21" Bura Chitlangi arrives--MAGIC!

MauiRob

MauiRob

Joined
Nov 15, 2000
Messages
3,708
I just met the mail carrier at the door with a nicely weighted brown box with the label that makes me get the shakes on it!!

First impressions:

WOW! The pics do NOT do the handle justice! The Scrollwork is beautiful and the buttcap is elegantly shaped. Even the bolster is scrolled!!

Scabbard: AMAZING. Has a ridgeline running down the front that I really like!! Very well done!

Now lets get to the blade: ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! No other way to say it. I am in love with this blade!! If I didn't know better I would honestly think the blade was NOT 5160. Its too light for its size. Seriously this blade only feels barely heavier than my Kobra:eek: Yvsa was right again--this baby feels ALIVE:)

Weight= 1lb 15oz
Length= 21.5 inches
Width= 7/16
Thickness=1 7/8

Karda and Chakma=
karda: is a beautiful khuk on its own, only without a cho! 7" long and perfectly shaped.
Chakma:Same length. Perfect, and curved like karda and Chit. End of handle nicely carved in pattern of its daddy.

Overall impressions: A work of art. Period. Bura is a master.
Easily the best khuk I own.

Interesting side note on the "feel" of this blade. There is something strange about this khuk. It feels, well, magical. It may sound stupid, but I don't know how else to descibe it. It floats in your hand like its made of wood, or aluminum, but not spring steel.

My Kobra feels deadly. Alive but with killer instincts, wants to draw blood. The chitlangi feels peaceful and strangly aloof. Don't know what else to say.

Got to go and worship it some more.
 
Originally posted by MauiRob
Yvsa was right again--this baby feels ALIVE:)
Click to expand...

Rob, I'm not the sort to say, "I told you so." but I did.:p :rolleyes: ;)
My 21"+ Chitlangi, the very first one made at BirGhorka weighs only 1 pound 9 ounces so it's quite a bit lighter than yours.

One pound 15 ounces hunh? Where's the POB on your Chitlangi Rob?

The reason I'm asking is that the Prototype Cherokee Rose Uncle Bill sent me weighs exactly the same amount!!!!
Her POB is about 2 1/2" in front of the guard.
Your Chitlangi may be a good reference as to how the Prototype Cherokee Rose would "feel" to you.:)
I would prefer the POB to be closer to the guard, but....

Tell you what.
I'll just start a new thread on the Cherokee Rose in a few
days.:)
My health is improving daily and it's not necessarily a good thing as I have been running with my Barbie instead of just staying home and causeing her to spend money, but it's on things we have never owned and will make life easier for both of us in the kitchen.
For instance neither of us have ever had a zester to peel the zest off of citrus fruits. If you don't zest your citrus and use it along with the juice in your cooking you lose a whole bunch of flavor and when you have to limit your salt intake everything suddenly becomes all about Flavor!!!!
Another thing is a really decent set of kitchen tongs. Most of them damned things twist and bend in your hand and I always hated that, the ones we got today will never do that!!!!
End of frustration!!!!:D

Anyway maybe before long if things keep getting better day by day I will be able to do some work with the Cherokee Rose.
I have played around with her a bit, got her sharpened up reasonably well and cut quite a bit of air.
She does feel good in the hand!!!!...................:cool:
 
Yvsa,

The POB is about 3.5" from front of habaki bolster's end. So if the Cherokee Rose is 1" closer at this weight it must be pretty darn sweet! I can't imagine how it would feel at 1"-1 1/2":eek: You really were right on about this khuk though--well you read my post so you know how I feel about it:D :cool: BTW, where is the POB on YOUR Chitlangi?? Now I'm really curious!And what are the specs if you don't mind getting them.?

I'm really excited about the Cherokee Rose and am no longer concerned about how I will pay for it, and here's why.:) I emailed Uncle Bill today to tell him this story: one day after I ordered the Chitlangi (after I bought the Kobra, which I didn't have the money for)which I also didn't have the money to buy, I got an email from a guy in Nova Scotia who had seen my Ebay auction for a camera lens I was selling. He bought it for 5 dollars less than the total amount the Kobra+Chitlangi cost!!

So, I've decided life is too short to worry about these things too much. I'll get into debt when I buy the C.R., then the money will come from somewhere and I'll be ok:)
 
Remember the sage advice of old sainted Uncle Lou: You can't consider yourself a success until you're at least a half million in debt.
 
Old Uncle Lou went full circle. With home, McDonald and Burger King franchises to pay off he enjoyed a considerable amount of success. When he was in his mid 60's he signed over all his property to his kids, even the car he drove.

"Well, Bill, now I'm ready to leave this world like I came into it -- with nothing."
 
Originally posted by MauiRob
Yvsa,

The POB is about 3.5" from front of habaki bolster's end. So if the Cherokee Rose is 1" closer at this weight it must be pretty darn sweet!
I can't imagine how it would feel at 1"-1 1/2":eek: You really were right on about this khuk though--well you read my post so you know how I feel about it:D :cool:
BTW, where is the POB on YOUR Chitlangi?? Now I'm really curious!And what are the specs if you don't mind getting them.?
Click to expand...

