This morning I realized that I'd had a wonderful knife for about a week and hadn't actually put it through its paces. Sure, I'd done some light cutting and filed down some high points on the butt, but I hadn't actually done any chopping that presented a challenge to my chitlangi.
Enter the Snowball Bush! (insert epic challenge music)
I'd been annoyed with the growth of a showball bush in the yard for a couple of years but I never had a tool comfortable enough to chop at it for more than a couple of minutes. My earlier light pruning had given me a vague idea of how comfortable the knife was and I decided to "take a few swings".
20 minutes or so later I thought to get my ipod and take some photos.
The villan;
Action shots;
After roughly two hours of steady chopping the edge had gone from "Look ma, no arm hair!" to chopping sharp, but there wasn't any part of the blade that could be called blunt.
I've never been able to swing a knife for two hours straight before. This blade has earned a name.
As for the snowball bush?
It's scattered in a rough circle around the stumps. From now on I'm referring to the chitlangi as "Agent Orange" because it's the most effective defoliant in my possession.
Now I have to cart all those branches down to the burn pile, but at least the knife half of the cleanup was fast. dawn and water took the sap off, mineral oil keeps the rust off, and a few passes with the chakmak have brought the edge right back to hair-popping sharp. Agent Orange is ready to rock.
Enter the Snowball Bush! (insert epic challenge music)
I'd been annoyed with the growth of a showball bush in the yard for a couple of years but I never had a tool comfortable enough to chop at it for more than a couple of minutes. My earlier light pruning had given me a vague idea of how comfortable the knife was and I decided to "take a few swings".
20 minutes or so later I thought to get my ipod and take some photos.The villan;
Action shots;
After roughly two hours of steady chopping the edge had gone from "Look ma, no arm hair!" to chopping sharp, but there wasn't any part of the blade that could be called blunt.
I've never been able to swing a knife for two hours straight before. This blade has earned a name.
As for the snowball bush?
It's scattered in a rough circle around the stumps. From now on I'm referring to the chitlangi as "Agent Orange" because it's the most effective defoliant in my possession.
Now I have to cart all those branches down to the burn pile, but at least the knife half of the cleanup was fast. dawn and water took the sap off, mineral oil keeps the rust off, and a few passes with the chakmak have brought the edge right back to hair-popping sharp. Agent Orange is ready to rock.
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