Just bought another curved dagger, this one from India, same blacksmith that made my swordcane. I collect a couple of different thing and besides Balouchi carpets(dirt cheap cause of the Afghan wars), they tend to run towards weapons. Some flintlock guns,but mainly blades. Lately its curved Middle Eastern daggers called jambiya,kuommiya and khanjar. Some tourist junk, some pedigreed when I made agood buy. EBay is a gamble because its just pictures. My lady wonders how I buy stuff i can't touch. But I love blades!
A well made blade is thing of beauty and holiness. I have an original 15th century Bizen wakizashi that is the sharpest thing I own. I didn't buy it sharp, i bought a lot of rust but polished and restored the blade and found the steel took an instant keen edge, such was the alloy and quality. I have marveled at the edge on a 10,000 yr old Clovis point. I've flintknaMFed a bit and the thinness of this blade is amazing. I've had stuff made, tomahawks and a few daggers and there are still holymen out there working magic with fire,iron, force and spirit. Some weapons lust for blood. I had carved a few warclubs out of maple like Magwa's ball headed club in Last of the Mohicans. I was lucky I guess, but the weapon hangs mostly untouched. Its too well balanced and holding gives varying degrees of the chills to most people who touch it.
The was a swordmaker in 16th century Japan, Muramasa who made katana that many samurai said were "unbalanced" and that has nothing to do with distribution of weight.
The Tokugawa shoguns banned the wearing of Muramasa blades in their presence.
I have yet to forge a blade from raw materials myself. I've made them from band saw blades, car springs etc. To look at a well made Japanese blade with its subtle pattern of folds or at a fine Syrian blade of Damascus steel, or Mughal Indian wootz, is to me like look at a Rembrandt or Renior.