Uzbek knife. Pchaki: national pride and a universal knife Make a pchak knife with your own hands

What is an Uzbek knife? This question may be of interest to many people. Of course, it is not customary to give a knife, but sometimes you can give up superstitions or buy it for yourself. After all, this is not just an ordinary thing. An Uzbek knife is a chic piece of furniture that can simultaneously perform many standard kitchen work. The most important thing is to figure out which one you need. The prices and materials of such products differ markedly.

Uzbek knife: features of the handle

What should you pay attention to when choosing a particular model? The Uzbek knife is distinguished primarily by its handle and various bases for attaching the blades. Craftsmen spend a lot of time and effort on making such things. Therefore, you most likely will not see a handle made of plexiglass or plastic. A real Uzbek knife will be made the way the master of his craft sees it. That is, its handle will be made of the horns of a saiga, goat or gazelle.

They are decorated with intricate carvings and various paints. The more work is done on the handle, the more expensive the knife will naturally be.

The blades are different too

There are differences in some more details. Uzbek knives have slightly different blades: small, medium-sized and wide. Again, everything depends on what they are intended for.

Utility knives, for example, suitable for slicing bread, cakes, etc. The massive, large models with a wide, oblong blade are ideal for shredding vegetables. For example, it is very convenient to cut cabbage with such a knife. Their powerful weight makes this procedure a pleasure.

Knives with a long, narrow blade are suitable for filing fish or for separating meat from bones. Well, small models are good for those works that require special subtlety. With such a knife, for example, it is convenient to cut stars from carrots, baskets from tomatoes, etc. However, it is also great for slicing cheese or sausages.

A few more nuances

In general, the Uzbek kitchen knife (pchak) is a rather peculiar model. It is very easy to recognize him. The blade of the kayke is forged, as a rule, from carbon steel. Although very often there are also stainless steel beetles. However, it does not matter what steel the blade is forged, the main thing is not from a single piece. In this case, it would simply break in the neck area, for example, in a fall. To avoid such problems, special shanks made of stronger steel are welded near the handle.

The length of the blade is most often from 16 to 22 centimeters. The thickness of the handle is about 5 millimeters. At the same time, it decreases towards the tip. The blade in section also tapers towards the blade from the butt. Its width can be up to 5 centimeters. Thus, the geometry of the knife is very good. Therefore, it is quite convenient for them to cut food.

As a rule, a scabbard is also attached to the pchak. Usually they are made of leatherette, add cardboard inserts, decorate with applique or beads. However, there are also more expensive options. Sometimes the scabbard is made of leather, decorated with thick lace braiding or embossing. They are attached to expensive pchaks. Metal and combined scabbards are less common. In general, the choice is quite wide.

Advantages and disadvantages of Uzbek knives

Let's also consider the pros and cons of the modern

Firstly, Uzbek knives are distinguished by incredible energy and beauty. Secondly, you do not need to sharpen them all the time, as they retain their functionality for a long time. The main thing is to use a round leg of a faience bowl for this.

As for the disadvantages: if you do not know how to sharpen knives on this equipment, you can simply ruin them. Even at specialized points in various Uzbek bazaars, you need to find real professionals. Otherwise the knives will be sharpened "to zero".

Plus, these knives don't like hot water. They should not be left wet while lying down. The surface may rust. The knives must be wiped dry - in this case, there will be no problems. In short, you just need to know how to handle these things.

How to buy

So let's say you decide to purchase one of the above models. How to buy Uzbek pchak in no case can be purchased, turning to various delivery services for help, choosing a product in any catalog. It is imperative to hold it in your hands in order to understand that this is exactly what you need.

There may be many seemingly identical knives of the shape you need in front of you. However, in reality they are completely different. They are similar only in appearance. Since they are made by hand, you need to be very careful when choosing - hold several models in turn. You should feel the movement of the blade, feel exactly how the handle will go. You need to find "your" knife. With it, hand movements will become confident, that is, it will be very easy to work with it. In general, getting the right model is not at all difficult. You just need to spend a little of your time on this. As a result, you will get a great helper in your kitchen!

PCHAK and KORD

uzbek, Uyghur, Tajik

With all the abundance of information, there seems to be no exact answer to the question of what is considered the "correct" pischak or cord. It is not even clear how the pchak differs from the cord and whether it differs at all ... (after all, both in translation from the national language means simply "KNIFE"). But there is also an Iranian card ...

Let's start simple. These photographs depict a knife, which any person who is somehow interested in knives or who has been in Central Asia, will call "PCHAK", or, in Uzbek, "PICHOK". The appearance of the pchak is original and easily recognizable.

This is the most common pchak with a kaike blade. Such a blade implies raising the point above the butt line by 3-8 mm. The more advanced and inquisitive people will say that this is “Andijan Pchak”. Someone else will add: "Sharhon".

The pchak blade itself is traditionally forged from carbon steel (in remote times, broken weapons or ingots of iron from India were used, from the 19th century to the 20th century, automobile springs, bearing races and other improvised materials were used, nowadays, bars of factory steel type ШХ -15, U12, 65G or cheap fittings from St3). In Uzbekistan, they still say: "A carbon fiber pichok is for work, a stainless steel one is for decoration!"

