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- Jun 24, 2013
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I've used my Kukris on many occasions but never really compared them in an objective test.
Why now? I finished unpacking all boxes from our recent move, kids were sleeping and got some air to play a bit.
I had tree leftovers with some insects in the bark. Nothing I wanted to keep in a house.
What did I test? What kind of Kukri is better suited for chopping solid wood? One which hits fast and light or one which hits slow and strong?
I also paid attention to edge damage/retention and muscle fatigue and ergonomics.
The two contenders couldn't be more different.
Here the specs:
Amar Singh Thapa Knife by Lachhu
18" OAL
33 oz
villager fit and finish .
Spine thickness 2/5"
All fittings are white metal.
Dhar wood handle.
Knife with a great history and story for your collection.
KLVUK
15.5'' OAL
20 oz
Spine thickness --1/4''
White metal fittings
Asare wood handle
Both knifes had their convex factory edge to which I added an arm hair shaving micro edge.
Both Kukris were tested on the same log of extra hard California Oak which had dried in my garage since last year.
I tried my best to use the same technique but had to adjust a bit.
The lighter Kukri was less forgiving and if occasionally swung too hard at a less than optimal angle it just bounced off the very hard target and felt dangerous. Not really bad of course if you use common sense. Positioned right even a bouncing Kukri can't hit you in the leg.
Anyways. The heavier ASTK almost always hit with authority and never bounced of thus I could transfer more force to the target and be less careful about it. Kind of counterintuitive that bigger is more controlled and less scary.
The lighter KVLUK was swung for 30min until I felt some slight fatigue in my arm.
After 4 hours break I used the heavier ASTK for 15minutes until fatigue started to show.
The result
30 minutes chopping with the light KVLUK (top) did only one 3rd of the work of the heavier ASTK in 15min and at the same level of fatigue.
Interpretation
Power wins over frequency when it comes to chopping solid wood.
3 times more work in half the time and the same level of fatigue.
Of course the result would be different when swinging a light or a heavy Kuk at some thin twigs. But that wasn't the question of the test.
Worth mentioning
Edge retention.
The original curved edge shape was intact and I only added micro edges at the very edge of the edge. The angle of this kind of micro edge was wide, but still very sharp. (sharp edges don't have to be very thin!).
Contrary to popular belief (which equals sharp with thin) the sharp edges didn't take any visible damage from hitting hard wood.
To my surprise the heavier ASTK which chopped 3times more material in half the time, even retained its hair shaving ability to ~50% of before the test and was still able to cut paper very well.
The KVLUK could not shave a single hair anymore and failed at cutting the same paper. (picture below)
Possible explanations:
A) more frequent light hitting damages an edge more than less frequent and harder hitting.
B) The blade of the heavier Kukri was much thicker so that the edge must have had a wider angle which should be less susceptible to sidewards forces and reduce edge rolling for example and stay sharp longer. (most likely in my opinion)
C) The longer and flatter belly / sweet spot of the bigger Kukri gave more hitting area and spread the impacts over a longer area while on the KLVUK the impacts concentrated on a smaller and more curved belly.
D) different Kamis, different steel source, different heat treat
Ergonomics.
The smaller Kukri's handle are a tiny bit too small for my admittedly not very commonly sized hand (XXL/11). Thus its butt pokes a little bit into my palm. Nothing serious, but after 25 minutes or so it gets a bit bugging. It could be fixed by filing it for a few minutes, which I will do. Anyways, avoiding such a minor bug changes the grip and focus and causes a few more bounces of the target.
The bigger Kukri had a better fit for me but towards the end of the 15 minutes it felt that the ring carved out of the wood in the middle of the handle was a bit too sharp. Nothing too bad but another 15 minutes and there would have been blisters. Also an easy fix just takes a file and a few minutes.
Takeaways:
If your primary goal is chopping solid wood faster and less tiring, get a Kukri as big and heavy as you can handle.
A sharp edge does not attract excessive edge damage, even while chopping very tough material. A thin angled edge however dulls faster from chopping.
