Help wanted! Field testers.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
I have maybe a dozen or 15 khukuris from shop 2 left -- all Sirupatis, 15 and 20 inch length. Kami really wants to get these into the field for testing to see if there are any bad tangs left in inventory. He is determined to work his way out of the tang problem. I could do this testing myself but it would take me a week since about a half hour of heavy chopping per day is all I'm good for before the back goes down. So, Kami wants to sell them off at this price:

15 inch $75, includes S&H.
20 inch $100, includes S&H.

Full HI guarantee goes with all. If you break it you get a new improved version. If you don't break it in the first 30 minutes it isn't going to break. Trade 30 minutes of test time for a top quality khukuri at a bargain price.

Anybody interested knows the routine. Call or email.

Uncle Bill
 

frown.gif
if I had known this was coming I would have waited and not bought the village Sirupati. Oh well. This time 'He who hesitates is lost' was a worse motto than 'Good things come to those who wait'.
smile.gif


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Jeff Paulsen


 

I just might do that... the villager is just as you shipped it to me, except maybe a little sharper and a lot more olive-oil-y. I'll call tomorrow and let you know.

... and Thanks, Bill for offering a trade-up, and Thanks, Kami Sherpa, for lowering the price on these. Namaste.

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Jeff Paulsen


 
Okay, Sut. Done deal. Jeff, whatever you want to do. Kami wants these first efforts in the field and tested badly. Present efforts should spell the end of hard tangs and he can move on to other items.

Uncle Bill
 
Bill;
As you know I own about a dozen of the H/I Khukuris. If you know there is a possibility of some of the remaining units breaking, as shown, why would you subject your friends, to a possible injury by selling these pieces ? With a relativly low cost, it would seem that scrapping these pieces would be the next logical step. This is my opinion only, I do not speak for other forum members.

Floyd

[This message has been edited by FWO (edited 17 August 1999).]
 
Instead of scrapping the blades would it be more practical to move the handle up a bit by drilling two holes in the blade and making a partial full width tang ? If the fit between the handle and end of the blade is good one might be able to get by with one rivet and even less of a full width tang, instead of two rivets. Such a handle should decrease the stress on a rat tail tang.

Although vibration would be more of a problem a full tang would be stronger, and it would also make it easier to build handles using riveted slabs.
 
FWO - I guess I see it differently - there is always a risk of injury when using a knife. It's definately a good idea, though, to think about where the blade is going to go if the tang does break when you are beating up on it to see if it's bad.

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Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen


[This message has been edited by JeffPaulsen (edited 17 August 1999).]
 
:
I am with Jeff on this one.Forewarned is forarmed.I think since most people know the risk they are going to be very careful like Dave in Portland was when he went to test his.

I am pretty sure Uncle asked him to please check them out in order to catch them if one was bad.
I would never have used the Hanuman Special I have for any chopping other than to test the tang which I did.

This is one heck of a buy and if none of them fail,which I hope is the case then whoever gets one of these is going to hve a super blade.

johno:
Why reinvent the wheel when any that might break can be put back to new condition?
Then you have none of the disadvantages of the solid tang and slabs.Let alone all the work to have an inferior blade.

Check out the thread where the one 20" Sirupati was resurected.
It is as good as new and is restored except now it has a ten lifetimes guarantee.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.

 
Floyd, thank you for your concern. I think I have warned everybody about the possibility of tang failure and they are wary. Khukuris have a way of generating some respect and the users seem to sense this.

Of course, I would croak if anybody got hurt with a failed tang. This is why I did not try to hide anything and came right out with the failure information. It is not only devious to try to hide failures it can be dangerous and I refuse to be a part of this sort of behavior.

And, if I were physically able I would have tested every knife after the first failure but this back won't take the abuse. So, good customers and pals are helping take up the slack. Be careful, guys. I know you take precautions and keep the kids far away when you doing your tests. Hell, I don't need to tell you this. Everybody who posts here seems to have more sense than me anyway.

