Dha dah dao: Neo-tribal bush sword daisho

[Stormcrow]

This should be playing in the background:

[video=youtube;FuB6xTi8UXU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuB6xTi8UXU[/video]

This is a pair of dha that I made a little while back. They are based on southeast Asian dha, which have a vaguely similar profile to katana, though with very different construction.

Both of these have integral socket handles, which are not traditional on dha (nothing I do is traditional, really). Handles are wrapped in hemp, with cotton cord Turk's head knots, sealed in black shellac. Both of them have spines averaging 1/8" thick.

The big one has an overall length of 27 5/8", a blade length of 19", a three-strand Turk's head knot at the blade end of the handle and a two-strand at the butt end.

The little one has an overall length of 19 3/8", a blade length of 12 3/4", and two-strand Turk's head knots fore and aft.

These two are quite fun. I'm really pleased with them. Here's Tobin Nieto, a.k.a. Rustyboy, with whom I share a table at the local monthly gun show, doing his best Chinese demon impersonations with them.

 

[bubba-san]

Nice Blades for sure ....... Bubba

 

[Stormcrow]

Thank you, Bubba-san.

 

[Greygoose210]

Great work for sure. See you next Wednesday.

 

[kevin - the professor]

1. your friend makes a pretty good stand-in for the chinese demon
2. don't know what the term for a matched set of blades would be from southeast asia but the idea is quite cool.
3. have you ever tried to make one of the open sheaths that are used for blades like this?

The matched set is a good idea, and those seem like they would have been a ton of fun to make. Very well done, too. I am going to get into that general style at some point, I just have to. The stuff you make looks really functional and cool to make and use.

I love the neotribal ethic (I teach a class in psychology of social justice and sustainability where we focus on thinking patterns that help or hurt society and humanity with respect to how we treat each other and the planet with such a huge population. The neotribal ethic fits right into the sorts of thinking I am trying to pass along. I just never mentioned that to you before, hope you don't mind me using forum space to tell you. I did not realize until today that I could use your work as an example of the thinking styles I am trying to foster. Don't make another disposable tool using a ton of energy and newly-mined material, remake available material into the tool you need using less and preferrably renewable energy).

anyway - one of those wooden sheaths with the open side and wooden retaining strap would rock (I think Tai makes them sometimes).

take care,

kc

 

[Stormcrow]

Greygoose - Or Tuesday or Thursday.

Kevin - The term that I've seen for the open scabbards is "hikot", and I started one once, but didn't leave enough space on the sides to attach the keeper, so it got abandoned.

Part of the thought for me behind Neo-Tribal metalsmithing is to make beautiful, interesting working blades. I appreciate the skill that goes into making the polished blades, but these are more accessible to me. I have a harder time enjoying something if I can't picture actually using it. The same basic idea exists in a number of creative outlets. Rat rods came partly from a reaction against the high-dollar billet rods that cost a fortune and only got trailered to car shows. The rat rodders said that they would rather build what they could with what was available and actually drive their creations. Not all of them may stick by that original thought, but it was at least a foundation.