Grip modification

jeremy1517

jeremy1517

Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
1,036
The pommel and middle rib on my CAK are a little to ruff for my liking. Is sanding or taking a file to the metal pommel or sanding the edges of the rib (raised part in middle of handle) a good idea?

Or does anyone have any suggestions for the grip?
 
If it makes it fit your hand and needs better I'd do it. Now if it was a collectible old Bura or something rarer than chicken lips I'd probably live with it and get a different blade while it's scary to start something like this on these beautiful blades it's worth it if it works better for YOU.
 
I could only hazard a wild guess. I'd say partly decoration and to protect the wood or horn some if you used the butt to hammer something?

A CAK is full tang right? Always? so the Pommel isn't needed to keep the handle on at all. Am I thinking right here?
 
I've filed the pommel on a couple of mine, you should be fine. Just be careful and go slow.
 
Can a person take the pommel off and still use the CAK? Does it hold the grips on or is it purely cosmetic?
 
It protects the end of the bell, wood or horn, but it's not doing anything really to keep the handle on. The pins in the full tang are doing that part.

If the pommel is bother your hand because it's higher than the wood I'd try to just file it down to flush. If the shape of the bell bothers you, take both down together.

I personally think you'd be fine without it if that's what you prefer but I can't say what's under it either. Never know what you might find. Could be a void etc. I doubt it very much but could happen.
 
I like the bell, not the metal. How do the pommels come off? Don't want to mess the handle up....
 
You can make the ring more user-friendly by taking off just the sharpest part of the edge with a small file. Tape around the ring first, to protect the rest of the handle from the file. You might only need to blunt the side of the ring that digs into your palm, since the other side of the ring will fit between your fingers.

I've found over time that the ring doesn't bother me because my grip adjusts to it. From what I've read, Nepalese farmers do their chopping with a relatively loose grip, taking small swings, rather than the tight grip and giant swings that Westerners are used to. The ring is more of a problem if you use a tight grip.

As for the butt plate: Usually when there's a problem it's because the top of the butt plate digs into the hand. Sometimes you can eliminate that by adjusting where you hold the handle. If it continues to be a problem you can usually fix it with a file by rounding off the end of the butt plate. As phillllllllll says, go slow and keep trying it. You don't need to remove much.

I don't think the butt plate is for pounding things, as they are usually made of soft metal. It's probably cosmetic and to give some protection to the end grain of the handle. The ASTK model has a chiruwa-style handle like the CAK, but no butt plate. Thing is, you don't know what condition the end of the handle is in until after you remove the butt plate, so you might find yourself having to do extra work to clean it up. Better to leave it on and file off any edges that bother you.

p.s.:

You're in luck. There's a new thread in the cantina that shows a chiruwa-type handle where someone removed the butt plate:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...New-project-WWII-MKII?p=12883790#post12883790

It's not a CAK, but the pictures can give you an idea of what might be under the butt plate of your CAK. Yours could be better, could be worse.
 
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Ya, it's the pointy ends of the but plate. I will try taking a file to them. Do the butt plates screw on and off?
 
Even on the full tang versions? I know the rat tails probably have a ton of laha and no doubt some behind the slabs on a full tang too.
 
Bawanna said:
Even on the full tang versions? I know the rat tails probably have a ton of laha and no doubt some behind the slabs on a full tang too.
Click to expand...

Right, this is making more sense to me now . . this is the sap type substance you were talking about. Here's some info gleaned from wikipedia:

Kukri handles, usually made from hardwood or buffalo horn, are often fastened with a kind of tree sap called laha (also known as "Himalayan epoxy"). With a wood or horn handle, the tang may be heated and burned into the handle to ensure a tight fit, since only the section of handle which touches the blade is burned away. In more modern kukri, handles of cast aluminum or brass are press-fitted to the tang; as the hot metal cools it shrinks and hardens, locking onto the blade. Some kukri (such as the ones made by contractors for the modern Indian Army), have a very wide tang with handle slabs fastened on by two or more rivets, commonly called a full tang (panawal) configuration.
 
If you boil the handle in water, it loosens up the laha and you can pull things apart.

All the full tang blades I have taken apart have laha on the scales too. They may have discovered the same benefit that Western makers have realized from epoxy - that it both serves as an adhesive and helps keep water from getting behind the scales and causing rust.

What I haven't looked really closely at are the pins. I would assume they peen them to get them to swell and lock in place. I haven't noticed if they put laha on them too or not.
 
jeremy1517 said:
Ya, it's the pointy ends of the but plate. I will try taking a file to them. Do the butt plates screw on and off?
Click to expand...

Another option is to wrap the blade and bolster in tape and do all of the work with the handle on the khukuri. I do it all the time. Most of the shaping I do is with sandpaper. I buy the big rolls of 1" sandpaper tape/strips that has the aluminum oxide on a cloth backing. Some folks call this "plumbers tape" or something like that as it is often used to sand pipe. I go slow and keep checking everything - frequently starting with 120 grit and then moving to finer and finer grits - 220, 320, 400 with the tape. I then do 600, 800, and 1000 grit but those I have only found in sheets so I either cut or tear the paper down into strips to use them. If you do not go fine enough, you will see swirls left by the sandpaper grit. Depending on the type of wood, you may need to use finer paper. With bone, you may need to get up to 1500 grit even. When you are done, use stain and/or whatever finish you want.

In terms of the butt cap, just go slow with it. You can use a file, belt sander or even sand paper sponges or strips of sandpaper with a rubber or wood backing to keep it stiff. You don't have to take the butt plate off. The only reason I would do that is if I am pulling off the whole handle or the buttplate has separated from the laha and is "floating" on the handle.

The is a 15" BAS that I did recently:

018d4988d139a2580ba2876b6d9ed2e70cd4fd0477_zps5b334237.jpg


I hope this helps some and if you have any questions, please let me know.
 
roninsgrips said:
.... What I haven't looked really closely at are the pins. I would assume they peen them to get them to swell and lock in place. I haven't noticed if they put laha on them too or not.
Click to expand...

Howard Wallace posted a video (I don't recall when) that shows HI kamis at work. In one scene Tirtha Kami is attaching a chiruwa-style handle. He applies the laha and while it is still soft pounds the ends of the scales to get them to line up perfectly with the holes, inserts the pins and peens them in place. Peens is an understatement. He pounds them long and hard. He doesn't put laha on the pins but a little of it probably gets on them anyway as it oozes into the holes.

Even though his main tool is a simple hammer, it's very precise work. One misplaced swing of the hammer could split the wooden scales.
 
You know, the fit of the scales is remarkable David. The tangs frequently taper top to bottom and front to back - that takes some expertise.

That would be cool to see Tirtha at work. I have a few of his blades.

BTW, the pins range from about a 1/4 to about 3/8 or maybe even larger on the big khukuris. Peening those over / hitting them to swell would definitely take some force as the thickness goes up.
 
Don't take too much off the rib in the grip unless it's killing you. Cutting w/khukuri (or any other bolo/parang/golok analog) works best with a loose grip, snapping your hand shut (and the blade into the target) at the last minute. I've heard this called the "Ghurka snap". The rib acts kinda like a trigger/tiny subhilt. Grip lightly with thumb/middle/index finger, open ring and pinkie. Snap your ring and pinkie fingers tight at the terminus of the cut- it acts almost like a whip.
 
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