If the blade is made of high-carbon tool steel (U12) or bearing (ШХ15) steels (which makes it possible to obtain a better product), then St3 shanks are usually welded to it, which is noticeable in the form of a triangle near the pchak handle.

By the way, many Japanese and Russian masters do the same, for example, G.K. Prokopenkov. This is due to the fact that U12 and ShKh15 have low impact toughness and strength, and if the blade with the shank is forged from a single piece of steel, there is a high probability of the blade breaking in the neck area, for example, when falling.

The length of the blade is usually 16-22 cm, the thickness always decreases in a wedge-shaped manner from the handle to the point, and at the handle it can be 4-5 mm. In cross-section, the blade of the pchak also tapers in a wedge-shaped manner from the butt to the blade. The slopes are usually straight, rarely convex or concave-lenticular. The blade width can be up to 50 mm. All this together gives a good knife geometry and provides an efficient cut of any food.

As already mentioned, carbon steel is used on pchaks, from what is at hand, quenching (as a rule, zone - only at the cutting edge) is usually carried out up to 50-52 units according to Rockwell, less often up to 54-56 and then only in recent times. On the one hand, the hardness of 50-54 units does not give a long retention of the sharpness of the cutting edge, but it allows you to edit such a knife on anything (usually the bottom of a ceramic bowl is used, but there are also special stones of a traditional shape for editing beetles and scissors), which, of course is a big plus. But in this case, the knife quickly grinds down and turns almost into an awl, so you have to buy a new one. Although the cost of pchaks (not souvenir) has always been small.

Recently, more and more often there are pchakas made of SHH-15 steel, which can be hardened up to 60 Rockwell units, which we see on some blades. Such hard blades are made specifically for the Russian and Ukrainian markets in order to compete with Japanese kitchen knives. From my point of view, such hardness is not very justified, because the pchakas have very fine knives and the work with such knives requires certain skills and special equipment, otherwise the blade will crumble and break (similar to Japanese kitchen workers) On the other hand, heat the ShX-15 to 50- 52 units (the norm for pchak) does not make much sense - just a translation of solid material.

The surface of carbon steel blades is usually oxidized (blackened), immersed in a solution of Naukat clay (traditionally), ferrous sulfate or ferric chloride, due to which the blade acquires a dark gray color with a blue or yellow tint, decorated with a fuller ("komalak", and if there is only one dol, it will certainly be on the side of the tamga), stamped out ("tamga") or engraving. Embossed indentations are cast in brass; a hardening zone is often visible on carbon blades.

The names of the parts of the pchak are presented below:

"GULBAND", or bolster, is cast from low-melting tin or tin-lead alloys, brazed from sheet brass or cupronickel and poured with tin or its alloy. Note that the use of lead in cooking is not good, and it is advisable not to use knives with lead (or at least varnish). You can distinguish lead by trying with a soldering iron (lead melts worse), it oxidizes strongly, acquiring a dark gray tint, gets dirty (like newsprint). It seems to me personally that the use of lead and alloys is the cost of the readily available old car batteries and babbitts from bearings.

The gulband is decorated with engraving (traditionally - the Uzbek floral ornament "islimi"), often with filling the recesses with enamel paint (black, red, green), as well as inserts of mother-of-pearl ("sadaf"), turquoise or rhinestones.

"BRINCH" - a strip of sheet brass or cupronickel, up to one millimeter thick, soldered along the perimeter of the shank during the overhead mounting of the handle ("erma dosta"). The handle plates are riveted onto the brinch, decorated with engraving and decorative oxidation. Note that usually the brinch protrudes 1-2 mm beyond the shank, leaving an air gap between the linings and the shank.

The meaning of this action is not very clear, except to save the material of the overlays when using expensive material (for example, ivory). It is possible that such a design makes it possible to damp the stresses in the handle, because the same installation is traditionally used in the handles of Central Asian sabers (filling the air cavities with mastic).

"CHAKMOK" or pommel.

Specially made and decorated pommels are used on expensive pchakas for overhead mounting ("erma dosta"), in the form of metal clamps, or mounted mounting of handles ("sukma dosta") from a hollow horn, in this case it is performed by soldering from cupronickel, brass.

Decorate with engraving, sadaf, rhinestones.

On inexpensive pchaks, chakmok is designated by changing the cross-section of the handle (from rounded to rectangular) and / or the presence of a beak-shaped protrusion.

"DOSTA" - black, handle.

Local wood (apricot, plane tree), textolite, plexiglass, bones, horns are used for manufacturing, they are brazed from sheet metal (cupronickel, brass)

Wood, textolite and bone are usually not decorated, colored "eyes" and wire are inserted into plexiglass, the horn is decorated with decorative carnations, inserts from sadaf or rhinestones, engraving is applied to metal handles, usually in the form of a plant, floral ("chilmikh guli") ornament with adding rhinestones.

Handles with surface-mounted mounting ("Erma dosta") usually has the same thickness in both gulband and chakmok, less often it thickens towards chakmok. Often the thickness of such a handle exceeds its width - this is convenient for the traditional cutting of vegetables in the preparation of Uzbek dishes: pilaf, "chuchuk" or "shakarob" salads.