Rob my Chitlangi is 21&5/8" OAL, weighs 1 Lb.9oz. and the POB is 3&3/4" from the bottom of angle at the bolster, just behind the flat spot of the habaki so I would guess ours are pretty dayumed close to one another except in weight.
 
Rob my Chitlangi is 21&5/8" OAL, weighs 1 Lb.9oz. and the POB is 3&3/4" from the bottom of angle at the bolster, just behind the flat spot of the habaki so I would guess ours are pretty dayumed close to one another except in weight.
Click to expand...

Thanks:)

I was wondering about the tang in the Cherokee Rose. Is it shaped like the khuk tangs? Is it heavier than the khuks or is it the guard on the C.R. that pulls the pob back so far? or both? Perhaps its the handle length to blade size ratio alone.

It would be really cool to be able to xray different khuks and knives to see how tang differences might affect pob. I wonder if any knife makers have put weight inserts into handle interiors (not external like a pommel) to pull the pob back some? Imagine a 21" Chitlangi with the POB at the bolster's beginning edge:cool: Or the Cherokee Rose....


Rob
 
After reading Maui Rob's review of his chitlangi, I browed himilaya import's web page looking for it, and I can't find it. So I went back to the old threads and found that knife. Wow, looks great. Congrats on the blade Maui Rob!
So Uncle Bill, if I'm looking at the picture correctly, there are several deep grooves in the blade, how did the kami's manage to make those. Were they forged or grounded out. And what's the purpose? for strength, lateral stiffness, weight distribution or just plain good looks.
 
Re - weights inside the handle.

See the original full size Applegate-Fairbairn ( Boker ).
 
Thanks Abear!:)


Re - weights inside the handle. See the original full size Applegate-Fairbairn ( Boker
Click to expand...

Thanks Rusty:) I'll look it up. Unless you know of a good link already:D Lazy bugger ain't I:eek:
 
Originally posted by MauiRob
Thanks:)

I was wondering about the tang in the Cherokee Rose. Is it shaped like the khuk tangs? Is it heavier than the khuks or is it the guard on the C.R. that pulls the pob back so far? or both? Perhaps its the handle length to blade size ratio alone.

It would be really cool to be able to xray different khuks and knives to see how tang differences might affect pob. I wonder if any knife makers have put weight inserts into handle interiors (not external like a pommel) to pull the pob back some? Imagine a 21" Chitlangi with the POB at the bolster's beginning edge:cool: Or the Cherokee Rose....
Rob
Click to expand...
Rob the CR's tang is just like the khukuri tangs.
The guard's weight is what helps pull the POB
back.
If I had of had the kamis reduce the guard size then the POB would have crept forward even more.
The handle length to blade length also plays a part in the balance which is one reason I made the handle so long.
The long handle does present some options that would have been otherwise unavailable.:)
Right now the handle length is just about optimal. Perhaps it could be made just a bit longer, but it wouldn't take much to throw the proportions off completely.

Yes some knifemakers have put weights in the handle to pull the POB back.
That's an option us ELU's could use on the C.R., but I don't like the idea of using lead although it would give the most weight for
size.
Knifemakers still use the tang as a way of making a knife lighter by drilling holes in it.
It may be a full tang along the edges but it isn't a full tang in a true sense.
Just goes to show you that a rat tail tang is as strong as anyone need be.:p
Another option would be to pull the handle off and fit a steel or brass pommel on it and then replace it but it would be a pity to inadvertently ruin the handle.
There's a lot of the guys who wouldn't have the skill to duplicate it if need be.
But it might just be possible to make a judicious cut towards the rear of the handle and breaking the wood off the very end, making sure it was first cut all the way to the tang so as to not ruin the whole handle.
That would be a pity because the handle is just about perfect as is.
Bura done a dayumed nice job on it!!!!

Rob that's why I was so concerned about the C.R.'s balance. Had it of been right at the guard or just behind the guard it would have been absolutely Perfect!!!!!!!
The huge Bowie even at 2 pounds or maybe even a bit more would have just disappeared in the hand.
I do have to say I think she is pretty fast just as she is. Perhaps by the 1st of next week I will be able to write a little bit about her.
I didn't get a chance theis weekend to do anything after just getting outta the hospital and all.
I started Cardiac Rehab today so maybe in a week I will have built up my stamina just a little.
This last episode just about wiped out All I had which wasn't much. If it wasn't for lifting my fat arse outta the chairs in the house I wouldn't have any upper body strength left at all.;)
 
Yvsa,

Thanks for very interesting info!!:)

Glad to hear that things are looking up health wise--we still need to play flutes and didges together before to awful much time goes by:) And of course talk khuks and other sharp pointy things;) :D


Speaking of that, has there been any talk of the next Konvention??
 
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