Another kind of handle. Pix. Comments?

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

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Mar 5, 1999
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I can't believe it. I found what I was looking for in the 10,000 pix file.

What do you think about this handle? This handle was made by a Newari kami -- great bone handle on a poor blade. I think we could duplicate this handle in wood if there is an interest.

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
Uncle Bill, I like it a lot and would like to see it on an 18" full tang Chiruwa-style khuk -- either a wood or horn handle would be fine with me. I'll go ahead and place my order now, just in case such a khuk becomes a reality.
 
Uncle Bill, will the bone hold up under heavy chopping?

--Mike L.


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Real men ride Moto Guzzis!
 
OK, Steven. We'll ride this one awhile and see what happens.

If the bone is cured properly is holds up pretty good. Anybody who has tried to chop through an old piece of bone they might have found laying in the wild knows that bone is generally very, very tough.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
Errrr...on a "heavily decorated" model maybe. There's two problems though for practical use: the "fingergrooves" and the extreme bas-relief carvings will together add up to "it won't move in the hand well". My feeling is that like nothing else, a Khuk needs to "flow", to move so that the blade arcs further in it's travel than your actual arm/wrist motion.

When Cliff talks about "the blade doing the work for you" I would think this is a major factor. On a fighter, you use this "flow" to raise the tip speed well beyond what your normal strength and wrist motion speed could do, that's why it's probably possible to survive a fight against somebody with a "light Bowie" class fighting knife if you know what you're doing.

Now, as an alternative to brass on a piece mainly meant as decor/collector it'd be fine but...well, that's not where my interests are. And I realize not every single piece need be "purely functional"
smile.gif
.

Jim
 
Jim, I think that when Uncle Bill suggested the posssibility of incorporating this handle design in some future khuks that he was referring specifically to the finger grooves and not the carving. Also, I think it was his intent to offer such a handle primarily for us folks with "special needs" and not necessarily for general use. Of course, I could be wrong. I was wrong once before, back in '65.

P.S. The comment about being wrong only once before was a feeble attempt at humor. There's probably not a day that goes by that I don't make a mistake of some sort. 'Course, as my gran'pappy used to say, the fella that doesn't make mistakes ain't doin' anything -- a man with gumption is gonna make mistakes.

[This message has been edited by Steven F (edited 26 November 1999).]
 
You are right, Steven. I was thinking of the funtional aspect especially since you mentioned the lost pinky. However, those who love art type handles can get the decor if wanted.

Speaking of mistakes. Every morning when I wake up I wonder how many and what kind!!!!

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
"Alas, should I ever attain true humility, I would be proud of it." Benjamin Franklin

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' ... and on the 8th day God said, " You take over, Murphy..." '.


 
Ah! You're talking about just the fingergrooves!

Ohhhhkay. If you restrict them to the forward area of the grip and leave the back 1/3rd of the total length plain, you MIGHT get something that appeals to all tastes. For "delicate work" of any sort you'd get better "fine control" by choking up on the grooves but for major smashing, move back to the full swell as at present?

That could REALLY work well.

Steven, how much does the pinkie loss affect the handling of the current models? In experimenting with mine, it seems that the "upper tip" to the pommel swell goes into a funky place on my palm when I pretend I've got three fingers. At a guess, polishing down the "upper tip" of the pommel swell while leaving the lower swell intact should give you a reasonable traditional-type grip without going to fingergrooves?

Just a thought...reminds me of Mick Doohan's race bike; the guy's the fastest in the world today but his rear brake is a thumblever on the left handlebar due to extreme damage on the right foot where the rear brake usually is. And he's STILL the best on the planet, racing for team Honda in the 500GP.

Adaptations are possible! If that means fingergrooves, cool.

Jim
 
Jim, I think you may be right. If I take a tad off the top, it might cut down on the tendency of the khuk to turn in my grip -- which is a problem primarily when I'm doing heavy chopping because when I come down hard and the blade is slightly off, it causes weird and unpleasant things to happen upon impact(as you can imagine).
I appreciate your suggestion and will let you know how it works out.
As Uncle Bill has repeatedly said, this is a great forum because we have a great bunch of guys, such as yourself. Thanks.
 
I have used handles like that before, they work well for adding security to a grip that does not have it because the base shape is wrong or the material too smooth. However for high impact work it does an excellent job of crushing your hands if you fingers are close in size to the radius of the grooves. Similar effects were noticed on high strain slicing.

-Cliff
 
Thanks for valued input, Cliff. The problem I have seen with these handles is that for them to work right they must be custom made for the owner's hand which is just about an impossibility for us. The same handle will just not work for a bantamweight boxer and a Sumo wrestler.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
The handle with finger groves is aesthetically beautiful but ... :
  1. Our hand grip sizes are not the same, then it will be very difficult to supply the correct size of handles to match various size of hand grip of customers.
  2. The finger groves at the handle tend to make blistering faster at the finger parts because of the friction effect especially when we had a long continous work![/list=a]I guess the justification behind this other handle type offer is due to following reasons:
    • Our hands tend to slip forward especially when we reach the point of fatigue.
    • The "upper tip" at the butt of the standard eye shaped handle tend to dig into the fat part of our palms.[/list=a]Then, here I would like to forward my not so intelligent suggestion that might be usefull in enhancing the existing standard eye shaped handles:
      • The front part of the handle just near the bolster should be raised to a bigger size to stop the slip forward of our hands.
      • The end part of the handle near the butt cap should be dropped a little bit (or slightly bend down) to lessen the friction effect with the fat part of our palm.
      • The "upper tip" at the butt of the standard eye shaped handle should be rounded to a more oval shaped.
      I believe a good handle shape must be have the following values:
      • It must give the most confortable feeling when it is placed in our palms.
      • It must provide good hand grip.
      • It must protect our palms from any sort of harm during a long continous work out.
      • It is aesthetically beautiful in it's design.[/list=a]What? ... it must be another trick from another brown (not white) monkey!

        NEPAL HO!
 
Wonder how a Hanuman handle would work for Steven F?

It's the most symbiotic for me.

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' ... and on the 8th day God said, " You take over, Murphy..." '.


 
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