Atlanta Cutlery Nepal Kardas

ddean

ddean

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
Messages
3,397
How about some snapshots of the kardas that
people have been receiving in their orders?
 
Ddean:

Well, I got my 20-piece bucket yesterday, and it turned out to be 19 kardas and one chakmak. Totally they are twenty different shapes, sizes and lengths. If these are the result of mass production, they must have had a mass of guys making them one at a time.

As you may be able to see on the pics, they are just a little bit rusty and the handles look like handle-shaped pieces of mud. However, under all of that is solid wood and good, hard steel.

One of the Kardas had a loose blade which came out of the handle with a glob of what might be laha on it. It is not a big problem, but this one will be farthest back on the burner for clean-up/repair. All of the other ones are very solid.

Check out the chakmak though. Recently JDP mentioned that chakmaks are supposed to be rough for striking sparks, and this one is definately that. It has file teeth on one side and rasp teeth on the other. I knocked the bigger chunks of rust off it with a wire brush, and it did indeed throw sparks like a well-hardened frizzen.

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Apparently I'm only getting one picture to post at a time - so here's the file side of that chakmak.
 
Here are some cleaned up a little bit. All are stamped with a "6" or "9" depending on how you look at it. Could be a "p" or "q" also.
 
That rasp chakmak seems to show up around the late 19thc. Like many Asian armouries much of the work was "jobbed out". I think that is the case here where the the scabbards, adjoining pouches, kardas & chakmaks came from the many individuals & forges scattered throughout the Kathmandu Valley.

Of the many kardas I have seen from AC there have only been a few identifiable "patterns". The most interesting has been that clipped-tip type I showed a picture of. I am also impressed by how well made they are and look forward to hearing how many types of wood you find on yours Cliff. More pix after you clean them up?
 
Cliff, those are nice!:) It's interesting to see the Chakma. I also notice the only some of thesehave a notch. I guess many were made but few were "Cho"sen.:D
 
Originally posted by cliff355
I got my 20-piece bucket yesterday, and it turned out to be 19 kardas and one chakmak.
Click to expand...
I linked the pix into my initial post so I could see them more easily.

Nice.

If you click Quote on my post,
then select from the first [ img] to the last [ /img],
then Copy.
Press Back on browser to abort quoted reply.
Go to your first post & click Edit,
then click in your text to set the insertion point,
then Paste.
Save your edited post with the new img sections & you're done.

You can have them appear in your post & I'll delete them from mine.

Let's see more pix from others.


QUESTION: (jdp?) When do the chos appear on the kardas & chakmas?

Can the items be dated by this, or is it too variable?
 
I cannot with any precision tell you when chos appear. The early kardas were just small versions of the kukris or at least a smaller well made knife so logic would tell you they should be early items, but this isn't the case. It is just another unsolveable mystery about dates, designs and their place in any kind of time line. See the thread "Replacement kardas & chakmas" for some early designs.

Early chakmaks were plain very rough pieces of steel. They were shortened and grips added in the early 18thc. I put this picture up before, but here it is again.
chakmaks.jpg
 
I doubt it. These things may have started way back then, but this one was stuck into a mid 19thc traditional piece. I imagine since they are so functional and easier to make that any enterprising kami would still be knocking them out for a real, working kukri.

I am using the earliest models in the Kathmandu Museum as a guide since the earliest kukri there has a chakmak with a grip and it is supposedly early 18thc.

I have seen a very old kukri in the Wallace Collection that has both types and a very long karda. I would guess that one is early 18thc also.
 
Called AC today to order 5 of each. Ha! They are not set up to distinguish. The nice lady said, in effect, order so many pieces and see what you get. 1-9 at $250. 10-> at $2.00. So I ordered 10, and we shall see.

TAL
 
TAL
Is the price you note $2 each for the Karda?
If so the price must have gone up since Monday.
I placed an order for $1 each for over 10 units.
Tom
 
Lady on the phone said, "There was a mistake in the catalog." "The genius of capitaliism is to buy cheap and sell dear."

TAL
 
Originally posted by Thomas Linton
Lady on the phone said, "There was a mistake in the catalog."
Click to expand...
I'm confused. :rolleyes: (Very common.)
I finally received my catalog yesterday & the kardas are listed
as 2 for 2.50 (1.25 each)
& 10 for $20 (2.00 each)

OK, I see the discongruity in the catalog.

But,
TOB9595 said "I placed an order for $1 each for over 10 units."

So, ?, $1 each was a happy mistake by the order taker?
?

Guess so.
Anyone else get the better deal?
 
I think it was JDP who posted the info in another thread on kardas.
(the one where someone is asking if UB has spare kardas @ HI?)
That's where I first heard of them.
Placed the order Monday and the lady gave me a quote of $1 each.
Very pleasant Southern Belles. :)

I wouldn't be surprised if they're selling them much better than anticipated.
Bump it to $2 as they start to deplete or sell better than expected.
Tom
Not JDP but cliff355
who posted it HERE
 
Well, the catalog lists these kardas at the higher price, and when I called the price of $1 apiece was a pleasant surprise. I figured they weren't selling and the price had been lowered, so I didn't argue with the guy. IMHO they are still a good deal at $2 - if you want a karda.

Around these parts, if you put a whole crate of them out at a garage sale in the condition they are as shipped, I doubt most folks would give you a buck for the whole load. Also, I never see any old Kardas for sale on auction sites, so AC probably didn't know where to set the price.

Tomorrow is recycling day so I will be conducting a brief test of two HI Kardas v. two Hoary Old Army Kardas on some cardboard boxes. In the case of one of them, this might provide vindication of the HI product, but they are still good kardas for one or two bucks.
 
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