Thank you for reading and I hope it was a bit interesting.
Why now? I finished unpacking all boxes from our recent move, kids were sleeping and got some air to play a bit.
I had tree leftovers with some insects in the bark. Nothing I wanted to keep in a house.
What did I test? What kind of Kukri is better suited for chopping solid wood? One which hits fast and light or one which hits slow and strong?
I also paid attention to edge damage/retention and muscle fatigue and ergonomics.
The two contenders couldn't be more different.
Here the specs:
Amar Singh Thapa Knife by Lachhu
18" OAL
33 oz
villager fit and finish .
Spine thickness 2/5"
All fittings are white metal.
Dhar wood handle.
Knife with a great history and story for your collection.
KLVUK
15.5'' OAL
20 oz
Spine thickness --1/4''
White metal fittings
Asare wood handle
Both knifes had their convex factory edge to which I added an arm hair shaving micro edge.
Both Kukris were tested on the same log of extra hard California Oak which had dried in my garage since last year.
I tried my best to use the same technique but had to adjust a bit.
The lighter Kukri was less forgiving and if occasionally swung too hard at a less than optimal angle it just bounced off the very hard target and felt dangerous. Not really bad of course if you use common sense. Positioned right even a bouncing Kukri can't hit you in the leg.
Anyways. The heavier ASTK almost always hit with authority and never bounced of thus I could transfer more force to the target and be less careful about it. Kind of counterintuitive that bigger is more controlled and less scary.
The lighter KVLUK was swung for 30min until I felt some slight fatigue in my arm.
After 4 hours break I used the heavier ASTK for 15minutes until fatigue started to show.
The result
30 minutes chopping with the light KVLUK (top) did only one 3rd of the work of the heavier ASTK in 15min and at the same level of fatigue.
Interpretation
Power wins over frequency when it comes to chopping solid wood.
3 times more work in half the time and the same level of fatigue.
Of course the result would be different when swinging a light or a heavy Kuk at some thin twigs. But that wasn't the question of the test.
Worth mentioning
Edge retention.
The original curved edge shape was intact and I only added micro edges at the very edge of the edge. The angle of this kind of micro edge was wide, but still very sharp. (sharp edges don't have to be very thin!).
Contrary to popular belief (which equals sharp with thin) the sharp edges didn't take any visible damage from hitting hard wood.
To my surprise the heavier ASTK which chopped 3times more material in half the time, even retained its hair shaving ability to ~50% of before the test and was still able to cut paper very well.
The KVLUK could not shave a single hair anymore and failed at cutting the same paper. (picture below)
Possible explanations:
A) more frequent light hitting damages an edge more than less frequent and harder hitting.
B) The blade of the heavier Kukri was much thicker so that the edge must have had a wider angle which should be less susceptible to sidewards forces and reduce edge rolling for example and stay sharp longer. (most likely in my opinion)
C) The longer and flatter belly / sweet spot of the bigger Kukri gave more hitting area and spread the impacts over a longer area while on the KLVUK the impacts concentrated on a smaller and more curved belly.
D) different Kamis, different steel source, different heat treat
Ergonomics.
The smaller Kukri's handle are a tiny bit too small for my admittedly not very commonly sized hand (XXL/11). Thus its butt pokes a little bit into my palm. Nothing serious, but after 25 minutes or so it gets a bit bugging. It could be fixed by filing it for a few minutes, which I will do. Anyways, avoiding such a minor bug changes the grip and focus and causes a few more bounces of the target.
The bigger Kukri had a better fit for me but towards the end of the 15 minutes it felt that the ring carved out of the wood in the middle of the handle was a bit too sharp. Nothing too bad but another 15 minutes and there would have been blisters. Also an easy fix just takes a file and a few minutes.
Takeaways:
If your primary goal is chopping solid wood faster and less tiring, get a Kukri as big and heavy as you can handle.
A sharp edge does not attract excessive edge damage, even while chopping very tough material. A thin angled edge however dulls faster from chopping.
Thank you for reading and I hope it was a bit interesting.
