HI history Timeline - from archive thread

ddean

ddean

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
Messages
3,397
done by:

"kamagong
04-05-2001, 12:46 PM

03/07/99 joined Bladeforums
05/02/99 Shop 2 (BirGorkha)
08/24/99 first Gelbu Special
09/10/99 first Royal Banspati
09/12/99 Bura becomes shop foreman
09/21/99 first Kumar Kobra
09/25/99 first GRS (Ganga Ram Specials) arrive
12/03/99 first MS (Millenium Special)
12/08/99 final version of Cobalt Special (Ang Khola Bowie)
12/09/99 first Garud Ang Khola
12/15/99 Sher joins the staff of BirGorkha
01/16/00 first Snow Leopard Millenium Special
01/19/00 first Sisneyri style khukuri
02/22/00 first HI kothimoda
02/28/00 first UBE (Uncle Bill Especiale)
03/08/00 superfrog becomes standard
05/02/00 new and improved Tarwar is offered
05/18/00 Everest Katana is a go
05/23/00 first Malla
06/23/00 Murali joins the staff of BirGorkha
08/21/00 habaki bolster becomes standard
09/18/00 HI rejoins Knifeforums
10/06/00 first JKM-1
10/13/00 first James Matthis inspired Kumar Karda
11/01/00 first YCS (Yvsa Cherokee Special)
12/15/00 first Ghopte
01/25/01 Durba joins the staff of BirGorkha
02/01/01 first Ganesh-Hanuman Special"



~
~~~~~~~~~
<> THEY call me 'Dean' :)-fYI-fWiW-iIRC-JMO-M2C-YMMV-TiA-YW-GL-HH-HBd-IBSCUtWS-theWotBGUaDUaDUaD
<> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D
 
Ahh, yes, I remember the Ang Khola Bowie as I called it, with Rusty wanting to call it the Cobalt Special. I still have the drawings I sent Uncle Bill. Those were the days. Hey what about my 18 inch Ang Khola. That is not on the timeline and I think that was before the Bowie. I remember Cliff testing one.


ddean said:
done by:

"kamagong
04-05-2001, 12:46 PM

03/07/99 joined Bladeforums
05/02/99 Shop 2 (BirGorkha)
08/24/99 first Gelbu Special
09/10/99 first Royal Banspati
09/12/99 Bura becomes shop foreman
09/21/99 first Kumar Kobra
09/25/99 first GRS (Ganga Ram Specials) arrive
12/03/99 first MS (Millenium Special)
12/08/99 final version of Cobalt Special (Ang Khola Bowie)
12/09/99 first Garud Ang Khola
12/15/99 Sher joins the staff of BirGorkha
01/16/00 first Snow Leopard Millenium Special
01/19/00 first Sisneyri style khukuri
02/22/00 first HI kothimoda
02/28/00 first UBE (Uncle Bill Especiale)
03/08/00 superfrog becomes standard
05/02/00 new and improved Tarwar is offered
05/18/00 Everest Katana is a go
05/23/00 first Malla
06/23/00 Murali joins the staff of BirGorkha
08/21/00 habaki bolster becomes standard
09/18/00 HI rejoins Knifeforums
10/06/00 first JKM-1
10/13/00 first James Matthis inspired Kumar Karda
11/01/00 first YCS (Yvsa Cherokee Special)
12/15/00 first Ghopte
01/25/01 Durba joins the staff of BirGorkha
02/01/01 first Ganesh-Hanuman Special"



~
~~~~~~~~~
<> THEY call me 'Dean' :)-fYI-fWiW-iIRC-JMO-M2C-YMMV-TiA-YW-GL-HH-HBd-IBSCUtWS-theWotBGUaDUaDUaD
<> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D
Click to expand...
 
Wow, Cobalt. I didn't know how the AK bowie came to be. Great story.
I like the sound of Cobalt special too-




munk
 
Yes, my original design was a little different than what you see today. It was actually more like a straight Ang Khola. It did not have the clip. Yvsa (I think) added that much to my chagrin at the time, as I did not want that. It still turned out nice, but would have been better IMO without the typical, dime-o-dozen clip.

