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December calendar
- Thread starter John Powell
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Ooooooiyahooooooiyehooooiyoooo! It's sure a luvly beast!
TQ John ... pls keep on tickling all of us with this sort of Hanshee picts till DannyinJapan's thread "Hanshee list- we need one more guy!" end up with a fruitfull result and our dream to own hanshees become a reality!
TQ John ... pls keep on tickling all of us with this sort of Hanshee picts till DannyinJapan's thread "Hanshee list- we need one more guy!" end up with a fruitfull result and our dream to own hanshees become a reality!
This is another fine looking khuk. From the side it looks like a full-curve type of hanshee, with some curve in the handle. It is difficult to tell from the picture, but this one may have a partial tang - one which is not peened to a keeper on the butt.
Alot of the older khuks seem to be this way, but I am developing some suspicions as to their strength. From an engineering standpoint, if the handle is curved and the tang does not extend all the way through the curve, the handle is likely to break under the stress of blade impact.
Possibly some of the hanshee tangs were curved and extended past the curve in the handle, but this would have required boring or burning a curved channel. If any of the old kamis actually accomplished this they were indeed masters of the trade, but I'm betting most of them stopped short of the curve.
It has been said elsewhere that handles occasionally snapped off at the midway point where the tang ended. AC's apparently substantial supply of antique replacement handles suggests this may have happened with some frequency.
So, I just wonder what people like Bura and Kumar think when they are asked for a hanshee with a curved handle. Maybe they will fire up for the task, but maybe they would regard us as we would regard someone 150 years hence who holds up a chrome-plated Honor Guard rifle used in 2003 and asks: "Why don't they make fine looking rifles like this anymore?"
Alot of the older khuks seem to be this way, but I am developing some suspicions as to their strength. From an engineering standpoint, if the handle is curved and the tang does not extend all the way through the curve, the handle is likely to break under the stress of blade impact.
Possibly some of the hanshee tangs were curved and extended past the curve in the handle, but this would have required boring or burning a curved channel. If any of the old kamis actually accomplished this they were indeed masters of the trade, but I'm betting most of them stopped short of the curve.
It has been said elsewhere that handles occasionally snapped off at the midway point where the tang ended. AC's apparently substantial supply of antique replacement handles suggests this may have happened with some frequency.
So, I just wonder what people like Bura and Kumar think when they are asked for a hanshee with a curved handle. Maybe they will fire up for the task, but maybe they would regard us as we would regard someone 150 years hence who holds up a chrome-plated Honor Guard rifle used in 2003 and asks: "Why don't they make fine looking rifles like this anymore?"
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Another great looking khuk.
Thanks John.
of the curved grip.
I have a couple of Chinese Dao that have curved tangs.
Doesn't seem to be a problem,
though it is a -little- more work to fit the handle.
The cheap way is to drill a slightly oversize hole
from each end to the middle.
The tang easily slides through the 'curve'.
I think with 3-4 curved iron rods of standard tang shape
heated in the forge in rotation, one could burn
a curved channel through the handle that fit
even more tightly than the best drill hole;
And do it in a very few minutes.
If the end is peened & the space filled with laha,
it should be fine.
Thanks John.
Some here have commented on the extra-nice comfort / firmness
of the curved grip.
I have a couple of Chinese Dao that have curved tangs.
Doesn't seem to be a problem,
though it is a -little- more work to fit the handle.
The cheap way is to drill a slightly oversize hole
from each end to the middle.
The tang easily slides through the 'curve'.
I think with 3-4 curved iron rods of standard tang shape
heated in the forge in rotation, one could burn
a curved channel through the handle that fit
even more tightly than the best drill hole;
And do it in a very few minutes.
If the end is peened & the space filled with laha,
it should be fine.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 1999
- Messages
- 1,440
I picked this hanshee not because of its quality (it isn't a very great example) but because of the unique reverse sided scabbard and all the quill work applied. I would be willing to bet that this one does have a different grip than was originally applied. The bolster is quite crude, but the "new" grip was probably put on in the 1st quarter of the 19thc as the patina and fitting all indicate age. The sangli is a replacement, but the ring is original silver. Both the chape and the locket are of good silver sheet that has fine embossed, debossed and engraved designs applied.
A true hanshee has a fully curved, slender grip that is supported by a tang that goes about a third of the way into the grip if not less. Very few early kukris have a full tang. The few that I have been able to have x-rayed or used a magnetic detector to check lengths
shows remarkably short tangs that have held up for at least a century.
I have seen very few of these knives with replacement grips and I don't think "likely to break" is applicable. I don't have a rational engineering example to give, but these things were just well made enough that they don't break as occasionally as was previously stated.
The grips being offered by AC are not replacement grips but ones found that had not been fitted to the blades. Of the field replacements I have studied there are a remarkable amount of variations and methods. Many of which have held up for 100 years or more.
A true hanshee has a fully curved, slender grip that is supported by a tang that goes about a third of the way into the grip if not less. Very few early kukris have a full tang. The few that I have been able to have x-rayed or used a magnetic detector to check lengths
shows remarkably short tangs that have held up for at least a century.
I have seen very few of these knives with replacement grips and I don't think "likely to break" is applicable. I don't have a rational engineering example to give, but these things were just well made enough that they don't break as occasionally as was previously stated.
The grips being offered by AC are not replacement grips but ones found that had not been fitted to the blades. Of the field replacements I have studied there are a remarkable amount of variations and methods. Many of which have held up for 100 years or more.
Your comments are much appreciated and enlightening as always. I hadn't even noticed that was a left-handed scabbard!
The short tang issue is something I have been thinking about lately in light of AC's offering of separate blades and handle blanks. It isn't necessarily that much cheaper to go that route to get an older khuk. However, the sum of parts has less antique status than a "whole" khuk, and therefore a few dings would be less of a catastrophy.
If shorter tangs are a non-issue, that is encouraging. Possibly with some JB Weld and a pin through the tang the end result could be fairly substantial.
Also, the bolster on the "December" khuk appears to be a band of metal wrapped around the handle, similar to the mini-bolsters on antique kardas. Such a bolster might be doable for a 10-thumbed fellow like me.
The short tang issue is something I have been thinking about lately in light of AC's offering of separate blades and handle blanks. It isn't necessarily that much cheaper to go that route to get an older khuk. However, the sum of parts has less antique status than a "whole" khuk, and therefore a few dings would be less of a catastrophy.
If shorter tangs are a non-issue, that is encouraging. Possibly with some JB Weld and a pin through the tang the end result could be fairly substantial.
Also, the bolster on the "December" khuk appears to be a band of metal wrapped around the handle, similar to the mini-bolsters on antique kardas. Such a bolster might be doable for a 10-thumbed fellow like me.