N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
-
- One of Us (Nirvana)
- Posts: 336
- Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:56 pm
- Location: california
N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Does anyone own a knife made by N. V. Sikligar? They make fixed, as well as folders, and the steel seems to be exclusive Damascus. Would appreciate inputs on fit/finish, and blade strength (quality), before I go ahead and purchase one. Thanks in advance.
- Moin.
- Poster of the Month - Sep '11 & Apr '13
- Posts: 1718
- Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 11:10 am
- Location: Gujrat
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Amar, these are handmade and the fit and finish varies greatly. Katanaji's or Rajat are the experts in this domain, but these are purely display knives, impossible to get a decent edge, the edge is sometimes 3 to 4 mm thick, I tried and tried and gave up trying to get a decent edge on one.
Regards
Moin,
Regards
Moin,
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Camus
-
- One of Us (Nirvana)
- Posts: 336
- Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:56 pm
- Location: california
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Eew! Thanks for the info, Moin. This means these are not hard-use gear as I thought from the photos. Disappointed, as I thought I've found a good knife maker in India!!! :-/Moin. wrote:Amar, these are handmade and the fit and finish varies greatly. Katanaji's or Rajat are the experts in this domain, but these are purely display knives, impossible to get a decent edge, the edge is sometimes 3 to 4 mm thick, I tried and tried and gave up trying to get a decent edge on one.
Regards
Moin,
-
- Veteran
- Posts: 1004
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:22 pm
- Location: Gujarat
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Just get me the guy's full name with whom you are dealing with. I'll get you the low down. None of the blade makers are in Udaipur proper. They are situated in surrounding areas and each guy has a particular finish and strength to his produce.
Justice alone is the mainstay of government and the source of prosperity to the governed, injustice is the most pernicious of things; it saps the foundations of the government and brings ruin upon the realm - Sher Shah Sur, Sultan-ul-Adil.
-
- Shooting true
- Posts: 631
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:55 pm
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
I do not have any experience with N V Sikligar but own similar knives made by others. Was able to find one.
A bit dusty. Sorry.
Leather sheath was an "after" job. German silver bolsters, full tang, Damascus, wood handles, steel pins, not sharp at all, got it sharpened afterwards, fit and finish was good. Not for field use, good for collection purposes.
Thats about all.
A bit dusty. Sorry.
Leather sheath was an "after" job. German silver bolsters, full tang, Damascus, wood handles, steel pins, not sharp at all, got it sharpened afterwards, fit and finish was good. Not for field use, good for collection purposes.
Thats about all.
-
- One of Us (Nirvana)
- Posts: 316
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2008 1:00 am
- Location: madhya pradesh
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
woaah ! i have knives which could be made by the actually sikalgar craftsmen, they are cheap and much better to these which cannot be used.
cu kar az hama hilate dar guzasht
halal ast burdan ba shamshir dast.
When all other means have failed,it is righteous to draw the sword
-- Guru Gobind Singhji Maharaj
halal ast burdan ba shamshir dast.
When all other means have failed,it is righteous to draw the sword
-- Guru Gobind Singhji Maharaj
-
- Old Timer
- Posts: 2973
- Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 7:28 pm
- Location: US
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Rajat
Thats nice looking drop point knife
Best
Thats nice looking drop point knife
Best
-
- One of Us (Nirvana)
- Posts: 336
- Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:56 pm
- Location: california
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Any specific reason why it is not for field use? From the looks, it appears well made though.Rajat wrote:I do not have any experience with N V Sikligar but own similar knives made by others. Was able to find one.
[...]
Leather sheath was an "after" job. German silver bolsters, full tang, Damascus, wood handles, steel pins, not sharp at all, got it sharpened afterwards, fit and finish was good. Not for field use, good for collection purposes.
Thats about all.
@all: Thanks for the inputs, I'll probably pass Sikligar then.
-
- Shooting true
- Posts: 631
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:55 pm
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Actually it is VERY well made and has a strong built. The handle offers an excellent grip. After some time I realized that it does not hold an edge as well as the other knives we are used to and the Damascus blade does not look as good after being scratched. The wood handle shows very strong evidence if it is put to rough use. This is all. No other complaints.
-
- Shooting true
- Posts: 752
- Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:28 pm
- Location: India
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
I being an avid collector of knives , ordered four different models after going through their site thoroughly. The knives did arrive but to my great disappointment , they seemed scaled down in proportion and out of proportion as well. The grips for example were pretty small for even an average hand like mine and there was no edge on any one of them as one member correctly mentioned. The Damascus blades seemed more like they were etched out with some kind of acid treatment on the surface.
