First Dasein tang failure.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
As most of you know who have been with us for a few years every year at Dasein we get about four tang failures. For those who are new this is the way it goes. The kamis get in a hurry trying to build some inventory to last us through the Dasein shutdown and they get the top part of the tang too hard which causes the failure -- this comes from rushing the hardening process and getting things cooled where they shouldn't be. It doesn't do any good to complain -- I have and it still happens every year.

Ryan's BAS was the first casualty this year and I look for maybe 3 more if history repeats itself as it always does. I have not seen the knife but I'll bet it broke at the bolster and where it broke will look like a fracture -- Uneven and gritty break. Tell me if I'm right or wrong, Ryan. I've been going through this every year for 14 years now so I have a good idea what happens and why.

Advice: Give your knife a serious workout when you get a new one this time of year, just before Dasein. Better to fail on a log in your back yard than in the field when you might really need it. If the tang is going to fail it will usually do so in the first 15 to 30 minutes of hard work -- so test your blades for the next two or three weeks. When we get our first "after" Dasein shipment there will be no more failures.

I apologize to Ryan and the three others who will experience a tang failure in the next couple of weeks.
 
The good news is Ryan's knife is already sold. I got email asking for it.

The fix for this tang failure is a fairly easy one. Remove the handle and weld the tang back together. Any welder worth his salt can do the job in 10 minutes and shouldn't charge more than ten or fifteen bucks and the welding anneals the tang so its back soft where it should be and it'll never fail again. In fact, I think almost all tang failures have been repaired and are all in the field working away with no further problems. When I had access to the shop I welded a few failures myself and if I can do it anybody can do it who knows how to turn on a welding machine. The biggest hassle is getting the handle off and back on again but that shouldn't take more than an hour.

Bro, didn't you and your cousin put a failed tang back together again?
 
Bro I had hopes that we wouldn't see that this year. Dayum!!!!
Oh well, as you say, "Every year about this time..."

Bro we sure did. A 20" Sirupati and it's still going strong. And is as pretty as ever with the exception of a scar or three.:)
 
I think DanK fixed a couple for guys who didn't want to part with the knives they got and these are still going strong, too. I guess if you have to have a failure the tang is the best one to have. It's an easy fix and never comes back to haunt you again and that's an option for the three others that I know are coming. If you like the knife and want to keep it we can send it to Terry at the sarki shop for repair. I think he fixed up a couple, too.
 
It's a Hindu religious holiday -- lasts about 2 weeks give or take a little. There's some pix of the festivities somewhere on the forum.
 
Do the kamis get sloppy because they're looking forward to daesin? Or is it becase they're rushing to make extra stock?
 
Originally posted by BruiseLeee
Do the kamis get sloppy because they're looking forward to daesin? Or is it becase they're rushing to make extra stock?
Click to expand...

Bruise it's your 2nd reason,
"Or is it becase they're rushing to make extra stock?"
Click to expand...

This is the long answer.;)

The kamis hurry like hell to keep Uncle supplied up with extra khukuris to make up for the 2 weeks they're off that they get careless from being in a hurry.
And that always creates a worse problem because Uncle Bill has to take the brunt of the customer's disatisfaction besides the extra expense of replacing a few failed khuks that wouldn't have failed if the kamis had just taken it a bit slower.
This is really bad because when any business has a failed product, in this case perhaps someone new to the world of khukuris or only experience with the tourist junk then decides the H.I.Khukuri's aren't any better, and then starts spouting off that info to their friend's and then there friends and so on.....
A company's reputation is the best advertiseing there is, Or in some cases like this, The absolute Worst!!!!
And that's even if Uncle Bill bends over backwards to please a new customer sometimes.
There is no placateing some people and the more one tries to satisfy them the more it becomes impossible.
I learned that from working with the public for many years.

For those of us who have been even short time customers a failed khuk isn't the end of the world, because we absolutely know it will be replaced.
But then again it may be a khuk that realy struck a chord in one of us and then there's no replacing that particular khuk as they're all different and then Uncle Bill feels worse than he normally
would.
The big problem is that Uncle Bill still feels it's his responsibility and that's why he gets so dayumed angry at the kamis as he has told them repeatedly that he had rather have fewer khukuris and have them done right than to have even one failure.
The kamis work on the premise that since the khukuri is going to be replaced for free, then what's the big deal?
Nepal Ho!!!!
Just one of the hazards of dealing with a factory that's not only 12,000 miles away, but a whole totally different culture that has a totally different outlook on life.

That about it Bro?:)
 
So, after 12 years we shouldn't be expecting any big changes.

What's the percentage of failures per year average ?
 
Bro, you've worked in a shop so you know what happens when you hurry. It never pays and gives great credence to the old saying, "haste makes waste." Hurry and "short cuts" are the worst hazards in the shop -- to both men and product, I might ad.

We get three or four tang failures per year, all of them at Dasein. Percentage wise failure rate is about .1 percent. It's only about one in a thousand and we are able to save every failure but it is still unacceptable to me because it could have been avoided if they didn't hurry.
 
Yep, I was the unlucky one. I was going to sink the BAS into a stump to take a picture, once the blade hit, SNAP. The blade was in the stump and the handle was still in my hand. I had to laugh at first, I thought it might be my superhuman strength:D But once I emailed Uncle Bill he told me of Daesin and the problem assosiated with some of the khuks made before the holiday. It was a slight blow to learn that it really wasn't my superpowers. Well at least I'll be getting a new khukuri:D
I am sure some customers might think bad of HI products because of this kind of thing, but I don't. These kind of things can happen, especially when you have handmade products. This incident actually makes me want more HI khukuris because I know Uncle Bill will stand behind them. I will soon be the proud owner of a Chiruwa, I'll test my Hercules like strength on it and post the results:)

Thanks again Uncle Bill,

Ryan
 
Uncle, when does Dasein begin this year? I've read that it doesn't always begin on the same day every year...just around the same time of year though. So I was just wondering when it was starting this year so I can show off my higher intellect to my coworkers.
 
It started last week but I'm not sure of what day. I think it depends on the lunar calendar is the reason it comes at different times each year.
 
Yep, the first time I sunk it in the log. It was a sudden snap, before I hit the stump there was nothing that would have indicated a problem. I probably should have tested it when it first came but since I live in an apartment in the city I had to wait for the weekend to give it a good run through. When I get the next I will immediately rap it on a few things.

Ryan
 
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