"TAMGA" - brand

As a rule, every master ("usto"), who produces any product (especially knives), uses a shop mark (tamga).

For Uzbek masters, a crescent moon (as a symbol of faith) is common in the center of the tamga, stars are often used (they say that their number used to denote the number of children-heirs or disciples who became masters) and the symbol of cotton.

Anything can be found on modern brands - even an image of a car.

It should be noted that at present it is impossible to rely entirely on the tamga to identify the master. I've seen tamga used by at least four different masters(although, maybe, one does, but different people sell on their own behalf).

As with any household knife, the scabbard is relied on to the pchak. As a rule, they do not differ in good materials and workmanship. Today it is usually a faux leather with cardboard inserts, sometimes decorated with applique and imitation beads.

The more expensive pchakas may have a leather sheath, decorated with embossing or weaving from a leather cord.

Metal sheaths (cupronickel, brass) with engraving or combined (leather, wood, metal) are rare.

At the end of the review of the Andijan Pchak, I will quote from the article by O. Zubov "The Sign of the Master" (magazine "Around the World" No. 11, 1979):

“… Wide, ringing with a black-purple tint, inlaid with red, green, blue and white pebbles - specks, three stars and a moon shine on the blade - the ancient brand of the Abdullaevs.

This knife is an indispensable tool for a meal with friends, an integral part of Uzbek cuisine."You can cut bread, you can peel potatoes, or you can hang it on the carpet and watch - you can do anything!" - said the master. And after a little pause, he smiled: "But the best thing is to cut a melon!"

Considering the Uzbek pchakas, willy-nilly, one wonders what led to the appearance of just such a blade shape. The fact is that this form is suitable exclusively for cooking, while the neighboring peoples had a typical knife, which at least somehow could be protected and used for other (non-cook) needs, that is, they were in use all over the world more versatile knives. The Uzbeks also had such knives, but ... only until the 14th century. The exact reason for the emergence of this form is not known, but if we recall that the 14th century is the century of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane), an empire with centralized power and strict laws, then it can be assumed that Timur's officials, or he himself, were somewhat concerned about the subordination of the conquered peoples , and, in order to prevent the appearance of edged weapons among the people, they took all the gunsmiths to the shah's forges, to the capital of the empire, Samarkand, and for the civilian population they forced the craftsmen to make knives with a raised edge. It is practically impossible to inflict stab wounds with such a knife and, therefore, the danger of an uprising and other "terrorist attacks" is reduced. Let us recall that at the time of another empire that was already close to us in time, the pchaks also did not belong to melee weapons precisely because of the shape of the blade and were not sent to places not so distant for their manufacture. There may be other versions though. In any case, it turned out to be a very convenient knife for cooking, which quickly gained popularity in Central Asia. It would not be convenient - would not have received such distribution!

In addition to the pchaks with the "kayke" blade, there are also the pchaks with the "tugri" blade, that is, with a straight butt.

Let's compare the two types of blades: the photo below clearly shows the difference between the "tugri" (top) and "kayke" (bottom) blade

The "tugri" blade has a constant width or decreases towards the point. Convenient for cutting meat, usually included in the butcher's set ("cassob-pichok").

In addition to the already mentioned "Andijan" pchak, one can find the names "Old Bukharian" and "Starokokand".

In "Old Bukhara" the blade evenly tapers to the point, the rise is less pronounced, but the entire blade is often arched, the blade is more specialized for working on meat - skinning, boning.

It is interesting that to this day narrow Bukhara pchaks are often called "Afghan women", although there is a difference between the ones from Bukhara and Afghanistan - on "Bukhara" rivets they go in one row, and on "Afghan" ones - in a half-envelope.

Also traditionally Bukhara pchaks have a sheath with a ball or leaf at the end.

"Starokokand" - the blade of this pchak is notable for its small width, it is used, most likely, as an auxiliary one when deboning or peeling vegetables.

You can also find the names "tolbargi" (willow leaf) and "Kazakhcha". These are functional highly specialized knives designed to perform a specific job.

"Tolbargi" - butcher's knife for butchering animal carcasses,

"Kazakhcha" - for cutting fish.

Pchaks "Kazakhcha" were distributed for the most part among the inhabitants (fishermen) of the Aral Sea coast, mainly Kazakhs.

The line of the butt of the "Kazakh" forms a smooth groove approximately one third to the point, rising again to the edge, which is on the line of the butt-handle. The recess is sharpened on one or both sides. With a blade of this shape, turning the knife over, it is easy to clean and gut the fish.

The handles of the "tolbarga" and "kazakhcha" are usually made of wood and, as a rule, are not decorated (only the presence of a colored ornament on the gulband is allowed).

