Foxy Folly Thoughts

ArchAngel

ArchAngel

Joined
Feb 13, 2000
Messages
2,688
Hi guys! I got my final Foxys Folly yesterday. My 17 1/2 inch, 24 oz FF is made by Sher. The blade and scabbard are awesome! My findings are the same as Yvsa's as far as the handle goes. It was *FAT* and had no sexy shape to it like my 21 9/16", 28 oz Bura made FF. It was sort of blocky looking and made the khuk hard to move around well in the air. I spent 6 hours today trying my hand at making the handle the same sexy shape as the one I got by Bura. There was a lot of wood to remove and reshape. I was scared to death that I would screw up one of the final FF's and hate myself for messing with it. It needed the fix though. I ended up being very happy with the results. It looks and feels darn near exactly like my long one now, as far as the handle shape goes. Now this khuk feels as it should. Light and fast. The wood. Kapur seems to be a type of spruce. It works very easily and smells like the evergreen forests up here. A pleasing smell to work with.
It is now soaking up some linseed oil. It is a good looking wood with a nice grain and some reddish and greenish veins in it that give real standout figure.
I will take some pictures comparing the three stages of FF I have and see what you all think of my handle efforts. Once it stops raining, that is. The hard part for me was keeping the grooves and the large ring properly placed and in proportion with the handle when I was done. A hacksaw blade was used to trace the grooves when they started to disappear. I had to do this often, but that kept me on track in the end, and helped me keep the perspective and shape while sanding. I have a greater respect for what it takes to make a nice shaped handle now. The Kamis rule!! That is for sure!
I do agree that to be a chopper it could be a few oz. heavier, but I like it the way it is. I have so many choppers that a light one is nice sometimes. All I have to do is swing my 52 oz. FF to remember just what heavy is!
All in all, I feel that the three FF I have managed to aquire cover the whole range of weight and length. I love them all!! Well a few days have passed since I started this and I took the little gem out and gave it a good workout today after work to see if my handle work was comfortable and also to be sure that it would hold up to any beating that I could usually give a blade. First I beat the blade, flat wise against the deck rail from both directions. Strong as an ox, not a trouble at all. Next, out back to the wood pile where I have some 4" to 6" oak I took down last year. It is as hard as can be. I chopped each tree length into 4' sections. It is true that as light as it is it does not dig as deeply into hardwood as a heavier blade, but being as light as it was made it a joy to wail into the wood with. Once all the chopping was done I brought the Lil FF inside for a cleanup and touchup to the edge. I had been a little worried about one area of the sweet spot that had some hammer ripples in it. These were only visible from one side of the blade and their appearance did not change one bit. SOLID!! While touching up the edge I noticed one area that dulled a little where the rest of the blade did not. A little spot. I sharpened it out and it all seems top flight now. All in all, it is a sweet little blade. The larger thin one I have is still my fave since I love long blades, but this lil pup is NO slouch!! :eek: The FF is finding a spot in my heart next to my early YCS!!
I took a couple crummy shots to show the three together. Hope they come out OK
 
Yes... my next project is taming the Foxy Folly handle. Mine was made for Andre the Giant.

Are you using sandpaper or files?
 
There was enough wood to remove that I started with a wood rasp, then to the wood files, then to the emery cloth, sanding in the shoeshine method. This worked great for me. Scared the whole time though. :o ;) It is easier if you have another handle there tosort of copy. I copied my longer thin FF, as best I could that is.
I noticed, after getting my FF that in the picture of them, only the Chandan #s 1,2,3, handles look lean and sexy. All of the others seem larger and a little rougher. IMHO that is.
 
Wow, I really like that Kapur wood! Nice job! The ones I have are all chandan of varying colors from red to purple. I wish now I had tried to snag one of these, but just can't justify another. We both have one of the approx. 28 oz. prototypes, which is a great all around blade.

You have more guts than I do to take down the handle, and you did a perfect job. Luckily my hands are pretty big so I left mine alone. So far my FF collection is almost a mirror of yours, but not so pretty or varied as far as handles. For my first one listed here I kind of wish I had waited for this last batch, but it's a great knife with a beautiful handle so can't complain one bit.

Current collection is:

17" 24 oz. FF by Bura, Chandan
17" 34 oz. FF Prototype, 1 of 2 by Sher, Chandan (Yvsa has the other)
22" 29 oz. FF Prototype, 1 of 2 by Bura, Chandan (Some guy named ArchAngel has the other! ;) )
and a 21" 49 oz. FF by Kumar, Buffalo Horn

Because of #3, I did not try and get one of the 21" 24 oz. ones that were made.

Thanks for the great pictures.

Norm
 
Congrats on your Follies!

I'm totally happy with mine, handle OK.

Do wish now I had got a Foxy Folly Fighter (FFF), like you.

Not likely to be more FFF's, as they were a mistake. The kamis repeat and make variations on sucesses.. of course.

Big, light blade with a lot of "khukuri presence"...


Ad Astra
 
Good stuff. I'm particularly interested in any and all comparisons between the various incarnations of the Foxy Folly. There's a story to be told in its evolution.

FWIW, I found the difference between the Faux Folly (in spec, but habaki bolster and brass fittings) and my Foxy Folly from the last batch compelling, especially due to the fact that they're both made by Sher. Placing them side by side shows that they're similar but by no means identical. The Foxy has a perceived lighter weight (probably due to a more neutral balance) and much cleaner lines, but the Faux has a handle that would work better for most people - it's longer, more graceful, and a bit thinner. (Although still on the thick side.) It's made of chandan. The Foxy has a neem handle that's shorter, considerably thicker, and not at all graceful. Both work well in my hands but the fact that they're so different, and the fact that you mentioned chandan, makes me wonder just what was going on.

I'll get some pics up of the two of them next to one another soon.
 
ArchAngel said:
I noticed, after getting my FF that in the picture of them, only the Chandan #s 1,2,3, handles look lean and sexy. All of the others seem larger and a little rougher. IMHO that is.
Click to expand...

IIRC, I got #3 (I asked Dan for the smallest-handled chandan FF, but any chandan would also do).
Even though it's chandan, it's still a very beefy handle compared to the FFF. I think Sher's hands must be a lot bigger than Bura's. ;)
 
that's been my experience too, donutsrule....the latest runs of YCS were made by Sher (IIRC)...
 
hmmm....maybe HI can adopt a grip size standard ?

You see I play tennis.......I am a 4 3/8 grip size. I usually put a sticky overgrip to my racquets.......I did it to my khuk........feels wonderful. :thumbup:
 
Ad Astra said:
Congrats on your Follies!

I'm totally happy with mine, handle OK.

Do wish now I had got a Foxy Folly Fighter (FFF), like you.

Not likely to be more FFF's, as they were a mistake. The kamis repeat and make variations on sucesses.. of course.

Big, light blade with a lot of "khukuri presence"...
Ad Astra
Click to expand...

I'm looking at a FFF right now. I didn't knoiw they were a mistake. My first thought was, "What kind of maniac asked for this?" Looking at the spine, it looks like half a khukuri. It rings like a bell when you flick it with a fingernail, or bump it in any way.

Then I started swinging it a bit and it's really different, but feels kind of good. It has a more elegant chandan handle compared to the other chandan handle I had on the 17" (and much more than the Rhododendrun and Kapur handles).
 
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