Charcoal cost. Or, how much charcoal can a charcoalchuck chuck.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
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Here's something I just learned from Pala while BSing this AM with him. He mentioned that charcoal was becoming harder to get and the cost was going up. He keeps track of EVERYTHING and has the cost of charcoal per knife.

A "small" khukuri requires a dollar in charcoal to make.

A "big" khukuri takes 3 bucks worth of charcoal.

Another one of those "everything you ever wanted to know about khukuri making" jewels.
 
I find this a bit amusing, the fact that you guys spend as much on charcoal and or leather as other places in Nepal(according to stuff I read, I think in the khukuri faq, about 6 months ago) as other shops will sell finished products for. Gee, it sounds like somebody isn't bothering to properly harden their products. ;)
 
Or perhaps it could be (I Dunno) that Birgorka make the best Khukuris coming out of Nepal today. Man, where did I read that before?;) :p :D

The funny thing is that more than likely I'll remember that nugget of information and it will replace something I should remember. It'll go something like this, " Craig, should we cut the blue wire or the Ray-ud un (sorry ) to deactivate the nuclear device? UMMMM....Did you know it only takes 1Lb of charcoal to make a small bladed khukuri and 3 Lbs. to make a large one....ARRRRGGGGHHHHH...KA-Boom"

Thankfully I don't have any nuclear nowledge!

Sorry about the rambling. I had my William Faulkner stream of consiousness cereal for breakfast.

-Craig
 
Bladesmiths here are using gas more and more, and the traditional smiths are finding a dwindling fuel supply. A bag of Kingsford burns well on the grill, but doesn't last long in a drafted forge. The old oak forge variety isn't made as widely, and the wood is more valuable for other things as it is used up. There was a time when, in Spain, you could find charcoal makers along the road, and burns up in the hills where they had been. They lived along a curcuit, where they made their burns, loaded their product on a donkey, sold it as they traveled, stopped to restock and continued on. I wonder if a charcoal fired shop like BirGorkha could break even in a gas and electric society.
 
Ah, the charcoal trade!

When we had our home in the West Indies the trade worked like this:

One of the local people was in a charcoal making mood (used for cooking, mostly - no khuks made there).

We had some trees on the property marked as available for cutting.

He cut the tree, removed the wood to his work area, and converted it to charcoal.

He kept half, we got half.

One of our the local villagers had his sister take our share to town, and sell it in the market at a little less than the going rate (or so I was told).

He kept half of the proceeds, we got the other half.

Ecology was served (we only selected trees that were in bad shape), the maker got charcoal to do with as he wanted, and the economy gained a few E.C.s (local currency).

Life was simpler then!

JimF
 
Most village kamis get their charcoal by working remnants of forest fires. Commerical charcoal is getting scarcer and scarcer with accompanying price increases simply because of deforestation in Nepal. They are going to HAVE to stop cutting down the trees or the entire nothern part of the country is going to wash down the mountains into the middle hills.

I suggested to Pala that he send a truck to India and bring back charcoal by the truckload or else convert to gas driven forges which would be another first for BirGorkha.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
Here's something I just learned from Pala while BSing this AM with him. He mentioned that charcoal was becoming harder to get and the cost was going up. He keeps track of EVERYTHING and has the cost of charcoal per knife.

A "small" khukuri requires a dollar in charcoal to make.

A "big" khukuri takes 3 bucks worth of charcoal.

Another one of those "everything you ever wanted to know about khukuri making" jewels.
Click to expand...

charcoal-making used to be a big 'industry' anywhere smithing went on (and obviously still is places).

I would much prefer that HI keeps charcoal rather than gas even if it means higher prices (but then you know I'm a purist & traditionalist ;) ).

JimF - I liked your West Indian rememberance, by the way. :) Why couldn't more things be that way?....

B.
 
As a mean of enforcing deforestation laws I know that certain types of wood are not allowed past checkpoints into the Kathmandu Valley and I'm hoping this will not extend to charcoal in the future. If it does it will mean bringing it up by truck from India or going to gas. Stay tuned.
 
Uncle,

We could just send them an e-mail containing some of the BS on the forum, you know... after it has had awhile to dry some. I dont know how well cow chips work on a forge though. :rolleyes:

Another idea is just send Jim over there...he is full of hot air and all kinds of foul flammable gas! :p ;)
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
Now that's an idea.
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Hehehehe, better than that just hook up a methane generator to the BirGhorka charpi.:eek: :p :rolleyes:
Instant *Free* fuel for gas forges!!!!:cool: :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Yvsa



Hehehehe, better than that just hook up a methane generator to the BirGhorka charpi.:eek: :p :rolleyes:
Instant *Free* fuel for gas forges!!!!:cool: :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Hey Yvsa, that's not a bad idea. I've heared of people doing that and getting pretty descent results.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
I'm afraid of that one, Bro. That would probably blow BirGorkha off the face of the map.
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:) he he he he he. Maybe I have a strange sence of humor because I found that extremly funny. BTW I'm a Janator at the local college and have cleaned up some pretty naisty restrooms. One was so bad after a Football game, I think if some one had lit a match in there it would have blown up.:eek::eek: One of the Girls on my crew almost fainted it was soooo bad.:barf::barf: And for some reason she didn't eat a meal on our next break either.
 
Sorry to hear about the cost of charcoal. Is that $US?

Will changing to a gas fired furnace not affect the working conditions (likely a reducing atmosphere) in the forge?

Will
 
That's the cost in US dollars.

If we have to move to gas I think the kamis will catch on in just a couple of tries. They learned to use electric hand drills, fans, motors up to 2 HP with little trouble.

Heber, I've never fainted or been knocked out in my life but as I mentioned the first Nepali charpi I went into almost did both to me. And the BirGorkha charpi is the worst of the worst.
 
Originally posted by MauiRob
From Charcoal to Charpis. These threads do move around a bit:D
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This is what I meant by "malleable topic threads". Sometimes they are lead by karma, and cause a solution to be envisioned.......by those with sight:eek:

Go to gas fired forges, and dump a truck-load of charcoal down the charpis:D :rolleyes:
 
And I think it was me, as usual, who HAD to comment on the BirGorkha charpi -- only because I have nighmares about it.
 
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