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Types and characteristics of national Uzbek knives Pchak. Handmade Uzbek knife: photo Make a pchak knife with your own hands

Depending on national traditions, geographical location and culinary preferences, each nation and nationality has its own, different from others, a knife. Uzbek, Finnish, Tajik, Indian - each of them is different. The Russian knife implies its use: on a hunt, on a camping trip, in close combat, for self-defense. Japanese knife associated with a samurai sword, the sharpness of which has no equal blades in the world. French cleavers resemble a saber with a handle. Knives are especially popular among Central Asian peoples.

Uzbek knife - pchak

According to various sources, the pchak knife appeared among the peoples of Central Asia in the 14-15th century. To this day, its shape has not changed. The name of the blade comes from the word "pechak", which is similar in the Uzbek language. Literally translated as "knife". These knife shapes are used throughout Central Asian territory with minor changes in proportions and special decorations.

The width of the blade is within 5 centimeters, while its length is no more than 22 centimeters. The wedge-shaped section gradually decreases from the butt to the blade. The thickness of the knife, which is up to five millimeters near the handle, decreases closer to the edge of the blade. Excellent cutting qualities of the knife are achieved due to the slopes of various shapes: from straight to curved. Uzbek knife pchak, the photo perfectly emphasizes its beauty, has an excellent balance.

Uzbek knives in the 20-21 centuries

In the 20th century, the Uzbek knife self made on the European territory could be seen only in private collections of connoisseurs of Central Asian art. Very often they were brought home or close friends after a tourist trip as a beautiful souvenir. Uzbek knives (the photo illustrates the beauty and a large selection) were industrially manufactured only in the city of Chust, which is located in Uzbekistan.

Today, Uzbek knives are made almost by hand. The city of Shakhrikhan, which is located in the Andijan region, is famous for its craftsmen who make the Uzbek pchak knife. There is an area in this city where several generations of blacksmiths and knife-cutters live and work. Knife craftsmen are also found in other parts of the country, but their work is not so well known. Designer knives are signed with branded emblems with the obligatory addition of stars and a crescent to emphasize the Islamic faith.

Varieties of pchak knives

The Uzbek knife is used in economic life, as well as in the kitchen. Given the different design options for the sharp end, there are several forms of pchak knives:

blade "kayke" - the point is raised to a height of up to eight millimeters - traditional Uzbek handmade knives;
blade "tugri" - the end of the blade is sharp, the back of the knife is straight;
blade "tolbargi" - another name is willow leaf, the butt of the knife is slightly lowered, which is practical when cutting animal carcasses;

“Kazakhcha” blade - on the blade, not far from its sharp part, there is a depression, and the sharp end of the knife is above the butt line; the knife is used to work with fish;
blade "kushmalak" - hallmark is the presence on the butt of a doubled share.

The size of an Uzbek knife is:

small (chirchik) - less than fourteen centimeters;
ordinary (sharkhon) - up to seventeen centimeters;
large (cow cutter) - up to twenty-five centimeters.

Finishing and decoration of Uzbek knives

Handmade Uzbek knives are a masterpiece of the master's work. Each knife is made in a single copy. It goes through all stages: steel processing, hardening, finishing and sharpening. The master applies an ornament on the handle and blade. Expensive knives are decorated not only with national patterns. Here they add a generic family sign, add their own inscriptions, floral ornament "islimi", etc. The more carefully each part of the applied ornament is made, the more valuable the Uzbek knife is.

The handle is made of apricot, sycamore, plexiglass, parts of bones and horns are added. The handle is often made of brazed sheet metal. The shank of the blade matches the shape of the handle and, expanding at the bottom, ends in a bend in the idea of \u200b\u200ba hook. If the handle is made of wood or bone, then it is not decorated. If plexiglass was used, then it is supplemented with colored blotches and wire. The handle made of horn is decorated with rhinestones and mother-of-pearl. The metal handle is decorated with engraving, rhinestones against the background of floral ornaments.

The bend at the bottom of the knife, or pommel, completes its design. It is made in the form of a hook, so that it is convenient to hold the handle of the Uzbek knife. There is always a recess on the bottom of the handle for a convenient location of the little finger. The pommel is made of a hollow horn or special metal inserts.

Sheath for the uzbek knife

For an Uzbek knife, a scabbard is considered a mandatory element. Craftsmen used leather or dense fabric. The knife is located deep in the sheath, which does not require an additional fixator. Inside the scabbard there are wooden inserts that protect them from being cut from the inside. National Uzbek knives are worn on the left side of the belt. For this, a wide loop is added to the scabbard.

If the case is made of fabric, then it is decorated with national embroidery. Leather sheaths were decorated with brass and copper inserts. The craftsmen have a multicolored pattern in the traditional style on black leather. Wooden cases can often be seen.

Storage and care rules

The blade of the Uzbek knife was forged from carbon steel. Earlier, before the twentieth century, they used weapons that had fallen into disrepair or imported pieces of iron from other fears. The hardness of the blade should be between 50 and 56 Rockwell units. Given the low hardness of the material, the owner of the knife always sharpens the blade. It is not necessary to use special sharpening stones for this. The soft material can be easily sharpened with stone or back side bowls.

