Handle Profile

E

eskrimaworks

Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
24
Firstly, thank you for hosting this subforum and for providing so much info to research on Instagram. I've been trying to understand the following: several closeup pics of handles give me the impression that they have a very round/cylindrical profile. Is this an optical illusion created by the camera, or is this an intentional design?

I prefer a handle that is more oval in cross section as it allows me to better feel the alignment of the edge & spine. Looking forward to getting some clarification on this. How you have a great evening.
 
Hey there! Welcome to the forum. While these handles definitely have a round cross section, I would not say that they're circular. They're gentle ovals, and this is the traditional shape for the vast majority of khukuris that are currently being made and have been made historically. Some handles feature parts of the handle that are more oval. For example, if you see a blade that has a particularly broad bolster, it will have a more narrow oval shaped cross section in that area. But, by the time you get to the rear of the handle, just before the flare at the waist, this will be very close to a circular cross section regardless of the khukuri. There are some full tang khukuris which have hexagonal cross sections, or flatter sides kind of like a rounded rectangle, but this is more of an impact of Western influence in the 20th century. Such blades include the MK3, the MK4, as well as some older Indian made blades.

While more oval shaped, slimmer handles definitely help with edge alignment, it's worth inquiring as to why it is that khukuris don't seem to need this handle shaping. One factor is that as the blade is quite asymmetrical along its centre line, it's quite easy to feel where the edge is just from the weight distribution. The other thing is that the handles are gently curved, and there is also typically a lens shaped flare at the rear of the butt cap. Both of these features give secondary ways in which to passively judge edge alignment. This is to say that despite the fact that the handles may have a more circular cross section in some areas, the overall shape is not particularly rotationally symmetric and it only really feels good when held with the correct alignment. Hope that helps :)
 
Thank you for your reply. This helps me understand it quite a bit better.

On a different note, have you ever had a request to build one of your bowies with a khukri handle? Let's say a leather stacked or M43 handle, but in a straight format?
 
We haven't really had that request before, no. However, depending on the blade we should be able to do it. Handle swaps aren't too complicated for us to do and generally don't count as full customs. I'm a big fan of the khukuri handle and a lot of the time for larger chopping blades I push customers towards a khukuri style handle rather than a knife style handle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top