Guess what got here today....

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Cymro

Joined
Aug 28, 2005
Messages
34
My Ang Khola just arrived, thanks to Yangdu and the US mail.

Wow! Fit and finish couldn't be better. The sheath is beautiful, the chape is...not too sharp. The handle is beautiful, some sort of reddish wood I don't know. I love the balance, it's just a touch blade heavy. I haven't named her yet....but I will.

We did battle against a dead pine tree in the backyard. Ang Khola 1, Longlife pine trunk 0.

The only issue I have is that the edge isn't quite as sharp as it could be. There seem to be a lot of nicks in it. While it's still a servicable edge, I'd like to touch it up a bit. Suggestions?

I love this thing. Wow.

Thanks to Yangdu for supplying a wonderful product, and to the rest of you for helping me choose it.

Michael
 
Alright, Michael.

I'm probably not the one to give sharpening advice. I've been known to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker, but most of the time I just run the chakma over the blade a few times every 30 minutes worth of use, or so.

Oh- be sure to use some oil on the blade after use.

John
 
i'd like to chime in for sharpening khukuri's for dummies bit.

take you mom's or your wife's sharpening steel, you know, the one that's been sitting in the drawer for about a decade.

if it's a good sharpening steel, it'll fix it all up to your utter amazement. even those numerous nicks!

this concludes the lazy man's version of sharpening.
 
Dave Hahn said:
take you mom's or your wife's sharpening steel, you know, the one that's been sitting in the drawer for about a decade.
Click to expand...

AKA the "knife thingy" :p
 
Michael more often than not the highly polished khukuris need to be sharpened two or three times, or heavily once, before you get down to the good steel.
The village models not being buffed to the high finish usually don't have this problem but never say never.;)
The kamis have told the story of magic khukuris that get sharper every time they are used.
Some of the guys tend to think that the softer steel on top of the hardened steel is the reason but I like to believe in the magic khukuri.:D :cool: ;)
 
I have an 18" AK and for whatever reason it really does seem to get sharper with use, or at least stays very sharp when it shouldn't :D

Congrats on the new blade :)

Rob
 
Yvsa said:
Michael more often than not the highly polished khukuris need to be sharpened two or three times, or heavily once, before you get down to the good steel.
The village models not being buffed to the high finish usually don't have this problem but never say never.;)
The kamis have told the story of magic khukuris that get sharper every time they are used.
Some of the guys tend to think that the softer steel on top of the hardened steel is the reason but I like to believe in the magic khukuri.:D :cool: ;)
Click to expand...

Yes I have heard of softer steel on top of harder steel in some previous threads...........

But why or how come it is like that ? :confused:
 
Softer steel on top of harder steel? That's a really interesting forging style. I'm with astrodada....I'd love to know why that is.

Thanks for the advice, Yvsa. Now, to open a real can of worms: What's the easiest way to sharpen this SoB?
 
Cymro said:
Softer steel on top of harder steel? That's a really interesting forging style. I'm with astrodada....I'd love to know why that is.

Thanks for the advice, Yvsa. Now, to open a real can of worms: What's the easiest way to sharpen this SoB?
Click to expand...


easiest? a $30 harbor freight belt grinder :D Dan Koster has a whole neat tutorial on convexing fun with a belt grinder.
you can also do it by hand with sandpaper and a couple old mouse pads
 
It's really hard to get much easier than w/ a Sharpmaker. Basically, you just put the steels in the slots to get the angle you want, then "cut" down them, on each side of the blade, an equal # of times. That's it.

John
 
Astrodada and Cymro often when steel is hardened in a charcoal forge the very edge gets hotter than it is supposed to be for optimum hardening and consequently the carbon, which makes the steel hard, is burned out which leaves soft steel on top of hardened steel.
Some of the guys here think it may be because of the buffing that the softer steel is there, I lean more toward the edge being to hot to begin with and then the buffing dulls what sharp edge there was even if it may have been soft.:)

I know it can be a biatch but all of you new fellers really need to learn how to use the search function.:foot:
I know it's a biatch because I myself oftentimes have trouble with the search option and getting the right word or combination of words to get the results I want.
We have covered sharpening techniques from azzhole to appetite and the forum is full of the info.
Of course the easiest way is what DonutsRule says and get a little Harbor Freight grinder to do the convexed edges with.

If you sharpen the khukuris like the axes they are you will never have any trouble with them. If you don't know how to sharpen an axe then sharpen them like a knife.
It's *not* rocket science.:rolleyes: :p :D ;)
 
Thank you, Yvsa, that was encourageing. Especially since I'm not a rocket scientist.

So, basically, I can pull out the set of files, stones and ceramic sharpeners taht I use on my knives and just go to work? Tell me it's not that simple. :)
 
that easy.


click noobee in my sig below
then the thread that appears click on the 2nd link down
for common topics searches lists

convex......sharpen

have fun
be safe



~
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<> Noobee <> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D
 
Well, I've been working on it with a set of stones and some oil.

I can shave my arm, is that a good sign?
 
Yes- but...

You want a working edge. If your edge is too thin, it won't take a lot of impact. You want (presumably) to chop, not to slice. You want sharp, but more ax sharp, not razor sharp.
 
Cymro said:
Well, I've been working on it with a set of stones and some oil.

I can shave my arm, is that a good sign?
Click to expand...

Yep, told you it warn't rocket science.:rolleyes: :p ;) :D

Spectre said:
Yes- but...

You want a working edge. If your edge is too thin, it won't take a lot of impact. You want (presumably) to chop, not to slice. You want sharp, but more ax sharp, not razor sharp.
Click to expand...

Yup, what John said. That's why I said, "Sharpen it like an axe.";) :D
When a khukuri is sharpened like an axe it won't stick in the work, well not as often anyway.
Although it does seem that even a very small convexed edge will prevent a whole lot of sticking.:cool:
 
I didn't thin it down too far. I should have been more clear: It'll take hairs off my arm, but it's definanlty not razor-sharp. Basically I tried to respect the angle that was already there. Oh, and during the sharpening, I found the hardened part of the edge. Good to know.

Now I'm in the mood to go chop stuff.

I'm using vegitable oil too, for the time being. It's not a very thirsty blade, which I'm taking as a good sign. Anything else I should do to this thing?
 
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