HI Khuk Handle X-Ray

jdk1

jdk1

Joined
Apr 21, 2010
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I thought you guys might be interested in these X-Ray photos. Sorry for the poor quality. The X-Rays were taken by my cat's vet, who was actually quite interested in the idea. The X-Ray is actual size, but I haven't measured anything yet. I hope you enjoy them.

khukX-ray001.jpg


Murali WWII, Bilton (maybe Dil?), Tirtha WWII with Karda.
khukX-ray008.jpg


khukX-ray004.jpg
 
That's a very good idea, and very enlightening! You have a very cool Vet there. Be sure to tell the Vet that there is no cure for HIKV. Perhaps even medical professionals are prone to the disease. Hopefully they will not decide to switch to khukuris for neutering now!:eek:
 
Awesome! :D

I always wondered how far into the handle most karda blades went. It doesn't look that far, but I have NEVER busted one either.

Looks like that hidden tang on the Hanuman goes a pretty good ways in there:)

Thanks for sharing. Good stuff!
 
Ya know, if a guy were kinda *funny* in the head, it might be kinda fun to superimpose one of those khuk x-rays on someone's cat x-rays.
"Well Mr. Johnson, as you can see, what's wrong with Fluffy is that she has an 18" khukuri lodged between her mouth and cat hiney. I'm going to give her a mild laxative.":D
 
Interesting pics and awesome vet who went for the idea! Do you always bring your khuks to vet visits? :)

Also, it's kind of cool that Hanuman's eyes are glowing in teh x-ray. Heh.
 
That was illuminating, thanks for posting it. Your vet sounds like a cool character.
 
Thanks for the inside view! Wonder what the Kamis would think of the x-ray concept. Maybe Yangdu can print out the pictures and send a copy to them.
 
"Well Mr. Johnson, as you can see, what's wrong with Fluffy is that she has an 18" khukuri lodged between her mouth and cat hiney. I'm going to give her a mild laxative."
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This is a good one!

BTW, John, how did you manage to scoop those khuks into the X-ray room and not getting the vet a heartburn?:p
 
Enlightening pictures.

Steely_Gunz said:
...
I always wondered how far into the handle most karda blades went. It doesn't look that far, but I have NEVER busted one either.
...
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I have.

I left a khukuri, in sheath with accessories, underwater for a month. (Don't even ask!) When I got back, the sheath was rotten, and the blades slipped right out of the karda and chakma. The 15" AK with it's handle tang peened to the butcap, after I got the rust and the stink off it, was as solid as ever.
 
D`day, jdk1 and thanks the post. " Illumating" indeed. The tangs are robust, especialy the Tirtha and Murali. These are full tangs, and are not "rat tails", as they are sometimes improperly descibed. This type of tang makes the best use of a precious resource (steel), and moves the center of gravity forward, thus increasing chopping power. The only caveat is that the kami must ensure that the tang is not hardened. It needs to behave like a spring. If overhardened, the tang may fracture. All of my favorite martial blades have this tang, light and fast in the hand, yet devastating on target. Cheers, Mike.
 
With respect to tangs, I also wonder about hand shock. With a slab (chiruwa) handle, the shock travels directly from the edge into your hand. With a stick tang, the shock travels through wood into your hand, which might dampen the shock a bit. It would be interesting for someone to compare, say, an Ang Khola and a Chiruwa Ang Khola of comparable size on a chopping job, just to see if there's a difference in how each of them feels.

F
 
I didn’t have time to post much the other day, but wanted to make a few observations. First, I was surprised at how thick the tangs were at/near the butt plate. I figured the tang would taper much more at the end. I actually am surprised it doesn’t begin a sharp taper from the bolster. This is definitely not a rat tail. I believe I heard it referred to as a kangaroo tail. That’s a pretty good description. These tangs are stout. I don’t think the kamis are stingy with metal. I think they build ‘em like they were making it for themselves. It may not show in the photos, but the tangs fill up a good portion of the first half of the handle. When you consider this with the fact that every one of these, except the karda, has at least a 3/8” thick spine at the bolster, you realize how much steel is in there. My son’s Bilton is one of the very few I’ve seen which has a true partial tang. It’s stout and stumpy, as you can see. My son has beaten on that Bilton HARD. The handle feels as tight today as when we received it. My confidence in these hidden tang HI khuks was only strengthened by this X-ray. Thanks for looking and take care.
 
I know this IS a post from the dead BUT it really helps out us new people and I want to say THANK YOU the OP.
 
DaBird said:
I know this IS a post from the dead BUT it really helps out us new people and I want to say THANK YOU the OP.
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I'm glad you found it useful:thumbup: After using these khuks, you quickly leave behind any doubts about their strength, but I was always curious about what hid beneath those handles. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, and these spoke volumes to me. Even the partial tang Hanuman has a lot of steel in there and would probably outlast my arm! Thanks for your kind words. I've learned SO much from everyone here that I try in small ways to contribute if I can. Take care and welcome to our disease:D
 
The XRAY trick is very valuable. I've seen it done on the Mora line of knives...which of coures are horses of a very different color that Khukuris. I assume that all the HIs are constructed in a similar fashion as the two Xrayed here? The big ones I mean...like the BAS etc?
 
HoosierQ, As far as I know, all HI khuks are full chiruwa or full hidden tang EXCEPT some of the Biltons and all the Hanuman/Garuda/animal type handled khuks I've seen, and some of them a partial/pinned. The easy way to tell is by looking at the buttcap. If it has a buttcap, it should have the end of the tang peened over the keeper there. The BAS/WWII/AK/Sirupati/Chit/Gelbu/many others all fall into this category. The traditional Nepali khukuri don't even have this. They are partial tang attached with laha. I hear they hold up quite well during years of hard use. Many of the khukuri used before and during WWI were partial tang and they can still be purchased intact from Atlanta Cutlery (and probably used!). I would have full confidence in the strength of a BAS. Don't worry about horn either, it's tough as nails. Good luck.
 
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