A Kami's tools?

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395

:
Uncle Bill:
It seems pretty obvious as to what tools a Kami uses to make a Kuhkuri.
It seems that a helper or two is using the hammer to start the forgeing process and they look like they are using a fairly large 'sledge' type hammer.Do you know what the weight of these are?

Is the finish forgeing done with a smaller hammer ?

If it is can you estimate the weight?

Will you describe the finishing forgeing touches?

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.


[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 15 August 1999).]
 
Yvsa,
I don't know any more than you do about what they use, but the hammers appear to be about the same as the ones we use here.
The bigun= 8-10# +/-
The smallun 2-3# +/-
Dan
 
Dan and Yvsa, I have never weighed shop hammers but you are very close with your estimate, Dan.

Yvsa, I am so lacking in skill and knowledge about all I can tell you is what I observe. The big hammer is used for the tough work -- if two pieces of spring must be forged together to make a single blade it is the big hammer that does this job and it takes an incredible amount of pounding. Basic shaping is also done with the big hammer.

During the forging process the basic tools of the master kami are small hammer and tongs only.

Adjustments to keep the blade straight and headed in the right direction are done by the master kami himself throughout the process and this is done by the small hammer. He will keep this hammer right at his side for easy access. When he determines that the blade is close enough to completion the big hammer is no longer used and he will bring the blade to as near completion as he can using his small hammer. Then he moves to various small hand tools and file to get the blade into final shape and ready to harden.

He will then harden the blade and check his success. He hits his mark most of the time and then grinds the edge and touches up the blade with grinder and file. He fits and sets bolster, handle, buttcap and if it is an HI khukuri off it goes for polishing and final finish.

Back to start!

Wish I knew more about it. When Kami gets here he will be able to answer in more detail if you have further questions.

Uncle Bill
 
:
Thanks Dan and Uncle Bill.
That's about what I had figured.

Uncle that's the answer I guess I was looking for.
I wonder if there is ever going to be a video on the "Making of a Kuhkuri."?
I know I would sure buy one.It would be interesting to see the whole process from the foreging of two steel springs together to the finished Kuhkuri.

I think it says on the H.I. website where the one Kami made his own tools.
Do they make thier own hammers too?

Another question.
Do the Kamis use anything for a flux to forge the steel together?

I understand that many of the old time Smiths here used Borax for the flux.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
Yvsa, I am not sure about the kamis making their own hammers but they might. Some of them look to be handmade but whether the kami himself made them or not I never asked.

They might use some kind of flux but I am not sure of that, either. Kami Sherpa should know the answers to just about any of these questions. We will keep him busier here than he is in Nepal!

We might be able to get a video of a start to finish job when Kami gets back.

Forgot -- I never saw a kami use an anvil such as we see here with the horn. They always have a piece or railroad rail or a simple steel block. There could be some standard anvils in Nepal but I have never seen one.

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 16 August 1999).]
 

I made a knife once, but it was just a little knife, made from a piece of bar stock, heated in a propane-fired Venturi forge. I didn't know what I was doing, just messing around with hot metal and a hammer. If you've never tried it, here are some things you would learn in two hours of screwing around:

1. the metal gets softer than you think. Intellectually, you know that hot metal is softer. It's still a surprise when the hammer deforms the metal, and you can feel it happening.

2. it's not easy. I learn things pretty fast, and I'm fairly good with my hands, but ultimately I just made a sort of knife-shaped thing that was flat on one side and edged on the other.

I didn't bother with zone-hardening or anything like that - I just dunked it in some water and passed it over the grinder. Instant knife. Ugly as sin and pretty much useless except for eating. It is to an HI Kukri what a sharpened crowbar is to a Katana (not even that, now that I think about it - you can still get useful work out of a sharpened crowbar).

I stand in awe of the kamis when I think about what an amazing product they make from spring steel and a manually-blown forge.

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Jeff Paulsen


 
:
Jeff I have had some of the same experiences.
I did however make some big knives when I was a young man.They were partially forged using a cutting torch flame to heat the car springs.
I hardened them in oil.

One time I swapped a couple of them and a little to boot for a whole dining room suite that included 6 chairs,the table with leaves and a huge buffet.
I wonder today who got the best of that deal.

If I could find those two old knives I would pay dearly for them just to test them knowing what I know now.I think they were pretty good old knives.

The last one I made like this was in 1975.I done it in a county shop in Banning California for another Indin guy.I never hardened this one though ,because he wouldn't or couldn't get the horse pee I wanted to harden it in.Come to find out he was pretty soft too and deseved what he got along with my wife at the time.
smile.gif

The dude done me a huge favor though and he has paid for what he got many times over.I sent him some Indin Medicine one time.He probably still is having problems with his bowels over that.He is Hopi and I know what sets him off. A good reason not to tell your fears.
smile.gif
smile.gif
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.

 

LOL!

I knew a guy who prayed every day for everyone to get exactly what they deserve. Most of the time it seems to be working.

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Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen
 
I am pleased to see that humor is still alive and well in the forum.

On a serious note, those who have tried their hand at making knives themselves are generally those who appreciate the kamis' ability most.

Uncle Bill
 
in college i designed and started making a knife out of tool grade 3/8 inch stock

i never put an edge on the thing becase one night i realized that this creation was going to kill someone

i knew it could never be destroyed once created and i knew it would be around several hundred years from now

its in a box in the garage
maybe i will dig it out and get a picture of it for y'all

dZ
 
Okay, Doc. I'd like to see it.

Your post is one of the reasons all HI khukuris are blessed. The kamis know what you came to realize. Interesting how different cultures and religions often arrive at the same conclusions. Truth is truth no matter how one approches it.

Uncle Bill
 
great discussion on khukuri making! I thought others who don't have this much middle of the night time on their hands (up feeding baby--2:30am) would like to read this.

Rob
 
Thanks, MauiRob. Being on Pacific Standard Time I also have the opportunity for my posts to look really late compared to Eastern Standard Time, but half the time after 10 or 11 PM my time ( 1 or 2 AM EST )the computer fan hum puts me to sleep.

Good time to bring this thread BTTT, as Bill's memory ought to be fresh on his return and we should get some good info.

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Himalayan Imports Website

Himalayan Imports Khukuri FAQ
 
Unfortunately Rusty it usually is 2:30 Hawaian standard time when I'm up!! I wish it was just the time change
smile.gif
I really like searching the old posts--you can learn so much that way and its fun.

Rob

[This message has been edited by MauiRob (edited 02-08-2000).]
 
Hi Guys,
I should have answered part of this the first time around...
If the Kamis use anything for a welding flux, it probably is made from sifted charcoal ash.
Dan
 
It was seeing the pix Bill posted of the kamis and their shop gear that got me into blade making; I realised that you don't need a huge, fully-equipped shop, just heat and a hammer.

Oh yes, and a whole lot of skill. Well, I've got the heat and the hammer.

It's only when you try doing it yourself that you really appreciate how exceptionally skilful the kamis are. I'd love to know how they do the double-recurve.
 
Tom,
It's done by upsetting the billit. Same way that they get the thick spine, 'cuz the springs aren't all that thick.
Dan
 
Dan -

That's a long way to move a lot of metal! My respect for these guys just took another quantum leap
 
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