Here is a photo of knives by master Mamurzhon Makhmudov from Kokand:

"Tolbargi"

Well, another photo of knives from Tashkent

Photo from the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, the selection is called "Tashkent 1985"

"Uyghur Pchaks" deserve a separate mention. These are knives from XUAR (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China). Sometimes the name Yangisar knives is found - the name stuck in the center of production - the city of Yangisar. They also have the "old Bukharian type-Afghan" and "Starokokand", but if you look at the photos, you can see the differences. The better (and more beautiful) manufacturing of the handles and the absence of a cast tin gulband (bolster) are striking, the blade shanks are almost always open, the brinch is not used. But the blades are often roughly processed, or not sharpened at all, because the production of Uyghur knives with sharpened blades longer than 200 mm is prohibited by Chinese law!

Starobukharsky. Uyghur masters

Afghan. Uyghur masters.

Starokokand. Uyghur masters.

If Uzbek pchaks are more specialized in cooking, then Tajik KORDS are more versatile knives.

The cords are of three typical sizes. The most common(the most working) has a length of 14-17 cm, a large knife "Gov kushi" ("cow cutter") is used for slaughtering livestock and has a length of 18-25 cm and the smallest knives (less than 14 cm) are for women.

The blades of traditional cords are powerful, with a thickness of up to 4 mm at the guard (I note that if the thickness of the knife blade is more than 2.4 mm, then it can already be considered as a cold weapon and is prohibited for free circulation), lenticular descents from the butt or the middle of the blade width, less often straight lines (in Uzbek pchaks, as a rule, the opposite is true). The cutting edge is brought out on each knife depending on the purpose. The butt of the cord blade, as a rule, turned from a finished strip of metal, is straight and parallel, and not wedge-shaped, like in a pchak.On the blade, they usually grind one or two on each side, or two on the right and one on the left.

Installation depends on the area of \u200b\u200bmanufacture. In the southeastern mountainous regions, preference is given to mounted mounting, and in the western and northern regions, which are closer to Uzbekistan, overhead mounting. Moreover, the overhead cord installation is somewhat different from that of Pchak: a brazed brinch is not used, and the entire shank is poured around the perimeter with a tin alloy, so the handle on the pchak is lighter, and on the cord it is stronger! In general, the device for cords is only cast, made of tin and its alloys (or silver), the ornament is only engraved and more geometric, radially symmetric, in contrast to the complex vegetable Uzbek “islimi”. The ornament is individual for each master and can replace the brand (cords are traditionally not branded, at least on the blade, on the guard there is a certain ornament or brand)

The overhead handles of the cords are always wider than those of the pchaks, widen towards the top and have a characteristic notch for the little finger.

Horn, bone, wood, plastic go to the handle of the cord. When mounted or surface mounted, the shank of the cord blade is always full over the entire length of the handle (except for small knives for women in the kitchen).

Photo from the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, the selection is called "Khorezm, Khiva. 1958"

I would like to dwell on the terminology once again - pchak, pichok, bull, cord, card.

The fact is that some time ago a knife fell into my hands somewhere in the 17-18 century

Length 310mm, blade length 185mm, butt width 30mm, butt thickness (3.5-2.5-1.5) mm. The purpose of the groove on the butt is not clear to me, except to increase the thickness of the butt, which increases slightly when the groove is stamped. The yellow metal in the ornament is gold. Hardness about 52 units. I was struck by the formation of the blade (as the well-known master - cutter Gennady Prokopenkov put it, “just aerobatics!”):- a wedge from the butt with a concave lens, and turning into a drop-shaped form a few millimeters (from 3 to 5) from the cutting edge. Of course, this is all - tenths of a millimeter, but everything is visible and palpable. After some persuasion, G.K. Prokopenkov agreed to make me a modern copy, preserving the entire structure of the blade as much as possible.

It turned out like this knife:

It turned out that when working in the kitchen, it surpasses almost all the knives I have - both in cut quality and in ease of work. Well, it is easy to edit with anything (even musat, even ceramics) Although if you chop vegetables for a long time, that is, on a stream, a good chef, apparently, will be more convenient. But for home ...

In addition, its design allows you to cut / trim the stick and protect yourself from any evil.

That is, we got an excellent wagon.

Naturally, the question arose about the type of knife. There were two options - card or pchak. The cord was not considered for obvious reasons. According to the materials of the Internet and, in particular, the RusKnife conference, the Bukhara knife turned out to be the closest.

Knife from Bukhara. Artillery Museum, engineering troops and signal troops. Exhibition "Weapons of the East of the 16-19 centuries"

Note that the "museum" exhibit is simply named -"Knife from Bukhara"

Further searches led to the following photographs:

Pchak is old. Bukhara

Pchak. Bukhara.

Bukhara card

Bukhara card

Pchak Bukhara with turquoise

Pchak Afghanistan

Persian card

Note that on last photo the knife (Persian card) has an armor-piercing thickening on the edge.

Thus, it is apparently not possible to determine the exact type of my knife.

From the point of view of collectors and connoisseurs of cold steel, the card is a knife created primarily for military purposes: it looks more towards the stylet and its edge, as a rule, becomes stronger.

So I believe that I have a pchak. Tugri-pchak is most likely of Bukhara origin.

