- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
After several days of thrashing the blackberries, my hands are rapidly becoming useless for rough work. Today, while digging thorns out of my flesh with an awl (some of which had been there since yesterday), I realized that it was time for a new project. Nevermind that I already have several unfinished projects pending - they can wait.
My 20" siru, lovingly crafted by !, was my favorite khukuri for quite some time. It's got a habaki bolster and one of the creepiest chos that I've yet seen but regardless, it cut well, took and held a good edge, and featured an uncommon heat treat for the time period in which I bought it - ! had hardened the thing from the tip clear back to the bend.
Needless to say, I really beat the hell out of this one.
The handle was going on it. It was missing small pieces, had cracked lengthwise, and was getting difficult to hold on to - in fact, while cutting the brush today I made the mistake of wearing gloves and actually "threw the khuk" twice - my first time completely losing control of a khukuri due to handle slippage, and hopefully my last time.
Well, I know how to rehandle, technically. (I read all about it in the FAQ so I guess I know.) And I did see Hollowdweller do it once last summer. And there were those madrona staves in my carport that wouldn't be worth a damn as spear shafts...and the existing handle was already trashed. Why not?
The plan was this: remove the existing hardware, salvaging the buttcap and most of the bolster. The bolster's top edge would be nipped off and it would go back on as a traditional bolster, losing its habaki status. (I considered doing some grinding on the ricasso to eliminate the cho creep but !'s kami mark would be lost, so the ricasso stays as it is.) The bolster would then be cold worked with a mallet until it fit properly. A suitable piece of madrona would be cut to fit, worked down, and the entire thing would be reassembled.
How the poor thing looked:
How the poor thing looks now:
Removing the handle was a serious PITA. The laha is no joke. I bent the bejeezus out of the buttcap getting it off but managed to pound it more or less flat on a conveniantly close piece of firewood.
I got the bolster to fit as well as it's going to. The cho is still very creepy but it'll be a half inch less creepier than it was and the bolster will look better to boot. The handle will also grow a bit. It took quite a bit of tapping with a rubber mallet to get it right.
I found a perfect piece of madrona that somehow hadn't cracked through the summer. It will get drilled and fitted for the tang tomorrow. I might even manage to sand it to shape as well.
This is turning into a much bigger project than I'd expected that it would be but, oddly enough, I feel very confident. I've already overcome every problem that's come my way so far and I have a very coherent plan in my head for how I'm going to do the rest. I think that this will turn out okay.
This is, of course, the fault of you forumites. A lot of you are helping me with this and most of you probably don't even realize it...but thank you anyway.
My 20" siru, lovingly crafted by !, was my favorite khukuri for quite some time. It's got a habaki bolster and one of the creepiest chos that I've yet seen but regardless, it cut well, took and held a good edge, and featured an uncommon heat treat for the time period in which I bought it - ! had hardened the thing from the tip clear back to the bend.
Needless to say, I really beat the hell out of this one.
The handle was going on it. It was missing small pieces, had cracked lengthwise, and was getting difficult to hold on to - in fact, while cutting the brush today I made the mistake of wearing gloves and actually "threw the khuk" twice - my first time completely losing control of a khukuri due to handle slippage, and hopefully my last time.
Well, I know how to rehandle, technically. (I read all about it in the FAQ so I guess I know.) And I did see Hollowdweller do it once last summer. And there were those madrona staves in my carport that wouldn't be worth a damn as spear shafts...and the existing handle was already trashed. Why not?
The plan was this: remove the existing hardware, salvaging the buttcap and most of the bolster. The bolster's top edge would be nipped off and it would go back on as a traditional bolster, losing its habaki status. (I considered doing some grinding on the ricasso to eliminate the cho creep but !'s kami mark would be lost, so the ricasso stays as it is.) The bolster would then be cold worked with a mallet until it fit properly. A suitable piece of madrona would be cut to fit, worked down, and the entire thing would be reassembled.
How the poor thing looked:
How the poor thing looks now:
Removing the handle was a serious PITA. The laha is no joke. I bent the bejeezus out of the buttcap getting it off but managed to pound it more or less flat on a conveniantly close piece of firewood.
I got the bolster to fit as well as it's going to. The cho is still very creepy but it'll be a half inch less creepier than it was and the bolster will look better to boot. The handle will also grow a bit. It took quite a bit of tapping with a rubber mallet to get it right.
I found a perfect piece of madrona that somehow hadn't cracked through the summer. It will get drilled and fitted for the tang tomorrow. I might even manage to sand it to shape as well.
This is turning into a much bigger project than I'd expected that it would be but, oddly enough, I feel very confident. I've already overcome every problem that's come my way so far and I have a very coherent plan in my head for how I'm going to do the rest. I think that this will turn out okay.
This is, of course, the fault of you forumites. A lot of you are helping me with this and most of you probably don't even realize it...but thank you anyway.
