Take a look at a truck spring, and then at a HI khuk, and try and figure out how the one turns into the other.
Today, I tried to make a khukuri. I went over to my blacksmith friend's place, picked a 3' length of half-inch truck leaf spring out of the scrap pile,and set to work.
Of course, it wasn't a fair comparison. My pal has one of the best equipped traditional 'smiths' shops you're likely to find in this country; two fine 3cwt London-pattern anvils, coal-fired forge with electric blower, power hammer, full range of fullers, swages, setts, hammers; also bench and hand grinders, propane and oxy torches, belt grinder, the works. If Bura were to walk into the place, he'd think he was in metalworkers' heaven.
(NB: I'm not new at this. I can make a decent Bowie knife in a morning; an adequate double-edged medieval-type sword or Roman gladius in a day. I've made tomahawks and a broad-axe.)
Stage one; put up a bottom fuller in the hardie-hole of the power-hammer anvil, draw the half-inch by two inch stock down to one inch by a tad over three-eighths; flatten out, then draw down a slight taper towards what's destined to be the point end. Even with the power hammer &c this was two hours of gruelling work
Stage two; replace the bottom fuller with a top-and-bottom spring tool fuller to thin out the middle while leaving the spine and the edge sections at about 3/8". Still using the power hammer. One hour.
Stage three; forge the bevels using a 4lb straight-pein sledge; straighten the blade as it curves away from the edge (ie in the wrong direction); clamp a U-bend in the vise and put in the "elbow" bend; this proved to be a very difficult step, needing a dozen heats. Two hours
Stage four; draw out the tang (power and hand hammers; piece of cake) then cut the blade off the rest of the spring using a hot sett (basically a chisel on a stick; looks like a small axe) while my pal swung the 12lb sledge; then create the point by drawing metal up at the end. Made a hash of the last step. One hour.
Stage five; straightening, plenishing out the worst of the scale inclusions, hammer mis-strikes and other screw-ups; heating the blade up and hardening; grinding; tempering; two hours.
That was enough hard work for one day. If I can be bothered to finish this khuk, there's another 3 or 4 hours grinding, filing &c; 3 hours more, to clean it up, polish it &c; another hour or so for sharpening. Then I can start making a handle; a day's work on its own.
The end result of today's experiment is an ugly, vaguely khuk-shaped 23" 3lb steel banana. It curves in more or less the right place, the bevels are kinda even, the edge is relatively free of kinks & wibbles; the heat treatment worked ok, so it should hold an edge and be up to doing hard work without breaking. Sharpened, it'll get the job done. But it resembles a BirGhorka product like the guy in the street resembles a movie star, or a chimp resembles a human. No style, no grace, no beauty. The only part of it that's up to HI standards is the tang.
Look you upon this picture (as the poet says) and on this; an eye like Mars to threaten and command, or a mildewed ear. I used to reckon the guys at BirGhorka were something special. Now I think I can begin to understand.
Today, I tried to make a khukuri. I went over to my blacksmith friend's place, picked a 3' length of half-inch truck leaf spring out of the scrap pile,and set to work.
Of course, it wasn't a fair comparison. My pal has one of the best equipped traditional 'smiths' shops you're likely to find in this country; two fine 3cwt London-pattern anvils, coal-fired forge with electric blower, power hammer, full range of fullers, swages, setts, hammers; also bench and hand grinders, propane and oxy torches, belt grinder, the works. If Bura were to walk into the place, he'd think he was in metalworkers' heaven.
(NB: I'm not new at this. I can make a decent Bowie knife in a morning; an adequate double-edged medieval-type sword or Roman gladius in a day. I've made tomahawks and a broad-axe.)
Stage one; put up a bottom fuller in the hardie-hole of the power-hammer anvil, draw the half-inch by two inch stock down to one inch by a tad over three-eighths; flatten out, then draw down a slight taper towards what's destined to be the point end. Even with the power hammer &c this was two hours of gruelling work
Stage two; replace the bottom fuller with a top-and-bottom spring tool fuller to thin out the middle while leaving the spine and the edge sections at about 3/8". Still using the power hammer. One hour.
Stage three; forge the bevels using a 4lb straight-pein sledge; straighten the blade as it curves away from the edge (ie in the wrong direction); clamp a U-bend in the vise and put in the "elbow" bend; this proved to be a very difficult step, needing a dozen heats. Two hours
Stage four; draw out the tang (power and hand hammers; piece of cake) then cut the blade off the rest of the spring using a hot sett (basically a chisel on a stick; looks like a small axe) while my pal swung the 12lb sledge; then create the point by drawing metal up at the end. Made a hash of the last step. One hour.
Stage five; straightening, plenishing out the worst of the scale inclusions, hammer mis-strikes and other screw-ups; heating the blade up and hardening; grinding; tempering; two hours.
That was enough hard work for one day. If I can be bothered to finish this khuk, there's another 3 or 4 hours grinding, filing &c; 3 hours more, to clean it up, polish it &c; another hour or so for sharpening. Then I can start making a handle; a day's work on its own.
The end result of today's experiment is an ugly, vaguely khuk-shaped 23" 3lb steel banana. It curves in more or less the right place, the bevels are kinda even, the edge is relatively free of kinks & wibbles; the heat treatment worked ok, so it should hold an edge and be up to doing hard work without breaking. Sharpened, it'll get the job done. But it resembles a BirGhorka product like the guy in the street resembles a movie star, or a chimp resembles a human. No style, no grace, no beauty. The only part of it that's up to HI standards is the tang.
Look you upon this picture (as the poet says) and on this; an eye like Mars to threaten and command, or a mildewed ear. I used to reckon the guys at BirGhorka were something special. Now I think I can begin to understand.
) report on khukuri making. I've wondered how it would be to make one in a modern shop, and you've gone a long way toward answering that question. 
