Hardcore Blade Forging

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BubbaGump

Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
322
Not knowing much about kukri's, I did a little research and found a video online about how these knives are made. I don't think this is Himalayan Imports but it shows how they are made nonetheless. Pretty interesting.

These guys who make the blades are pretty hardcore. You have to be impressed with their ability to use relatively simple and classic tooling methods to build a product. No CNC machining or any of that.

I don't know if I could sit down in front of two guys swinging a sledgehammer directly in front of my face. While I was watching them draw out the blade with the hammer, I kept thinking, what if the guys grip slipped? These guys are pretty hardcore and bada$$.

[video=youtube;qol5Ey3sImQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qol5Ey3sImQ[/video]
 
HI moderator Howard Wallace made a video of the HI 'factory' in Nepal, perhaps some newcomers haven't seen it yet:

Howard Wallace said:
Red Flower and I finally got a chance to sit down and edit some pictures and video from our recent trip to Nepal. We thought the forumites might like a glimpse of HI from the other side.

There are some potential issues that we thought long and hard about before posting this. Please consider them and exercise your good judgment.

  • HI is not set up to entertain visitors. Red Flower and I have a long friendship with Kami Sherpa and Yangdu. We visited Kami Sherpa in Nepal, and incidentally had the chance to observe the manufacturing operations. HI management may have good reasons for not allowing customers to visit in general. In the past the political climate was dangerous and volatile. There are also cultural considerations with visits that may be difficult for many of us to understand.
  • The shops would not pass an OSHA inspection. Safety issues in the video may be disturbing to some. Yangdu (and before that Bill) has been addressing this for years, with perhaps limited success. Again, some of the difficulties may be difficult to understand from our cultural perspective. My understanding is not complete, but I do have a sense of the very different nature of the culture in Nepal.
The video takes just under 15 minutes. There are lots of still pictures and some video. You may want to watch with your finger on the pause button so you can get the details. There are many process steps we didn’t capture because they were not happening when we were there. Of what we did capture, I may not be able to explain. Watch carefully. The pictures, I hope, will be worth a thousand words and not lie.


Red Flower and I hope you enjoy this glimpse into how your tools are made.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1593893921769&l=4851835530936492305
Click to expand...
 
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