The best way to find out a true Damascus steel is to inspect the back bone of the blade for Damascus pattern which sadly was missing in these knives. The fit and finish was pretty good but seemed the manufacturer had no clue about the steel or about the perimeters of a good knife design. He Probably copied the shapes from various pictures in books and magazines with no idea about the size and blade to grip ratio etc. To be fair to the person concerned, I had not paid him on delivery and returned all of them promptly with suggestions to improve upon the designs as I was still interested in them if he improved the designs. Never have heard from him since.
These knives I assume are basically meant for display/foreign market. I tried sharpening one of them and managed to do so with great difficulty but did not get to test it as I decided to returned them asap. All this happened almost 4 yrs ago, I hope and wish things have improved over the years.
Marksman
The best way to find out a true Damascus steel is to inspect the back bone of the blade for Damascus pattern which sadly was missing in these knives. The fit and finish was pretty good but seemed the manufacturer had no clue about the steel or about the perimeters of a good knife design. He Probably copied the shapes from various pictures in books and magazines with no idea about the size and blade to grip ratio etc. To be fair to the person concerned, I had not paid him on delivery and returned all of them promptly with suggestions to improve upon the designs as I was still interested in them if he improved the designs. Never have heard from him since.
These knives I assume are basically meant for display/foreign market. I tried sharpening one of them and managed to do so with great difficulty but did not get to test it as I decided to returned them asap. All this happened almost 4 yrs ago, I hope and wish things have improved over the years.
Marksman
Exercise in Logic:
Given that there are far more good guys than bad guys, what would happen if all good guys and all bad guys were armed???......Simple, isn't it ?---Jeff Cooper
"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't
be any India because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our
women and breed a hardier race!"
Given that there are far more good guys than bad guys, what would happen if all good guys and all bad guys were armed???......Simple, isn't it ?---Jeff Cooper
"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't
be any India because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our
women and breed a hardier race!"
- mundaire
- We post a lot
- Posts: 5410
- Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 5:53 pm
- Location: New Delhi, India
- Contact:
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Marksman is right, I've handled a few of these Udaipur products as well and the blades are indeed etched using some sort of acid to give them a Damascus look. Never bought one, would rather spend my meagre budget on tools I can actually use!
Cheers!
Abhijeet
Cheers!
Abhijeet
Like & share IndiansForGuns Facebook Page
Follow IndiansForGuns on Twitter
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS - JOIN NAGRI NOW!
www.gunowners.in
"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." -- Robert Heinlein
Follow IndiansForGuns on Twitter
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS - JOIN NAGRI NOW!
www.gunowners.in
"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." -- Robert Heinlein
-
- Shooting true
- Posts: 563
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:30 am
- Location: Mumbai
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
True damascus steel is wootz steel and obviously cannot be in a newly made blade.marksman wrote:The Damascus blades seemed more like they were etched out with some kind of acid treatment on the surface.
The best way to find out a true Damascus steel is to inspect the back bone of the blade for Damascus pattern which sadly was missing in these knives.
These blades made in Rajasthan are pattern welded blades and in this process acid is commonly used as way of bringing out the pattern. The best of custom blade makers use it.The difference being these guys do it quite crudely and the finish is not the same.As for edges they mostly come with no bevel ground at all.You have to actually grind a bevel and put an edge on it yourself.If you take care while grinding the edge so as to not scratch the blade,polish off some of the excessively dark acid treatment, these can be pretty decent good looking knives for "light" use. But if you want to chop stuff or pry stuff then you can pass on them.
Regards,
Yaj.
The more people I meet,the more i like my dog!
-
- Learning the ropes
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:18 pm
- Location: Udaipur, India
- Contact:
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
N.V. Sikligar Inc., makes Fine Damascus & High Carbon Knives & Folders.
few of our importers from USA, UK, Australia etc are using NVS made Knives for Camping and Sporting.
few of our importers from USA, UK, Australia etc are using NVS made Knives for Camping and Sporting.
- Moin.
- Poster of the Month - Sep '11 & Apr '13
- Posts: 1718
- Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 11:10 am
- Location: Gujrat
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
curioshouse wrote:N.V. Sikligar Inc., makes Fine Damascus & High Carbon Knives & Folders.
few of our importers from USA, UK, Australia etc are using NVS made Knives for Camping and Sporting.
Noted Curioshouse, how about posting some good pictures of the blades . The pics and the prices in $ is quite misleading. I'm sure lot of people here will be interested to see, evaluate and purchase.
Regards
Moin.
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Camus
-
- Learning the ropes
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:18 pm
- Location: Udaipur, India
- Contact:
Re: N. V. Sikligar knives - any first hand experience?
Here is pics of NV Sikligar made Damascus Knives.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.