2 Older khukuris

ferguson

ferguson

Joined
Feb 21, 2001
Messages
4,238
These are 2 that came off Ebay. Both have steel bolsters. The first one, a dui chirra, still needs a buttcap. It's a stick tang. I etched it and you can see the hardened area right in the middle of the belly.

dui-chirra-1024.jpg


The second one had a bad split in the horn handle. Epoxy fixed that right up. It has a good blade that is hardened the whole length of the edge.

khuk-split-handle-1024.jpg


Nothing special, just a couple of khuks that are at least 50 years old. Still ready to cut. For your viewing pleasure.:)

Steve
 
Steve,
I've always wondered how the khukuri experts and collectors tell from an Ebay photo if the blades are authentic? If I tried to bid, I'd worry about buying a blade that could not cut.


oh- those sure look nice.

munk
 
Holy junk. Those are super awesome Steve. Great snags.
 
"You've got to buy some crappy ones first. :( "


Sad but very true.

Repitition & expierience of seeing the reality against the original photo, helps hone the eye in time.

nice finds Steve.

Spiral
 
Steve, Spiral; any more suggestions to help? I'd appreciate it. Fascinating topic actually.

I asked a furniture antiques dealer in Idaho Falls once how he purchased the ones he needed without getting burned.
Know what he said?

"the only way to learn is to buy the bad ones first."


(I'm a khuk user, not a historian/collecter)


munk
 
spiraltwista said:
"You've got to buy some crappy ones first. :( "


Sad but very true.

Repitition & expierience of seeing the reality against the original photo, helps hone the eye in time.

nice finds Steve.

Spiral
Click to expand...


That is why I only own modern khuks. I am too chicken to get bad ones by mistake.:oThose are some nice looking ones Steve. The top one looks prettier, BUT, that bottom ones hardened zone bespeaks a great user to me.
Nice!!
 
Very nice snags Steve, very nice indeed!!!! I love fullers but I'd pass over them to own the well hardened bottom khukuri of the bunch.:thumbup: :cool: :D
 
That is why I only own modern khuks. I am too chicken to get bad ones by mistake.>>>> ArchAngel


Me too. And for the price of a mistake, I probably could have bought one of Yangdu's DOD. I have to admit there is a beauty about some of the older ones that is very appealing- like these Steve got.


ArchAngel, I never thought to ask you this before, but how did you choose your forum handle?


munk
 
You don't have to risk a lot of money. One was $15.50 shipped, and one was about $20. You've just got to place a lot of low bids and sooner or later you'll snag one. If I can't get stuff reasonable, it doesn't get got. Scotch genes you know. The Scottish dirk was about $15 shipped.

Steve
 
ferguson said:
You've got to buy some crappy ones first. :o

Steve
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. I recently sold about ten junkers to a forum guy, (he knew what he was getting --- tourist kothimodas, lion butt caps, etc), for the shipping charge to get them to him. We were both happy with the transaction.

Don't be afraid to get a few junkers. Just don't pay too much. You will get a few good ones that will balance out the bad.

Same with being a good photographer. Take lots of pictures and thow away the bad ones.

After a while you'll begin to understand the limitations and capabilities of your camera. With the cheapness of operatiion and the instant results of digital cameras, this is a good time to be learning photography.
 
Very nice Steve! I'm in the same boat with Munk and ArchAngel, not really sure if I would be buying junk or not. Guess I just need to jump in sometime. You did really great. I love the handle on the dui chirra, but really like the blade on the second one. Any plans to refinish that handle now that you have repaired it, or just going to leave as is?

Best,

Norm
 
Svashtar said:
I love the handle on the dui chirra, but really like the blade on the second one. Any plans to refinish that handle now that you have repaired it, or just going to leave as is?

Best,

Norm
Click to expand...

The horn is just rough filed, maybe with a rasp. I'll leave it as it is, since it's a semi-antique. Especially after the trouble I had making the epoxy repair rough like the rest of it. ;)

You're right Bill. You just have to search ebay with every possible mis-spelling of khukuri that you can think of. Just looking without buying will give you pretty good experience. And of course, once you find something you like, you could email your friendly brother collector and get his opinion. I think discussing ongoing auctions in a public forum like this could lead to possible legal problems for BFC, but email discussion between friends is cool.

Steve
 
I think its hard to give a guide to buying kukris from photos.

Each kukri is different. So each is judged differently.

its a bit like trying to explain how to judge a good horse from a photo.

Like Steve says email discusian is a good bet.

Its Always worth asking the seller for clear, large photos of both sides of blade , handle & scabbard though.

Military Mark kukri {nos. 1 to 4 } are easier to judge only a couple of fake styles to advoid mostly. mk.5s are tricky though.

Spiral
 
ferguson said:
These are 2 that came off Ebay. Both have steel bolsters. The first one, a dui chirra, still needs a buttcap. It's a stick tang. I etched it and you can see the hardened area right in the middle of the belly.

The second one had a bad split in the horn handle. Epoxy fixed that right up. It has a good blade that is hardened the whole length of the edge.

[=Nothing special, just a couple of khuks that are at least 50 years old. Still ready to cut. For your viewing pleasure.:)

Steve
Click to expand...

I don't know, they look pretty special to me. Just the fact that they are old, makes them kinda cool. The 2nd one "IS" flat out cool.

I'am gonna start collecting old Khukuri's. Except I'am going to doit the easy way. Buy them new and let them age gracefully, or not. Depending on my mood when I swiing it that day.

I need to check with my dad. He has an old, "real old" khukuri. It is broken though. I'll need to see if he at least has pictures of it, or if he knows where it is.
 
Holy Resurrected Thread, Batman!

batman.jpg




Welcome to Bladeforums, stomper!! :thumbup:

Not many folks here have old junkers hanging around...especially not Steve...:eek:

:D :p

I might have one kicking around that you can play with...I'll do some digging. :thumbup:
 
stomper64 said:
if anyone has a box of junkers laying around they want shot of, im a aspiring english maker wanting to improve my skills with out ruining a good blade, a fair priceand shipping to the uk would be paid.
Click to expand...

Atlanta Cutlery and Smoky Mountain Knife Works frequently have "junker" khukris for sale. Usually made in India out of questionable steel -- but they look sorta like khukris. :D
 
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