ARRGH! Disaster Strikes!

J

James Liu

Joined
Aug 11, 2000
Messages
108
Tis a sad day in the life of this humble collector.

My cousin, a teenager, has decided to come over for a visit yesterday. Having a propensity for playing with sharp objects and other such unsafe devices best kept out of the hands of *cough* children, he decided to have a go with the Chiruwa Sirupati I purchased only a week ago. I was at work at the time and was NOT expecting a visit (grandma, who is living with me, opened the door etc).

Anyway, to cut a long story short (no pun intended), the kid decides to see how tough this blade was and *banged it against the concrete wall in my back yard*!! By the time I got back the damage was done, and the kid had already went home.

Now I have four glaring chips on the belly of the Sirupati, essentially ruining the edge. No amount of burnishing/sharpening on my part can fix it. And worst of all, I didnt even get to do heavy chopping with it yet!

Moral of the story: Keep the precious khukuris AWAY from the hands of *children*

J


PS on a related note, there are 4 chips in the wall.

 
James, that is a sad story. If you have a grinder and are handyy and the chips are not too deep you may be able to regrind the edge and save the knife. Our guarantee is unconditional so if you want to return the knife for a replacement stick it in the mail and send it this way.

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (18,000+ posts)
 
What the heck was grandma doing letting him run around unsupervised? A good thing you don't have a gun collection. I say you repair/replace/upgrade the item and submit the little disrespectful cuss the Bill!
 
Gee Uncle Bill, you even do replacements for khukuris deliberately ruined? Wow...I am impressed!

As I dont have a grinder (and even if I did I have no expertise in grinding) I just may have to send it back...

Admittedly I just came in here to 'tell my tale over a mug of beer'..didnt expect any form of remedy really.

Apologies for the inconvenience in advance, but

Thank You So Much!!

smile.gif


J

Oh and yes, I will tell grandma to tell the kid to STAY AWAY FROM MY BABIES in the future..better yet, Im locking them up :-/

 
splat.gif


[This message has been edited by TomF (edited 08-25-2000).]still workin' on gettin these thingies to work

[This message has been edited by TomF (edited 08-25-2000).]
 
splat.gif


Couldn't agree more. If it were my cousin I would have him mowing my lawn for the next 10 years.
 
Sounds to me like the kid's butt needs a little working over with some stiff leather. Furthermore, if he is allowed to simply walk away from this matter of damaging other people's property without suffering any consequences, then there's something wrong with other family members as well!
 
At least it will be interesting to see how the knife fared against a concrete wall. I'll take pix and try to get them posted so we can all share in the results. Personally, I've tried nails and bolts but never a concrete wall so it will be a new dimension in destruction testing.

Experts, what is the Rc of a concrete wall?

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (18,000+ posts)
 
Amen Steven!!!

It's good to be in the company of sensible folks! No politically correct "He was just expressing himself" garbage here! I try to teach my kids that they will reap what they sow, and the reality of actions and their consequences.

Rob

------------------
The only thing better than a sharp knife is... Lots of sharp knives! :)
 
Post pictures!

How many blows do you figure he did? Was the wall damaged in any way? Is the blade still straight?

The knife might be saved. The guys that etch tested their blades report them to be hardened up to 0.5" (warning number from memory) from the edge. You might be able to hand file the edge sufficienty.

I agree and disagree with you guys about punishment. When I was a teenager I did a lot of stupid things myself. I got the belt the odd time when I was small. All it taught me was don't get caught. On the otherhand this resulted in "don't do it" or "do it less". I guess corporal punishment works did work (I am undecided).

I agree that it is important that kids don't get away unpunished. Perhaps explaining the consequence of his actions would be a good idea. Tell him about the labor that went into making the knife, the cost, and the journey to reach you door step. Then come up with a solution together (make him fix it after all you cousin did break it). Perhaps he should file the edge down and sharpen it for you. At least he could try.

Concrete contains sand and rocks. The inconsistent composition is hard on the blade. There is data on hardness of rocks. I'll see if I can find it.

Will
 
James
How old is he?Lucky he didn't do worse.
Tell me more about the chips.How deep,how close together?Sounds like a job for Terry.

------------------
Ray
 

My cousin is 16, and REALLY REALLY ought to know better. He's not touching any of my collection again...

As for the chips, well, Im at work right now and dont have the khukuri handy... I will measure and reply when I get back though.

Thanks for the suggestion.. who's Terry, by the way?

J
 
Alright, Im home, time for a damage report:

the chips occur unevenly, with the chips deeper on the right side of the edge (right as in when holding the khukuri belly down).There are 4 major chips in total, which is amazing considering I found 5 chips in the wall.

From nearest to the tip to the handle, I'll label these chips in order from 1 to 4

chip #1 looks to be less than 1mm deep, but rolls into another chip of a similar size, as if the metal of the edge slanted inwards.
It looks as if it is actually formed by two small chips.

Chip #2 is about 2 cms away from 1, further down the blade, and is the deepest one of all. It is about 1/4 inch into the blade.

Chip #3 occurs 1.4 cms or so down the blade from #2, and looks to be about twice that of #1, though occupying more space on the edge.

Chip #4 is about another 1.5 cms or so from #3 and looks to be 1/5 inch or so deep.

THere are also 3 minor chips (barely noticeable) about 2.5 inches above chip # 1. I suspect that's where the 5th chip in the wall came from.

It is a small consolation (and valuable 'test data' :-/) to know that the sirupati gave better than it got vs the wall. I checked the chips in the wall for the damage, and the chips were anywhere from 1.5-2.5 cms deep and about 3 cms wide.

Hope this has been of use...

J
 
James try to get pix of the wall. Who knows, this kid cousin may provide us with some heretofore unknown test results. If HI khukuris beat concrete then there is little question about the strength and quality. As I often say sometimes what appears to be a curse often turns into a blessing. Who but a teen age crazy cousin would ask any knife to challenge concrete?

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (18,000+ posts)

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 08-25-2000).]
 
... the kid decides to see how tough this blade was and *banged it against the concrete wall in my back yard*!! ...
Click to expand...
James --- you're very lucky because your teenager cousin still use his common sense in doing blade toughness test --- just imagine ....
... the kid decides to see how tough this blade was and *banged it against heads of few local kids who happened playing in my back yard*!! ...
Click to expand...
Anyhow; in your case --- your teenager cousin is much much more valuable than your Chiruwa Sirupati --- I guess some loving & caring education might work to make him appreciate more of anything arround him --- sorry about your Chiruwa Sirupati!

NEPAL H
cool.gif
!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top