There are general rules for caring for a knife:

Sharpening of steel must be carried out from the butt to zero. The use of this type of blade sharpening allows you to cut very thin slices of food.
Remember that mild steel sharpens well if a ceramic is used and can bend or dull when cutting hard foods or bones.
Carbon steel is quite porous. After use, the knife must be immediately rinsed and wiped dry.
If rust appears on the blade of an Uzbek knife, you can get rid of it using mild cleaning agents or sand.

Store the Uzbek knives after wiping them on a wooden knife stand. Hanging them is also encouraged.

Uzbek kitchen knives

To work in the kitchen, you need to have several types of Uzbek knives. Small ones are convenient for peeling fruits and vegetables. Medium-sized vegetables can be easily chopped and finely chopped. Large Uzbek kitchen knives are used to work with meat. Fish is perfectly developed with a thin curved blade.

The Uzbek pchak knife can serve not only in the kitchen, but also be a wonderful gift. It is believed that such a gift from a best friend can save you from ill-wishers. A knife, placed under a child's pillow, protects the health of the baby and mother, attracts wealth and well-being. The image of the Uzbek knife in embroidered items, on forged items, on ceramic items protects the owners from all sorts of misfortunes and troubles.

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 a "correct" beetle 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 show 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. 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 wedge-shaped 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 narrows 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, hardening (as a rule, zone - only at the cutting edge) is usually carried out up to 50-52 Rockwell units, 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 units of Rockwell, 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 definitely be from 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 it 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 with 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.

A specially made and decorated pommel is 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-like 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 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 completely rely on tamga to identify a 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.

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 rarely found.

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 pchaks, 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 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 smithies, 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" decreases. Let us recall that in the days of another empire, 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 pchaks with a "kayke" blade, there are also pchaks with a "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, you can find the names "Old Bukhara" 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 with meat - skinning, boning.

I wonder what up today 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 scabbard 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 notch approximately one third to the point, rising again to the point, 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 blade of a knife 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 once again dwell on the terminology - 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 famous 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 the quality of the cut and in the convenience 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 will probably 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

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 seems that it is 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 to 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 cookery stores, including online stores (in particular, in “Dukan Vostoka”, “Pchak-handmade knives”, 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. As the market saturation, trade began to "civilize", and now you can buy 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 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"

AT 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

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”), akin to the Uzbek pchaks, are mainly produced in the city of Istaravshan (formerly Ura-Tyube).

Also, stands with pchaks and cords are always present.at 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

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 a 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 (for today) bees that cannot be found fault with are those of Mamirzhon Saidakhunov

Blade 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. The reduction is about 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 to Bakhriddin Nasyrov ("Dukan of the East") and Alexander Mordvin (" Pchak - knives self made")

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, textolite, 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 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 a sukhma is made of horns of various animals, plexiglass, textolite, brass, copper and other materials. Materials made 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 brand 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 through 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, planing 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 Uighur 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.

Let's start simple. These photographs depict a knife, which any person who is in any way 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 ancient 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!"

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.

As already mentioned, carbon steel is used on pchaks, from what is at hand, hardening (as a rule, zone - only at the cutting edge) is usually carried out up to 50-52 Rockwell units, 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 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 units of Rockwell, 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 delicate mixing and working 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, there is no point in heating the ShKh-15 to 50-52 units (the norm for a pchak) - just a translation of good 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 from 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 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 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 stresses in the handle, since 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 surface 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-like 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, metal handles are engraved, usually in the form of a plant, floral ("chilmikh guli") ornament with adding rhinestones.

Handles with surface 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 when cooking 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 students 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 saw a tamga that is used by at least four different masters (although, maybe, one does, but different people sell on their behalf).

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 rarely found.

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 irreplaceable helper at 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 everything!" - said the master. And after a little pause, he smiled: "But the best thing is to cut a melon!"

Considering the Uzbek pchaks, 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 smithies, 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" decreases.

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 pchaks with a "kayke" blade, there are also pchaks with a "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 with meat - skinning, deboning.

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 most likely used as an auxiliary for 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 mostly 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 (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 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, usually turned from a finished strip of metal, is straight and parallel, and not wedge-shaped, like 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, to 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 pchak, they widen towards the top and have a characteristic notch for the little finger.

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 famous cutter-maker 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 will probably 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.

Knife from Bukhara. Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps. 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

Pchak Bukhara with turquoise

Pchak Afghanistan

Persian card

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

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

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

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 came to the European part of the USSR in the form of single specimens, most often they were brought from expeditions to 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 cookery stores, including online stores (in particular, in “Dukan Vostoka”, “Pchak-handmade knives”, etc.).

During the Soviet era, 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"

At present, the bulk of Uzbek pchaks is produced in the town of Shakhrikhon in the Andijan region of Uzbekistan, where there is a whole urban district (“mahalla”) of master cutters (“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"

Usto Bakhrom Yusupov

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

Also, stands with pchaks and cords are always present at 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

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.

Even with an external examination, one can judge the quality level of the knife:

- good action and blade processing, a pronounced hardening line and a 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;

- 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 handle prevents the multiplication 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 (for today) bees that cannot be found fault with are those of Mamirzhon Saidakhunov

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

Today, 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 95X18, HRC 58, length 292 mm, blade 160 mm, width 35 mm, thickness (2.2-2.0-1.8) mm, weight 120 g. The reduction is about 0.3 mm. 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 by a large margin A&R.

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

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

Marat Suleimanov, Roman Dmitriev and the RusKnife forum provided great assistance in writing this article.

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

Taken from the site CookingKnife.ru

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