i don't understand... little help?

for the sake of anyone reading i took measurements .1'' from the blade with calipers. this khuki .069, hawk, .059, machete .065.

i don't know if you wanted closer to the edge but that's what i had time to do this AM.

i'm not trying to get into an internet argument, just posting what i have found. your experiences may vary.
 
I don't think anybody is trying to argue. I hope not anyway. Differences of opinions perhaps. Don't think I've seen an argument on this forum yet. Sorry you are unhappy with your khukuri. I'm sure someone will gladly give it a new home if you want. But that would be a topic for the sales forum I believe.
 
That doesn't look all that bad, a bit of belt grinder work would have those chips right out and the edge polished up brightly again. I'd probably start with the 60-grit belt, to keep heating minimal. Bet I could have it looking like new in five minutes or so.
 
I'm no trying to argue either and I post with all due respect and what I'm posting is what I have come to understand about knikuries straight from Bill. I knew Bill Martino for a long time. I found out about HI when Bill had ads in Blade Magazine in the early 90's. I had many many conversations with him about Khukuris and he taught me just about everything I know. I remember asking him all about what to cut with it and bone was not a problem. I have chopped up bone with many different khukuries and had zero edge damage including in the softer areas as well as the more hard sweet spot. Bill was so proud of his knives and advertised you can cut through anything with them. This was well before the Internet and long before his knives were so well known. I know Bill had a NO QUESTIONS ASKED unconditional lifetime warranty that STAYED WITH THE KNIFE when passed from owner to owner. I know this has changed with all that goes on with the Internet and how people will intentionally break something to get a replacemnt for free.....sad world we live in.
I even remembering Bill saying that his lightweight models being so much more durable then other "heavy duty" knives will still take a massive amount of abuse and come back for more. There is no reason a heavy duty model like the Ang Khola, WWII, BAS etc should have any trouble chopping through bone, "frozen" or hard woods, sheet metal, thinner nails and mild steel, hard plastics, frozen meat etc. and have anything more then very minor edge damage that a simple stoning will fix up. I have done all of the above without any failures that could not be taken care of with my Spyderco ceramic stone. This is why I stated all of this, because I have done it myself many times over the years and I know what a properly made khukuri will do. I know things have changed and you have to be profitable to keep a business afloat so you have to draw the line somewhere. With soooooo many more customers and potential for warranty claims, I understand why the old time warranty is gone but If Bill saw one of his khukuries chipping or deforming on bone or wood of any kind he would be the 1st to say it was defective no ifs ands or buts's.
 
I've definitely seen a LOT more reports of chips lately. I've got one myself, from hitting a glass bottle my wife snuck into a cardboard box. But I chopped the top off of an identical bottle with a knife I made myself from 5160 without it chipping. Definitely makes one wonder.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
I've definitely seen a LOT more reports of chips lately. I've got one myself, from hitting a glass bottle my wife snuck into a cardboard box. But I chopped the top off of an identical bottle with a knife I made myself from 5160 without it chipping. Definitely makes one wonder.
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I mostly lurk on the forums mostly these days because I don't have the free time I use to. You never heard of these problems with the edge chipping and folding over just a few years back. It seems the newer Kami's are not that good at heat treating the blades. When something is made using primitive methods it has to be done exactly right, 100% perfect or it will have problems. Pouring water on a hot blade is not the best way to harder and relieve stress in the steel compared to modern ways of heat treat. I suspect all these younger and newer kami's don't know what they are doing yet when it comes to heat treating and tempering the blade. It was extremely rare to see an HI blade chip, fold, dent or fail in the early days with the old Kami's making the blades.

Edit at add:

I just saw the post where the guy cut into the sapling with the survival knife and the edge was damaged.....pretty sad.
 
they wern't talking about blade thickness but EDGE thickness, compare the angles of grind, how thick is the khukuri a couple mm from the edge compared to how thick the Machete is a couple mm from the edge, Ill bet that the machete is twice as thick at this point, the WWII is known for having a fine edge
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What he said. I did an approximate measurement on my WWII, and the angle of the edge is right around 25 degrees. Not 25 degrees per side, 25 degrees total. In comparison, most machetes and axes will be in the 50 to 60 degree range, most pocket knives 40. 30 degrees is pretty thin by pocket knife standards, more like what you might find on a skinner.

It also looks like the sweet spot is untouched. IIRC, the sweet spot is about 3/4" towards the tip, from that nick on the flat part. A lot of people try to chop too far back, and don't get good performance due to both geometry, and the softer steel right there.

I kinda feel like doing a quick brass rod test on my WWII now, though.
 
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SkaerE said:
for the sake of anyone reading i took measurements .1'' from the blade with calipers. this khuki .069, hawk, .059, machete .065.

i don't know if you wanted closer to the edge but that's what i had time to do this AM.

i'm not trying to get into an internet argument, just posting what i have found. your experiences may vary.
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I'd try closer to the edge. I tried measuring some of my blades around 1/10" to 1/8" from the edge (it was consistent, I just don't know the amount that I consistently measured :p) and got extremely similar numbers. However, unless my eyes deceive me (which is a possibility), the edge cross-sections after 1/10" should look something like this:

bladecomparison.gif
 
You can pretend there are no edge issue problems with the recent khukris if you want, but a lot of us with older Khuks have chopped bone hundreds of times with no failures. All mine (CAK, AK, super CAK, and heavy custom pen knife) have cleanly cut bone with no edge failures of any kind. I know many of us will not purchase again until these issues stop popping up this frequently. HI has made many truly unbelievable knives but current quality seems to be slipping. This should be addressed before it tarnishes HI's previous excellent reputation.
 
soldbyjim said:
You can pretend there are no edge issue problems with the recent khukris if you want, but a lot of us with older Khuks have chopped bone hundreds of times with no failures. All mine (CAK, AK, super CAK, and heavy custom pen knife) have cleanly cut bone with no edge failures of any kind. I know many of us will not purchase again until these issues stop popping up this frequently. HI has made many truly unbelievable knives but current quality seems to be slipping. This should be addressed before it tarnishes HI's previous excellent reputation.
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Who is pretending?
Irregardless of what you've done in the past, the warranty has changed and does not cover chopping bone.
We do our best to address production and warranty issues as they arise.
 
Greetings,

Email me the Knife problem before you post on the blade foum and I will try my best to help you.
 
Any problems regarding HI khukuris problems should email to HI and should not post on the forum.
Thank you
Our Kamis work hard
 
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