However, I am most impressed by the position of Marat Suleimanov, who claims that kard, cord and pchak are not brands at all, but simply the names of one product - a knife - in different languages \u200b\u200b(“pechak” is in Tatar, “pichok” is Uzbek, "pshah" - in Azerbaijani, "kord" - in Tajik, "kard" - in Persian. Card and Kord sound similar, as Tajiks and Persians (Iranians) belong to the same language group, Uzbeks, Tatars, Azerbaijanis - to another, Turkic)

There is also a "bychak" - a Karachai knife (see the article "Bychak - a knife of every Karachai" on this site),but the Karachais and their closest relatives - the Balkars, as you know, are also Turkic-speaking peoples.

There are also knives of the Turkmen-Saryks (photo from Rusknife)

Thus, without touching on military topics, it is probably the most correct to say:

National Uzbek knife (pichok, or pchak)

National Tajik knife (cord)

National Uyghur knife (pchak)

National Karachai knife (bychak)

Here is another photo from the "Turkestan Album" 1871-1872

Samarkand, Pichak Bazaar(By the way, the original says "Pisyak Bazaar")

In previous years, Uzbek pchaks fell into European part USSR in the form of single copies, most often they were brought from expeditions in Central Asia. As a rule, their quality was not high.

Since the end of the 90s of the last century, the Soyuzspetsosnaschenie company began regular deliveries of Uzbek pchaks to Russia, and it became possible to purchase them at the company's office or in retail... Currently, they can be purchased in many knife stores and oriental cooking stores, including online stores (in particular, in Dukan Vostoka, Pchak-knives self made", etc.).

At first, suppliers bought pchakas in bulk at bazaars in Uzbekistan, so it was impossible to find out either the name of the master or the place of manufacture from the sellers. With the saturation of the market, trade began to "civilize", and now you can buy a pchak made by a specific craftsman (especially from those sellers who buy products directly from craftsmen), and choose the type, style and materials of the blade and handle.

In times Soviet Union the most popular were the pchaks from the city of Chust, where there was the only knife factory in Uzbekistan.

Photo from the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, the selection is called "Chust 1987"

IN present time the bulk of Uzbek pchaks are produced in the town of Shakhrikhon, Andijan region of Uzbekistan, where there is a whole urban district (“mahalla”) of knife-makers (“pichokchi”), in which whole family dynasties of blacksmiths and fitters are working.

Photo from the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, the selection is called "Shakhrikhon 1999"

Thus, the famous master Komiljon Yusupov, who devoted more than 50 years of his life to his craft, and was elected aksakal of the pichokchi makhalla Shakhrikhon, passed on his art to his sons and now the brothers can make, if they wish, very good products.

Usto Bakhrom Yusupov

Usto Bakhrom Yusupov

In other regions of Uzbekistan, individual craftsmen ("usto") and pichakchi families also live and work, but their products are much less common. For example, the Abdullaev family, who lives and works in Bukhara, also makes pchakas, but their true "hobbyhorse" is hand-forged scissors for various purposes, famous throughout Uzbekistan.

Tajik knives ("cords"), related to the Uzbek pchaks, are mainly produced in the city of Istaravshan (formerly Ura-Tyube).

Also, stands with pchaks and and cords are always presentat various knife exhibitions: "Blade", "Arsenal", "Hunting and Fishing" and others ...

Usto Abduvahob and his knives:

Director of the store “Dukan Vostoka” Bakhriddin Nasyrov with Uzbek masters - “usto”: usto Ulugbek, usto Abdurashid, usto Abduvahob.

Usto Ulugbek

Usto Abdurashid

Usto Abdurashid

Both pchakas and cords are made by hand, and it is safe to say that each such knife carries a particle of the master's soul.

Already at external examination you can judge the quality level of the knife:

Good action and blade processing, pronounced hardening line and thin cutting edge allow you to count on a good and long cut;

Well-soldered or cast from pure tin (light and shiny) gulband allows you to use pchak or cord in the kitchen without the risk of lead poisoning;

A clean and prolonged ringing after clicking on the blade, the absence of a shank at the rider's handle indicates a high-quality assembly;

The absence of gaps between the device and the handle, or cracks in the handle of the handle prevents the growth of microorganisms in them;

If possible, pchak and cord, like any other tool for work, must be selected "by touch" so that it becomes a "natural extension of the hand".

The only (today) bees that cannot be found fault with are those of Mamirzhon Saidakhunov

The blade is 140x4mm at the butt, evenly descends to the nose. Reduced to zero, double-sided lens is light, perfectly sharpened. Powder steel DI-90, heat in the oven, hardening for 61 somewhere. Handle 110mm, walrus bone. Gulband is a tin-based hard alloy. He cuts food brutally, planes dry wood, cheerfully butches chicken. Scabbard: leather 3mm, water resistant

True, there is a small nuance - the master lives and works in Ukraine and the price for this knife is quite high (in comparison with the rest of the pchaks)

To date, more than 30 knives from Shakhrikhon, Samarkand, Tashkent and so on are presented in Russia ...

In addition, such knives could not fail to interest Russian manufacturers.

