Habaki vs. Traditional(again)

spiraltwista said:
La ha is a gap filling adhsive, & a good one at that, ;) but if you put a solid block of it on a piece of wood and lighty tap it with a hammer it will shater into hundreds of pieces,. :eek:

It works when used in thin layer as gap filling againt a strong surronding material. ;) used as filler insde a soft brass or nickel silver bolster it will diintegrate under shock.
Spiral
Click to expand...

That's what happened to my AK. It's one of those with the thick edge so it transmits more shock to the handle than the thin ones anyway.

I was pounding away and the laha in the handle broke loose. A few more outings and the handle cracked. I re heated it a couple times and it stopped rattling but every time i chopped with it it came loose.
 
Also when I pulled the tape off the blade I had somehow lost a 1/16 X 1/2 inch part of the edge. I'm not sure if I dropped the blade on Nasty's cement floor at the KHON, or if the heavy chopping I gave the blade that cracked the original handle weakened a flaw in the forging of the edge and the tape just pulled it off.
Click to expand...

um...I think I'll go outside and check the tires on my truck!
 
Hi Guys
have been watching this thread carefully as I have an AK Villager in the shed that is about to have a makeover. I took a break from studying for Uni exams this afternoon to dismantle it. :D The laha sure is nasty smelly stuff, is there a solvent that will remove it from the inside of the bolster. It would save heaps of time if I could soak it out. I intend to modify the tang and bolster to reduce the cho creep (its waaaay down the blade) and refinish the grip, will probabaly etch and then hand finish the blade to about 1200grit.
Any other suggestions happily recieved. :)
Phil
formerly fullplate
 
pmel018 said:
The laha sure is nasty smelly stuff, is there a solvent that will remove it from the inside of the bolster.

Phil
formerly fullplate
Click to expand...
Phil when the laha dries it becomes very brittle and is easily chipped out of the bolster. You can use the chakmak, karda, or an old screwdriver with thain point on it to help remove it. The sharp side of the flat screwdriver will help in scraping any residue left on the sides. A little left in the bolster, residue, won't hurt anything.
 
Yvsa, if I understand this correctly, the only way to remove cho creep once it's on the blade is to move the handle forward. If you do that, you will be covering blade. Is the blade soft enough at the point below the cho to do this? It will bend, it is not brittle? I guess. Because there is no edge below the cho- so they haven't hardened it- much.


munk
 
Have hit base of blade up with grinder, and Yvsa is absolutely right, definitely not hardened there(and won't be as long as you're careful if you try grinding there. Frequent cooling is key). Shorten the bolster from both sides, to make it smaller and a real traditional look. Won't give you the curve that I love on some of the ppictures that John Powell posts for us, but is definitely more of a classic look(and depending on how you shpae the handle, can increase the "classicness" of the look. And yes, I just made tha tword up. :)
 
To save a lot of searching, laha is pretty much composed of what "cutler's resin"
was if you know what that is. Amazing how orient and occident use(d) the same stuff.
 
etp777 said:
Shorten the bolster from both sides, to make it smaller and a real traditional look.

Won't give you the curve that I love on some of the ppictures that John Powell posts for us, but
Click to expand...
E, that curve is damned hard to get even when the tang is properly curved. The trick is getting the handle to fit the curved tang. It's a dirty low down b***h trying to drill out the handle!
And is why the modern khuks have the straight handles.:(
It would also take a bit of skill and a good forge in order to burn the inside to fit. You have to give the old time kamis a helluva lot of credit!!!!
And how would you do an ivory handle? Ivory doesn't burn does it? Or not readily anyway I would think.:confused:
I know you can burn horn but I sure wouln't want to be around it while it was happening nor would I want to do it. I can just imagine that stench staying with a man for weeks and weeks afterwards!:eek: :barf:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top