. I think the guard is typically too small on commercial knives used for thrusting ...some have no guard and a hand can slip past a small guard or no guard and be damaged. Yours is some degree in that category, it's definitely for me a 'slasher' .

 

[AJB Temple]

Indiana Jones cleared this up years ago. When faced with an opponent brandishing a big knife or sword, putting on a fearsome display, he pulled out his pistol.
Go to 2 minutes in for the prototype of Bob's knife.

 

[Jackbequick]

Of course the wooden katana (or much more rarely wakazashi or tanto)is for practice ...similarly as in Kendo which I 'played' .We don't need our mates lopped up. It has some weight and assists in perfecting strokes.

Musashi's first killing was, if I recall, using a bokken...they can split a skull and break bones ( not at the same time of course) when wielded forcefully on the draw stroke. Miyama Musashi, one of his names, was the premier swordsman of Japan, his '5 rings' manuscripts ended up...predictably?...as American business practice models!

The bokken tip can also do serious damage to all aspects of face throat and body...Though the kendo shinai is bamboo, not wood, we wear armour.

 

[Jackbequick]

I think a similar situation arose in the early Monty Python where they were being taught to defend off an attack with a banana or some such....fresh fruit....a pointed stick. As your once-were-allies across the channel might say "c'est tellement stupide...si pas bizarre"

 

[johnbaz]

Hi all

Here's a couple I made around 35 years ago at work when there wasn't much to do!!

I didn't have a linisher or any other power tools as such so it was all done with Oxy Acetylene, Files and emery cloth! (Must have been crackers!)

The cutlass type is just mild steel packing that was 1/2" thick, Had to heat it and draw iot out.. It would bend dead easy and is actually just a wall hanger, The scales (It's a full tang) are from an old deal pallet, I used 1/8" brazing rod to pin them (Along with Araldite)..

The double edged one is a hidden tang and was originally an old sharpening steel so is high carbon and will hold an edge if it was honed (I tempered it with Whale oil of which we had thousands of gallons in the heavy forge back then), I work in a heavy foundry and carved patterns from pallet wood to make moulds and pour molten brass in for the handle and knuckle guard

Not sure if they would qualify as long knives or short swords!!

Here's a couple of biggies, The right hand one is a full sized Katana (Modern but made in the old way rather than cut from steel sheet) The other is something like a Claymore (Wall hanger), It's not mine, A friend brought it with a broken tang so I welded it back together for him, I cleaned it up too as there was rust on the blade and everything was tarnished!

I bought this blade and made it up with Amboiner burr and some imitation ivory pieces that I bought from an old cutler that finished work in the mid 70's and had some left over, He also had some water Buffalo horn and silver pummels that I bought from him too

Some bits I acquired when I was going to start making knives..

I found this Mammoth tooth at a bootsale that I was going to use for handles, It's beautiful stuff when polished up but as it's 30,000 years old (That's older than me granny!!) I didn't have the heart to start cutting it!!

John

 

[johnbaz]

Of course the wooden katana (or much more rarely wakazashi or tanto)is for practice ...similarly as in Kendo which I 'played' .We don't need our mates lopped up. It has some weight and assists in perfecting strokes.

Musashi's first killing was, if I recall, using a bokken...they can split a skull and break bones ( not at the same time of course) when wielded forcefully on the draw stroke. Miyama Musashi, one of his names, was the premier swordsman of Japan, his '5 rings' manuscripts ended up...predictably?...as American business practice models!

The bokken tip can also do serious damage to all aspects of face throat and body...Though the kendo shinai is bamboo, not wood, we wear armour.

Hi Jack

I have a 340 year old Wakizashi that was credited to Omi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro, Apparently a smith of some repute!

A chap that is a leading authority on hizen blades (Roger Robertshaw in Hong Kong) confirmed it as being genuine (In his opinion) as there's many forgeries! but mine has been abused by unsympathic owners and doen't hold much value I was offered £1,000 for it but I simply liked it too much to sell it (Cost me £5 some decades ago!!)

It's been rehandled twice in it's lifetime..

There would originally have been gold in the Tsuba but someone must have removed it to weigh it in The face is missing on the figure, Not sure if this would have been original to the blade as I was told it had been rehandled in the last hundred years by an expert at my local museum, That was around twenty five years ago though!!

Although it's hard to see, There fish at the bottom and a bird, I thing it's a stream from memory!

I sent this pic to a friend that's on the Nihonto group forum and he posted the pic in the group, The members all went scatty at me me laying on the rough surface!

The sword is obviously out of polish, I was advised that if I sent it for a polish that it could come back worthless if any hidden problems surfaced, It would have cost around £2,000 for a Japanese polish and as i'm not a gambler, It stayed here out of polish!!


John

 

[sunnybob]

As always, a lot more people a lot more skilled than me.
I did forge work as an apprentice, but after that never got a chance again.

I have changed the handle now on Bobs folly. Its Thermally Modified Rippled Sycamore, with two solid brass pins and a mosaic pin made from 1/4" brass tube filled with 1 mm brass wire and clear epoxy (which for some reason has dried black?).
2 coats of shellac, a quick rub with a 600 grit wet and dry, and a coat of gloss wipe on poly.

 

[AJB Temple]

Much nicer handle. Top job. I think the blood channel needs to lead somewhere through.

 

[sunnybob]

Thats it for this one. I am sick and tired of polishing steel and brass

I've decided not to build a shadow box for it. It can hang on the workshop wall just in case the zombies invade.

 

[baldkev]

Nice work bob and everone else! I finally got round to making my first wooden knife at the start of lockdown. I wanted a cheese board and matching knife....
Im going to make the next one with a bandsaw blade within the wooden blade, so that it should be possible to get a semi sharp edge that will be retained.....