So, at the request of their customers, they make pchaks:

Gennady Prokopenkov

We can see this knife almost every weekend on the NTV channel in the hands of Stalik Khankishiev. Fiber composite based on 40X13, hardened to 52-54

Dmitry Pogorelov

Steel CPM 3V, HRC - about 60. Length 280 mm, blade length 150 mm, width 33 mm, thickness (3.5-2.5-1.5) mm, weight 135g. Handle - cocobolo Zeroing, excellent cut

Mezhov's workshop

S. Kutergin and M. Nesterov's knife

Steel X12MF, silver, rosewood, rosewood, bone. Knife length 280mm, blade 160mm, width 40mm, thickness 4mm, HRC 57-59

But even from the photograph it is clear that the mixing is by no means "Pchakov's"

Zlatoust gunsmiths

Steel 95Х18, HRC 58, length 292 mm, blade 160 mm,width 35 mm, thickness (2.2-2.0-1.8) mm, weight 120g. Reduction somewhere 0.3mm. The handle is a nut. Despite the small thickness and good mixing, the cut of this knife leaves much to be desired.

Armourer

Damascus, gilding. Length 260 mm, blade 160 mm, width 35 mm, thickness (4.0-3.5-2.0) mm, weight 140g.HRC approximately 56. Conversion approximately 0.2-0.3 mm.

Despite the various decorations, the cut is significantly better than the previous AiR.

A little testing showed predictable results - first Prokopenkov with Pogorelov, then Oruzheinik, and then A&R by a large margin.

It is interesting that an ordinary pchak (see photo) showed itself a little worse than that of our eminent craftsmen (in terms of cut quality), but better than the Gunsmith, but not much.

In the middle of the last century, knives similar to pchak were made by the German company Herder, but I could not find out its specialization

Of course, a pchak, even a good one, is difficult to compare in terms of technology and hygiene with a European chef, and in modern food production it will be less convenient, but in a home kitchen and especially somewhere in nature, this knife can give you a lot of pleasure!

For a more complete picture of Pchak's work, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the review by Roman Dmitriev "Pchaki in real life" on that website.

Marat Suleimanov, Roman Dmitriev and the "RusKnife" forum provided great help in writing this article

Special thanks for providing photographs to Bakhriddin Nasyrov ("Dukan of the East") and Alexander Mordvin ("Pchak - handmade knives")

P.S. Roman Dmitriev's review "Pchaki in real life" will appear in the near future

Uzbek, Uyghur knives (Pchaks)

Pchak is a traditional, national knife of the Uzbeks and Uighurs. Distributed throughout Central Asia and not only. Him appearance is original and easily recognizable, and the shape has remained unchanged over the years. Uyghur craftsmen have a wider assortment and more variety in the form of blades. In the standard version, Uzbek and Uyghur pchaks with a raised blade (Kayik) and a straight butt (Tugri) do not differ from each other in any way. The only difference is in the handle and inlay.

The wide blade of the pchak was forged from steel of the most varied quality. Low quality steel was used in the manufacture of knives for the poor. Highly skilled craftsmen preferred to work on order and made blades only from high quality hardened steel. The pchak blade was made in different versions, according to its purpose.
The first option is the most common, when the tip of the blade is raised up above the butt of the blade by more than 5 mm - "Kayik".

The second option is a knife with a blade with an even and straight butt - "Tugri pchak" or, as it is also called, "Kassob pchak". This option was intended mainly for butchers.

A feature of the Uzbek and Uighur knives is a thin rounded handle, which is attached at the level of the butt, expanding towards the end. Sometimes the handle ends in a hook-like bend. In ancient times, the handle of the pchak was made from materials available at that time: wood, bone, horn. The variety of materials is much wider these days. In addition to traditional materials, handles are made of plexiglass, PCB, brass, copper, and so on.

The shape of the handle is of two types:
1) Yerma - this means lining from 2 sides on the shank. It consists of two dies that are attached to the shank.
Before fixing the dies that form the handle, the guard is soldered and a strip of copper, brass or silver is soldered to the shank around the perimeter. The dies are held together with metal or copper rivets. Also, the handle can be inlaid, made of colored, precious or semi-precious stones (for example, from a sadaf (perelamutra).

2) Sukhma - i.e. full-rider handle. It consists of a solid material that can be inserted into the shank and thus give the handle a classic shape that fits almost any hand. A version of the shape of the handle of the Sukhma is made of horns of various animals, plexiglass, textolite, brass, copper and other materials. Materials from colored, precious or semi-precious stones can also be used in inlay.

In the old days and to this day, every respected master always put his mark, the so-called "tamga", on a high-quality knife. The main elements of the brand were Islamic attributes - the image of stars and a crescent. Modern craftsmen who make knives also mark their unique products with symbols of Islam or put the stamp of cotton, the name of the town where these knives are made or the house number where the master himself lives. But there are masters who do not put a stigma, since the work of these masters can be recognized by the unique, clear drawings on the guard or amazing, high-quality work. The master, if desired, can engrave his personal data on the other side of the blade or on the handle of the knife.

The blade of an expensive pchak is decorated with a national ornament, and the handle is decorated with round decorative elements called "koz" or in Persian "chasmak" - it means "eyes, eyes", which are made either from non-ferrous or precious metals, or from bone or mother of pearl, which are pressed into into the handle dies.

