- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
- Messages
- 887
Some weeks ago, I received another happily-awaited box from our gracious hostess. (Thanks!) Inside was one of the more-beautiful khukuris I think I've ever seen: a tin chirra with a nice, polished walnut handle--made by Vim, I think (Nepali flag mark, recently purchased). The fullers catch light beautifully; the blade shape is nice; the chiruwa handle says it's going to be hard to break; the edge geometry is nice, and it even came quite sharp right out of the box. My intention was to use it enough to make sure everything was in order, then oil it up and save it for when one of the kids gets old enough to appreciate such things. I love Himalayan Imports' stuff, and perceive these knives as something my kids can use as hard-use outdoor knives until they pass them down to their own kids. (Hey, with 5 kids, that's an excuse to buy plenty of knives, eh?)
On one such outdoor visit, after a number of chops of the usual hardwood firewood, I glanced at the edge and noticed a bit of a wave or bend in the edge, right about at the sweet spot. I kind of didn't want to believe it, and turned the blade to catch the light. Definitely a bit of a bend. Hmm.
Took the karda and, after some muscular effort, steeled it back to where the dent wasn't too visible. Maybe I'd just misjudged where the hard zone is supposed to be on the blade. I half forgot about it.
Last weekend, took the knife back out and used it for lopping half-inch branches from a bough of soft pine. Blade was nice and sharp, and, again, the blade shape was excellent. Took it in to clean off the pine sap, scrubbed away for a few minutes with a plastic scrubber--and then noticed that the edge was rolled to one side for a few inches, over an area that included pretty much anywhere you'd expect to find hard steel on a khukuri.
Now, this surprises me. I'd never run into this before--edges might roll, but usually off in the meant-to-be-softer parts of the blades, rather than the zone mid-way between the curve and the tip. I've got to admit that I may be looking at a heat-treat issue.
I suppose it might be possible that the polishing has drawn some of the hardness from the very surface of the blade, and that there might be harder steel down in there somewhere. But I'm not too sure--that first dent wasn't just edge-of-the-edge stuff.
I'm posting this for two reasons. First, I'm interested in asking those of you who've run into khukuris that are hard down within, but polish-softened at the very edge: how deep, in your experience, does one have to get into the blade before getting to the hardened steel? Am I dealing with an excellent blade that just needs some steel removed, or did our young kami Vim (who, in other respects, seems able to put together a really impressive knife) maybe miss with the teapot full of quenching water?
Second, I'm just kind of interested in keeping everybody up to speed on the knives, in sort of a field-test way. I figure if this is a common problem, everybody from Vim on down will benefit from knowing, so they can adjust the heat-treatment. It's a great knife, both shape-wise and looks-wise, and kind of a shame to have anything but highest praise for it and the smith who made it.
On one such outdoor visit, after a number of chops of the usual hardwood firewood, I glanced at the edge and noticed a bit of a wave or bend in the edge, right about at the sweet spot. I kind of didn't want to believe it, and turned the blade to catch the light. Definitely a bit of a bend. Hmm.
Took the karda and, after some muscular effort, steeled it back to where the dent wasn't too visible. Maybe I'd just misjudged where the hard zone is supposed to be on the blade. I half forgot about it.
Last weekend, took the knife back out and used it for lopping half-inch branches from a bough of soft pine. Blade was nice and sharp, and, again, the blade shape was excellent. Took it in to clean off the pine sap, scrubbed away for a few minutes with a plastic scrubber--and then noticed that the edge was rolled to one side for a few inches, over an area that included pretty much anywhere you'd expect to find hard steel on a khukuri.
Now, this surprises me. I'd never run into this before--edges might roll, but usually off in the meant-to-be-softer parts of the blades, rather than the zone mid-way between the curve and the tip. I've got to admit that I may be looking at a heat-treat issue.
I suppose it might be possible that the polishing has drawn some of the hardness from the very surface of the blade, and that there might be harder steel down in there somewhere. But I'm not too sure--that first dent wasn't just edge-of-the-edge stuff.
I'm posting this for two reasons. First, I'm interested in asking those of you who've run into khukuris that are hard down within, but polish-softened at the very edge: how deep, in your experience, does one have to get into the blade before getting to the hardened steel? Am I dealing with an excellent blade that just needs some steel removed, or did our young kami Vim (who, in other respects, seems able to put together a really impressive knife) maybe miss with the teapot full of quenching water?
Second, I'm just kind of interested in keeping everybody up to speed on the knives, in sort of a field-test way. I figure if this is a common problem, everybody from Vim on down will benefit from knowing, so they can adjust the heat-treatment. It's a great knife, both shape-wise and looks-wise, and kind of a shame to have anything but highest praise for it and the smith who made it.