Uncle Bill
 
We do a lot of testing to failure and a common fix for parts that break is to radius or increase the radius in corners. Looking at the repaired tang that was mentioned it begs for either adding a radius at the tang and blade junctions, or making more of a triangular tang which transistions from one with more width to the desired thinner tang, which evidently helps to minimize transmitted shock during use. Even a small radius compared to a sharp corner can make a large difference in strength.
 
I respect what everyone has said here, but I still support what Uncle Bill is doing.

When I ordered the Sirupati, he made sure to inform me of the recent tang failures and specifically advised me to take all of my khuks out and use 'em.

Maybe you have psychic powers Uncle Bill, 'cause the one you were sending me was the one that broke!
wink.gif


In any case, when I went out and tested 'em on the beach I made sure to wear my most resilient pair of boots, and more importantly, made sure not to do anything at all with the knives when any of the few passersby were anywhere within about fifty yards. I still got some strange looks though, even with the knives just lying innocently on the logs. I tried to make people more comfortable with friendly conversation as they passed by, but no one stuck around to watch. Oh well.

As far as the danger of a knife breaking in use goes, I was specifically testing it for the failure that happenned and it broke when I was chopping something on the ground. The blade went only two feet directly in front of me.

I suppose it certainly could have been worse, but if you wear a little safety protection and keep enough distance between you and anyone else, it oughtta be all right.

If anyone had gotten hurt that day, I would have considered it to be my fault, and not anyone else's.

I still think these are the toughest blades I've ever handled!

-Dave

-"Smooth Bastard"
 
:
johno:
That is usually true.The problem with these tangs are they wre just too hard.The broken steel had the appeareance of tool steel crystalization.
The very bottom line and cause is/was "hurry"

The tangs should be dead soft.
This is the first failures out of some 6,000 Kuhkuri's sold by H.I. and Uncle Bill.
The problem has been taken care of at the root source and the Kamis are very aware of what happened.
These blades are hardened with cold water poured from a pitcher.
They didn't break at the intersection of blade and tang,but a little up the tang.The design is several centuries old and proven.The Kamis being human beings make mistakes when hurried.Most of the hurry I believe was self inflicted which in my opinion is the worst kind.

Your suggestions are right in line for normal situations.
I am like Uncle Bill and think the problem has been corrected.


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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.



[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 17 August 1999).]
 
Gunner,

I am from Canada. The exchange rate is running at about 64 cents US per Canadian dollar. Customs will charge you GST and sometimes PST, as well the post office will charge you 5 dollars to collect the taxes. It should be noted the post office gets a cut of the taxes anyways. For items under 100 dollars there is usually no duty. You will also pay about 3-5 dollars for the money order as well.

On a positive note, priority mail is good. The khukuri will arrive within 1-2 weeks. Usually about 8-9 days. Before customs started charging GST, a khukuri that did not require duty will arrive in 3-4 days and one that did require duty would arrive in 5 days.

Do not use UPS. What ever you do, do not use UPS. No UPS. They will charge you a brokerage fee, a service charge, and some other stuff. You will pay double for what ever you buy. So, do not use UPS.

My CS Gurkha arrived in about 3 days via Purolator efficiently and no extra charges. Do not use UPS.

Will
 
The 20 inchers are all gone. Three 15 inchers left.

Everything that needs to be said has been said just as well or better than I could do it.

I think the tang failure is a thing of the past and I will make a separate and very interesting post regarding this as soon as I can.

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 18 August 1999).]
 
Bill,

To be honest, I was going to buy a CS LTC. One reason is the weight at 17oz. is light enough for extended carry. How much does the 20" one weigh and how much of that length is blade? Is the grip too large for small to average sized mans hands (9'span)? If so, do you have a light one with a broken handle at a discount, that would allow me to make my own rubber, neoprene, or wood handle? jWhat I'm looking for is a light, dry wood chopper that has a long enough reach for a little bit of tough briars now and then at a reasonable price. Willing do a month long (more or less) safari field test for you too. Thanks.

Robert
PS: My e-mail is: EQUALIZERplus@netscape.net
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"But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." Luke 22:36 & John 3:18

[This message has been edited by EQUALIZER (edited 20 August 1999).]

[This message has been edited by EQUALIZER (edited 20 August 1999).]
 
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