Bless Shanker's heart

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
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Every one of the kamis at Bir Ghorka are master craftsmen in their own right, but there's just something about young Shanker's interpretation of a 12" AK that puts a grin on my face every time. The boy's got 'em down cold. The 12" AK blem by him I just picked up is no exception, sweet little work khuk to carry on the belt all day long. At an ounce an inch it floats like a feather in the hand, but the weight's where it needs to be, as I discovered by effortlessly chopping through a 2 x 4 with it. I like it so much I immediately made it a set of accessory knives to replace the karda and chakma. Both ground from files with handles of whitetail antler, one a wicked little wharncliffe, the other an upswept skinner. I polish the spines of my little "reti-kardas" glass smooth, and use them in place of a chakma. No time to fancy up the scabbard on this one, come daybreak tommorrow it'll be hard at work earning it's keep. Yessir, bless young Shanker's heart, this little 12" field knife of a khukuri is squared away and good to go.

Sarge
 
I don't have any thing by him but, I you think he is that good now, what do you think he'll be like in another 5 or 10 yrs?:)
 
Sarge, doggone it, I saw that 12" AK just a little too late! I'm sure wanting one, after reading the stuff you write about 'em. I just gave away my Kumar Karda, so I need to replace that too!

Then again, this 18" Chitlangi is a dandy, handle big enough for my hands, long enough to shift grips, heavy enough to chop and light enough for field use. I suppose I'll miss it too when it heads out to snake-eater land...

Dang.

Stephen
 
Shanker does quite a job on the monsters too. He is the one who tempered the blade of my 20" AK, and I'm regarding that as the "standard" for khuk hardness. It was with some relief that I noticed my new Bura-made GRS sweet spot makes the same sound when tapped with a nail as Shanker's.

I'm also in the process of grinding up some "reti" kardas too. Those AC antique kardas are hard enough, but so far I have busted the handles off two of them. It was not due to old, rotten wood either - the blades have tangs only 1/2" - 3/4" long, which necessitates the metal bolsters they all have. The tangs are obviously "burned in" to the handles, which is probably why they are so short. So, I'm currently studying a stack of deer antlers, trying to decide where the karda handles are among them.
 
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