Foxy Folly Rings the Bell

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
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5,250
I got my Foxy Folly friday nite. I love the look of the blade. The wide, fullered look is probably my favorite. Paper cutting sharp. The handle was definately polished up more than a regular run khuk. I can't believe how light it is. Karda and chakma no better than normal (probably no worse either).

Yesterday I chopped brush and limbed some small maple trees. It works better than any other khuk I've used on light springy vines and works great on small limbs. It doesn't chop through bigger than 1-2" thick branches saplings as well as my 18" WWII (but that things a miracle blade).

The light weight and length allowed me to get into the "thicket" of brush and it didn't get bound up or unwieldy. By contrast, my 30" sirupati "crushed" the vines and limbs, more than cut them.

Oh yeah, the title of my thread, it rings like a tuning fork when you flick it with your fingernail.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
Interesting. My first FF rings, but the next 2 17" done to specs do not. Difference in tempering. Need to look and see who made mine. Who made yours?
Terry
 
tsf said:
Interesting. My first FF rings, but the next 2 17" done to specs do not. Difference in tempering. Need to look and see who made mine. Who made yours?
Terry
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I don't have it here, but want to say Bura.
 
I went back to Dan's post on these and they were made by Bura. I guesw I'll have to do an etch. Shann what is your spine thickness?
Terry
 
tsf said:
I went back to Dan's post on these and they were made by Bura. I guesw I'll have to do an etch. Shann what is your spine thickness?
Terry
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Haven't measured yet. I'll try to remember tonite.
 
I think my spine is either 8 or 9mm. Nice and thin. Light, fast, very quick in the hand. I too love the big, broad fullers. Definitely a unique look. I chopped some ancient pine about 3 1/2" across. Lots of "ringing" going on. It bounced a bit, but it was undeterred, and went through with flying colors. I didn't expect it to go "right through" as it's a very light blade. I'll etch mine as well, to see the temper. :)


mike
 
gotta love it when it "rings".....



Astrodada - etching shows the hardened zone of the blade. There are various "etchants" you can use, but the point is to cause a chemical reaction to the surface of the blade (not too unlike rust - also a chemical reaction). Steel reacts to etchants differently, when in different states of hardness. Do a "Search this forum" on etch and you ought to be able to drum up some pics.
 
Daniel Koster said:
gotta love it when it "rings".....



Astrodada - etching shows the hardened zone of the blade. There are various "etchants" you can use, but the point is to cause a chemical reaction to the surface of the blade (not too unlike rust - also a chemical reaction). Steel reacts to etchants differently, when in different states of hardness. Do a "Search this forum" on etch and you ought to be able to drum up some pics.
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Dan. I have read about something on Japanese Katanas and Tachis........(long swords).......

After they polish the blade with progressively finer and finer stone to show the hamons...........they uses something like iron oxide mixed with oil to show the hamon......(darkinning the balde without darkinning the hardenned edge....is etching something like that ?........... :o

please correct me if i'm wrong......I am not experienced.......... :o
 
The "etch" takes all the polishing off the blade, and leaves the bare metal. You can then see the hamon from the hardning process (like on japanese swords). It will also show the "character" of the steel. Satori is a huge fan of etching. He etches all of his kuks. Probably the best example is his review of the Salayan and 22" Ganga Ram. He posted awsome pics of his etch on the Salayan.


mike
 
cndrm said:
The "etch" takes all the polishing off the blade, and leaves the bare metal. You can then see the hamon from the hardning process (like on japanese swords). It will also show the "character" of the steel. Satori is a huge fan of etching. He etches all of his kuks. Probably the best example is his review of the Salayan and 22" Ganga Ram. He posted awsome pics of his etch on the Salayan.


mike
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WOW........must do a search on that.............. :o
 
sounds good to me...there are probably a hundred different ways to etch, but the quickest, easiest and cheapest is to buy some PCB etchant from Radio Shack (or equivalent Ferric Chloride - FeCl) and dip it in there are a 30-60 seconds.
 
It's definitely a good read. Heck, I'd check it out for Satori's pix of the Salayan etch. :thumbup:


mike
 
Good stuff. Mine gives a good, high pitch tone, but doesn't "ring" for any length of time. Made all kinds of noise when I was chopping on the ancient pine. Ting-ting-ting-ting


mike
 
prince valiant's singing sword comes to mind.

(p.s.- bought some ferric chloride pellets from the local electronics shop, tried it in a hot water solution on a 1095/12C20 damascus pocket knife blade (disassembled) & was surprised how fast it reacts - 30 sec was more than enough time, neutralized with a baking soda solution & well oiled, looks great. hear many people use onions to further darken the etch afterwards (malaysians use arsenic & lime juice on their keris' when cleaning them to bring out the pamor))
 
I've never heard of using onions.? I used household vinegar for my first etch. It takes a bit of time (far more than PCB etchant), but it did a decent enough job for only being 5% acidity.

When I met with Satori over the weekend, he told me the thing to look out for with the PCB was the brass bolster. He said it might leech some of the brass onto the blade where they meet.


mike
 
My Folly rings when it's tapped, but not so much when it's working. My YCS rings like a bell on petrified pine but not when tapped. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fullers and thickness.

I like using PCB etchant not just for the speed, but also for the kind of etch that it brings out...it's a bit different than vinegar IMO. (Cndrm, I forgot to mention this but my katana had been etched with vinegar, while most of the khuks had been done with PCB etchant. And yes, the katana smelled like that before I etched it.) It's been my experience that vinegar produces a more subtle effect and doesn't turn out quite so dark. I also believe that PCB etchant brings out a bit more detail - or it may be that it just brings out more detail in a shorter period of time. The polish I use afterwards seems to play a part in it too.
 
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