18 AK
After receving my first two shop one 15 inch AK's, I decided I wanted more beef. I still have those two and one has cut several chords of wood with no ill effects. In any case I decided to order a 20 incher because Cliff S. had talked about it so much. So I ordered it and when it arrived, It was beyond big. It measured a full 22.5 inches and was well over 4 lbs. I tried using it, but I could not stop it quick enough to keep it from barely missing my shins when I used full power blows and missed. So I asked for something in between. I told Bill that an 18 inch AK would be perfect for me. He had shop one make me two, which I still have and then other people started getting them as well. I think Cliff liked it more than the others as well. I have cut 4 inch branches(ok maybe 3.5 inch) with that thing in a single blow. I have more leverage with it than the larger AK, and I think it's because I can accelerate it faster. It is by far the toughest blade I have ever owned. I cut two chords of wood with it in three weeks with no visible damge to the blade including full power chops that went through the wood and into the granite filled hard dirt of the high desert.

At the time I had urchased Kuks from other sellers and tese things looked just like the shop one blades. However, the steel was junk as within a few days of chopping, the edge started to chip real bad. The HI's never had a problem.

And Bill would back up his knives. Unfortunately the competition from these inferior Khuks forced Bill to drop his prices because people thought they were getting the same quality at a lesser price. Bill started using a second shop or more but I stayed with the HI's and never looked back.

You can always trust an HI. It is a family honor thing. you cannot trust a business man who has no family connection to another country and they will provide him whatever they want regardless of qualty. Just my 2 cents.
 
Great information. It is like hearing the family stories from 'way back when.

Thank you.
 
Saw this after doing a search on Sisneyri and had to bring it up front...

From a search, it looks like the last Sisneyri sighting was 2002...or did references get chopped?
 
Cobalt said:
Unfortunately the competition from these inferior Khuks forced Bill to drop his prices because people thought they were getting the same quality at a lesser price. Bill started using a second shop or more but I stayed with the HI's and never looked back.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it was competition that prompted Uncle Bill to drop the prices. HI has no competition in its market niche as far as I'm concerned. I think HI opened up BirGorkha because they wanted to have more control over their production. Good move on their part. BirGorkha increased the quality of HI's already top notch products and in addition allowed HI to drop prices because of lowered costs. I don't know how many people know this, but HI's knives are cheaper now than they were in 1999 when I discovered them. A 15" AK is only $125. Six years ago it was $175. Talk about a bargain!
 
I remember Kamagong. HI khuks were $50 more expensive back then, and that didn't include the cost of shipping & handling. They were still worth every penny. They were also thicker spined and thus heavier. The 20" AKs had 5/8" thick spines, for example.

Bob
 
Bill explained to us how prices got dropped; the internet sales and forum took off and he didn't need to spend thousands on advertising in Knife mags any longer.



munk
 
More on prices and Shop1/Shop 2 - while digging through some old stuff, I came across this undated note:
Well, finally here is your Chesapeake Bay Knife Club khukuri. It has been too long coming and I hope you'll forgive us for that. As I've mentioned, illness down at shop 1 put us way behind and shop 2 is pulling us out of the hole. These khukuris were done at shop 2 and I think are better quality than we would have gotten from shop 1 and that's the upside, I guess.
I see in the very near future shop 2 becoming THE shop. The old world methods combined with modern equipment has done more for us than I thought possible. Quality has gone up considerably and costs have come down substantially. A good example is the basic edging of the blade. The old way takes two men to get the job done. One pulling a bicycle chain wrapped around a wood sprocket to drive the grinding wheel, and the kami trying to edge the blade and a slow spinning wheel that sometimes stops just when it shouldn't. In shop 2 we flip a switch and an electric grinder does the work. One man can edge ten blades at shop 2 in the same amount of time it takes two men to edge one blade in other shops. It works....
Please stay in touch with us. As you know, we don't have customers, we have friends and we like to hear from them as often as possible.
Stay well!
Uncle Bill
Click to expand...
 
So, combined with more modern production- improvements.

I can tell the difference in Bill's writing from when he was Ill and when he was healthy. When he was healthy he was much more positive, dynamic. Got things done.



munk
 
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