Hi all,

W

Whitewater

Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
3
Well, the famous triangle box arrived today with my first khuk - a KM (Kumar?) M43. Now I know why you are all raving about these blades. It's about 17.5'' long and weighs in at 1 1/4 pounds. The blade seems to be lightly double fullered on both sides. Only gripe I have is that the edge is slightly out of alignment. It starts off centre of the blade and after the recurve starts to tilt to the left by about 5mm, almost as if the blade is a bit warped. Can the blade be twisted straight without heating it? Or should I try to re-grind the edge back in line (I wanted to give it a convex edge anyway)?

Many thanks to Uncle Bill for a great khuk and a speedy delivery (He only posted it on Sat and it arrived across the pond in Belfast today. Hope you are keeping well :).

Anyhoo, just a bit about myself: I'm German, been living in Belfast for the last 8 years, but am about to move back to Germany due to the ill health of my parents (They looked after me - now it's time I looked after them). I wouldn't call myself a collector, but if I see a nice knife I can't resist taking it home with me ;) . And sometime ago I came back from a shopping trip with this KLO which got me interested in a real khuk (http://www.mesidoor.de/c377.html) and probably started an addiction. ;)

Other hobbies are archery (Hello to Pan Tau at this stage :) ), kayaking (hence the handle) and anything outdoorsy.

Nice to be part of this forum,

Chris
 
Welcome. Does the misalignment occur after the prime cutting surface- ?

If it is on the inside curve, I wouldn't sweat it. If it was in the prime striking area, that might put pressure on the edge.
You say center of blade..hmmm. I wouldn't try bending that over. How much metal is above it- would a resharpen help? Are you going to be cutting much wood? It is guarenteed from failure.

5mm doesn't sound like much- but i'm rusty on metric.

Experts here soon to help you.


munk
 
I don't think that will be a problem. But I'm just a voice on paper.



munk
 
Hi munk,

it's probably just me being overly critical...
If I look at the edge grip down, the edge is at the centre of the spine at the cho and drifts towards the left at the main cutting area. Spine seems straight it looks more like it has been ground more on the right than on the left.

Otherwise I couldn't fault the M43 at all. Great balance, not too heavy for light work but capable of some decent chopping.
 
better than two day old coffee



Yes, I look critically at mine- if you want a perfect one- order from the site.

eventually, you'll have some odd ones, metric ones, even ones, and all good.


munk
 
Hey there, Whitewater....nice to have you join the Cantina.

Grab a chair and join in the crowd.

Virtually everyone else knows more than I do. That being said, don't worry about it. Use it, sharpen it as you like, come to love it, and you won't even think about the edge drift.

Whether in Ireland or Germany, you are very welcome.


Kis
 
Welcome, Whitewater. I wouldn't worry too much about the blade on your M43. Sharpening should minimize it over time I would think. If you are concerned, the one way to know for sure whether or not the khukuri will function as intended is to test it. Read the safety thread first, then go out and do some chopping with it--firewood, 2x4, etc, If it doesn't fail then, chances are it won't in the future. If it breaks, it should be covered under warranty .
--Josh
 
Howdy
Welcome

Sharpen it
Then sharpen it again.
the non-linearity won't be as apparent then.

If you're putting on a convex edge,
then it will be even less apparent.

I figure a khuk's not 'broken in'
until it's been sharpened at least twice.

& no, you can't bend it straight
though you're welcome to try I guess
not-bending is one of the stress tests sometimes used on these blades

I suspect there's actually some utility in a blade
that is slightly concave toward the top of the chop
 
Thx for the welcome,

I think Kismet is right, I'm just too pedantic ;) ...

Once I get settled in old Germany I'll try and put a convex edge to it. I'm in the middle of packing and moving, I shouldn't be playing with my new khuk... but I just can't help it.
 
Welcome, Herr Wasser.

One of my khuks, a 16.5" WWII, has much the same problem as your M43. It worried/irritated me at first, and I considered sending it back. Didn't, and it's become one of my favorites. The blemish didn't affect it's chopping at all, and it was the first khuk I modified, and the first I really sharpened (not well, mind you).

As was said, try it out. If you don't like it's performance or looks, give Uncle Bill a call/email.
 
Hello Whitewater,
nice to hear from a fellow-German, fellow-archer (which style - olympic, traditional, field or compound?) and soon-to-be-khukuri nut :D
munk and I agreed once (a really rare thing!) that the imperfections if they are not disturbing tend to give a khuk personality. However this should not be real flaws...
I have some perfect khuks (my perfect JKM from Kumar does not count as a khuk):
- a BAS by Kumar, a light weight 16.5" chiruwa AK by Bura and a 12" AK Villager by Sher. A Pen Knife by Bura is also "perfect", but the handle is too short for me - I will try to replace it with a stacked leather handle in august I think, my 18" GS has some rough uneven grainlines in the handle but will never fail, my 18" AK by Shanker has a bit of a missing chunk of wood under the butt-plate but just scares the trees away....
I am a perfectionist too but I am a perfectionist regarding function - so I like my cosmetically less "perfect" khuks (blems) not less but tend to do some work on them - so they really grow to be "mine". So wait a bit (I assume you have to as you are moving...) - and then if this misalignment still bugs you - try to improve it.

Andreas
 
Welcome Chris, aka Whitewater!:D

All of my khuk's are perfect in their imperfection, after all they are hand made.;)
And is it 5mm or zero point (0.5)mm? Five mm is a bit much whereas 0.5mm would be well within specs as far as I'm concerned. Pouring water on a red hot blade is gonna warp it to an extent.:)
For you metric challenged 5 mm = about 3/16 inch.:D Hope I figured that right.:rolleyes: Five times .03937201 takes it out far enough for precision work or the 3/16 inch. 0.5mm = about .002"....:D
But my daughter in Phoenix has an old villager that started off with at least 5mm twist and it has served very well over the years. It's about straight now after two sessions on the belt sander.:cool:
 
Concave bend? Shipping error...that one was supposed to go to Australia! Convex for the Northern Hemisphere, while the straight ones are for customers along the equator.

You could keep it, but you'll have to move. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top