The scabbard for a pchak is sewn from natural leather or dense fabric and decorated with precious or semi-precious materials (for example: brass, copper, silver). Inside them, special wooden inserts are provided so that when the knife is pulled out, the scabbard remains intact. The scabbard is quite deep, since the pchak is inserted there without additional fixation. Like the hilt, they are decorated with decorative colored circles, often simply painted with paint. Applique is used on more expensive items. They also have a loop that is threaded into the belt.
According to its purpose, the pchak is a household and household accessory. For home cooking, the most ideal knife. Pchak with a curved tip "Kayik" is more used by hunters, as it is very convenient for skinning, and butchers for the most part choose "Tugri pchak" for cutting carcasses. Pchak is not a combat knife, since the hardness of the blade and the sharpening from the butt, reduced to zero, do not allow such serious work as, for example, slicing metal or opening cans with it or chopping bones. For historians, even now it remains a mystery what was the reason for the appearance of a knife with a blade shape, convenient only for economic activities. Uzbek and Uyghur pchaks will definitely become indispensable helpers in the kitchen. Or they will be suitable as a gift for a person knowing history: after all, every time we touch the pchak, we become familiar with the history of the Ancient East.

The Uzbek people have traditional weapons that are popular far beyond the borders of Uzbekistan. Thanks to the raised tip of the blade and the narrow handle, the Uzbek knife is easily recognizable. The history of the appearance of this blade goes back a long way.

The first Uzbek knives were discovered during excavations of ancient settlements and ancient burials on the territory of Uzbekistan. The found specimens were created in the IV-XIV centuries and represent a narrow blade with a smoothly rounded edge. Archaeologists and historians attribute this width to grinding as a result of use.

The Uzbek knife is usually called “pchak” (pichok, pichak), which means “knife” in translation from Uzbek and some other languages \u200b\u200bof the Turkic group. The pchak blades were distinguished by their versatility: they were used both in battle and in the household. On ancient knives, images with the emblems of artisans who forged weapons have been preserved. The most common symbols of Islam on the blades are the star and the crescent.

It is believed that the craftsmen preferred to put on the blade a number of stars equal to the number of their sons.

Ancient blades were made in the oldest city of the Fergana Valley - Chust. This settlement was an ancient center for metal processing. Traditionally, hereditary masters were engaged in their production. IN soviet time in Chust there was a knife factory, which is now closed. Later, pchaks began to be made in another ancient Uzbek city, Shakhrikhan. Production ancient weapons is still concentrated in these cities, but now the pchak knife is made only by private craftsmen.

Historical evidence of the origin of the blade shape uzbek knife no, but there is a version according to which, during the time of Tamerlane, due to fear of armed uprisings, the conquerors forced blacksmiths to forge blades with a rounded edge, since it is difficult to inflict a puncture wound with such a weapon.

Due to this feature, since the second half of the twentieth century, pchak is not considered a melee weapon.

Kinds

Depending on the shape of the blade, Uzbek knives are divided into types, presented in the table.

Kaike	The most famous Uzbek knife. The edge of such a blade rises above the butt line at a distance of 3 to 8 mm, the kayke is considered universal and is used for all types of household work, it is often used by hunters for skinning animal carcasses.
Kushkamalak	The blade of such a knife is distinguished by a double groove, and the blade itself is considered a combat blade.
Tolbargi	The knife has an even butt and a straight blade resembling a willow leaf. The point drops below the butt level, so this pchak is convenient to use when cutting carcasses.
Tugri	The blade has a straight butt with narrow valleys, designed for rough kitchen work.
Afghan women or Starobukharsky	Knives with a curved arc-shaped blade, narrowed at the point, are used for cutting fruits and vegetables.
Shahron	The blade has a length of more than 14 cm, allows you to easily cut any vegetables and meat.
Kazakhche	The blade shape is popular with fishermen. Starting from the middle of the butt line, there is a notch that rises to the point. In the inverted state, this notch removes the scales from the fish.

Pros and cons

The positive sides of the pchak explain its popularity among different categories of users. Knife advantages:

1. Unusual appearance in oriental style. Such a blade immediately catches the eye.
2. Versatility. The product is indispensable in the kitchen, since you can cut any food with such a knife.
3. Long service life due to the ability of the blade to not dull over time.

In addition to positive aspects, the Uzbek pchak has a number of disadvantages:

1. The knife needs constant care, because when it comes into contact with a damp environment, the blade quickly rusts.
2. In cases where the handle consists of two pads, a strip of cardboard is often placed between them inside, which can get wet with prolonged contact with water, so the knife cannot be soaked.
3. The price of the product is high. For a blade that can replace a whole arsenal of different devices, you will have to pay much more than a set of classic kitchen knives.
4. A dull blade is difficult to sharpen at home; only a specialist can give it its former sharpness.

Despite the above disadvantages, the Uzbek knife is very popular with true connoisseurs of cold steel.

Product features

The Uzbek pchak has a peculiar appearance and a wide blade, which has a wedge-shaped cross-section. The butt is narrowed at the point. For a long time, the blade was cast from both ordinary iron and high-quality steel. In cases when knives were made of low-quality material, they were additionally treated with copper sulfate or clay.

