First Real Khukuri OK, what or how is the Chakma used?

Bors

Bors

Joined
Mar 23, 2000
Messages
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I just recieved my first real Khukri The 15 inch Ang Khola. I say real because my first Kukri was made in India. It's now taking up space in a land fill enough said.

I would like to toss a couple of questions out everybody.

What is or how is the Chakma used?

Th Chakma is refered to as a "Burnishing Tool" what does that mean?

What is the best way to sharpen the Ang Khola?
 
Check the khukuri FAQ on the Himalayan Imports website, if not I'm sure some of the shapening experts will drop by to help. I'll tell you what I can though: the chakma is used to "reallign" the edge on the khukuri, much like a non-course butcher's steel does. Basically, the edge gets blunted or rounded over in one direction or the other, and the chakma, when run along the edge(much like you would use a sharpening rod) pushes the steel back into place---restoring the edge back to sharpness. Of course, sometimes if you really dull the edge you may have to sharpen some with a regular sharpener (in this area I will definitely defer to the other forumites!). But for "field dressing" a Khukuri edge back to working sharpness, the chakma can't be beat. Best of all, it doesn't remove steel from the blade like a sharpening rod does. So, over the years a burnished blade won't shrink nearly as much as a constantly "sharpened" one will. Hope this helps.

Also, try the chakma as a final edge honing tool on other knives---I've been able to get some knives RAZOR sharp that I previously couldn't put a decent edge on otherwise.

Oh, and I almost forgot--Welcome!!!

Rob
 
Landfill!!!! what a waste. I found that my cheap Indian made blade is very good for "scooping" the dirty cat litter out of the box.
 
As a "casual" khukuri user, and definitely a non-expert, I've found Spyderco's Sharpmaker to be great at sharpening a khukuri, as with most other knives. Once you've got the sharpness you want (intial sharpening), and the chakma doesn't bring it back, it doesn't take much effort with the Sharpmaker to bring the edge back.

You might want to do a search on sharpening, I asked the same question (sharpening, not chakma) awhile back and got some very good advice from the experts.
 
The Bladeforums FAQ and the Kukuri FAQ are two good places to look at as well in reference to this.

According to the khuk FAQ, there are two basic ways to sharpen a kukuri (after steeling with the chakma fails to return a decent edge). You can go with the traditional convex grind, or reprofile the edge to a flat grind. For the differences between these two, look at the bladeforms FAQ under....uhm...blade geometry or edge profile or something. But I asked this same question a few weeks ago and what was basically said was this:

the convex grind is how the knife was made, and how it is traditionally resharpened. It has the advantages of being more functional (it chops better and over the long haul you remove less steel and,since the overall edge is thick, you probably get dull less often). It is, however, harder to do.

the flat grind is how we americans usually sharpen our knives. Its very easy to do with a sharpening system, it will perform probably almost as well as a convex grind for chopping tasks, but it will use more steel and possibly need resharpening more often.

I don't find the last disadvantage to be all that big of a deal, really...unless you plan on using your khukuri 18 hours a day, every day, for the rest of your life, you probably will never even notice the 'wasted' steel. Also, I find the fact that the convex grind is the traditional grind very very important...its a khukuri...its how it was meant to be sharpened...nuff said. But, thats me.

Now, how do you do both? I have yet to attempt the convex grind, but there has been some discussion here of how to do it. I won't try to explain.
wink.gif


BTW, this post is likely full of minor errors or things that I have misunderstood...so if some other more knowledgible forumite disagrees, listen to him.
wink.gif


Mike


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"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
 
Definitely read the FAQ's and do the searches. Once you've done that, Mike's two answers are close enough for government work, but you can choose knowlegeably. Good summation Mike. And welcome to the HI Cantina and stagestop, Bors.

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In spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of what;
The older man the whole year through has never once forgot.

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 04-21-2000).]
 
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