Narrow valleys are traditionally cut on the blade, usually from above, parallel to the butt. Such elements have no functional purpose and have an exclusively sign function. The blade is usually decorated with ornaments, and the handle is usually decorated with decorative inserts. The scabbard is made of leather or fabric with wooden inserts inside. The outside is decorated with semi-precious as well as precious materials.

Blade

Depending on the purpose, the width and shape of the blade differ slightly:

• massive wide blades are suitable for shredding vegetables;
• medium versatile models are good at cutting bread, dough products;
• for processing fish, separating meat from bones, a long, narrow blade is suitable.

All of the above types of blade have one thing in common - a sharp line of rise from the butt to the tip.

Lever

The Uzbek pchak has a thin handle, its cross-section has a rounded shape. It is attached at the butt level and expands towards the end. Sometimes a hook-shaped bend is made at the end of the handle, next to it there is a recess for the little finger or its imitation. The handle of the knife has specific names for the parts.

Gulband	The connection of the blade and the handle. This element is cast from tin with the addition of lead.
Brinch	The part of the handle that encloses it around the perimeter, which is a strip of cupronickel or brass, about 1 mm thick.
Chakmok	Top.
Sop	Shank that follows the shape of the handle.
Teshik	Shank holes for rivets that hold the sides of the die together.

The handle is of two types:

1. Erma - consists of two overlays-dies, riveted to the shank. Such a handle can be made of various stones and other materials.
2. Sukhma is a one-piece handle that fits into the shank. Such a handle is most often made of horn, wood, silver, brass.

The handles are additionally decorated with national ornaments made of precious or semi-precious stones, metals, pieces of colored glass, and also plastic.

Components of the knife

Difference between working and collectible models

Depending on the purpose, Uzbek pchaks are divided into workers and collectors. For working models intended for use on the farm, the strength of the blade and the degree of its sharpening are important. In the production of such blades, high-strength carbon steel is used, which is additionally oxidized to increase hardness.

Among the working models are common:

• naryn-pichok - intended for cutting dough and products from it;
• cassob-pichok - used for cutting meat.

The collector's blades are made of stainless steel. Particular attention is paid to the material of the handle, as well as to its decoration: the handles are complemented with inserts of expensive wood, horn, bone, precious metals or stones. For collectors, the place where the knife is made is important, as evidenced by the tamga (stamp) on the blade, which is decorated with engraving and carving with plant motifs. The best souvenir items are richly decorated with expensive materials, as well as precious stones, their cost reaches several thousand dollars.

Souvenir knives, in addition to decorating collections, are used in national rituals and ceremonies. In particular, pchak is placed under the pillow if you want to conceive a child, since it is believed that in this case a boy will be born. So that the newborn does not cry, as well as to protect him from dark forces, it is customary to place a pchak under his pillow along with a piece of bread and peas.

Collectible

Care and sharpening

Pcak, which is constantly used in the kitchen, is best stored in a stand that ensures no moisture. After each use, to prevent rust, wipe the blade dry and then lubricate with vegetable oil.

Common ways to sharpen at home are:

1. Sharpening with a stone. First, the tool is sharpened with a coarse block, passing along it with the cutting edge forward. The blade should be at an angle of approximately 20 ° to the surface of the block, after which the tool must be sanded.
2. Sharpening on musat. The tool is placed at an angle of 45 °, pulled by pulling movements towards itself along the entire plane of the musata, be sure to observe safety precautions.

The process of sharpening an Uzbek knife is complex and long. That is why it is advisable to contact a specialist to make the blade sharp.

Sharpening stone

Video

Talking about Uzbekistan, I cannot but tell about the Uzbek national knife - pchak. Pchak or pechak (Uzbek Pichoq - "knife") is the national knife of the Central Asian peoples - the Uzbeks and Uighurs. Traditionally it has a straight wide blade made of wedge-shaped section with one side sharpening, sometimes with a narrow fuller along the butt. A thin round handle is attached at the level of the butt, slightly widens towards the head, sometimes ends in a beak-shaped pommel. It can be made of horn, bone or wood, and also inlaid from colored stone. Pchak is worn in a wide straight leather sheath. Distributed throughout Central Asia with slight differences in ornament and proportions.

In Uzbekistan, they are made mainly in the eastern and central parts of the country - in Khiva there were no longer such knives, only imported ones. In Bukhara, in the very center of the city, there are several workshops where pchaks are made, but the prices here are somehow exorbitant, apparently calculated for tourists who come for the day.

Workshop tools

The main blank for a knife is a car valve, but it is also made from some cheap stainless steel, but it is carbon steel knives that are most valued. There is better steel, there is Damascus, but the prices for such knives are appropriate.

After forging, the knives are made of fiberglass, plexiglass, metal, horn, bone, and then roughly sharpened on a grinding wheel

After polishing, they are often painted or written on

I still don't understand why the knife is covered with a thin layer of hot paraffin (?)

They let him cool down

Apparently in order to then draw a sketch with a special brush, which in the future will be a drawing or inscription

The final sharpening is done on such a grindstone

Sometimes, at the request of the client, a dedication is applied

Workshop

Well, the knives themselves

I bought myself this one in Tashkent at the market - an excellent knife on the farm! Sharpening on the fork