I finally went too far

W

Wolf_1989

Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Messages
3,654
Tonight I spent the time on my 26" Chitlangi (Bura) to see just how sharp I could make an H.I. khukri.


Now it literally cuts on contact.


Imagine a 26" 3lb straight razor :eek:
 
I can imagine it. I've done it many times.:thumbup:

People seem real hung up on a khukuri being pointy, I guess like you are gonna run somebody thru with it:eek:

Truth is if you get it sharp enough the edge is far more deadly. You could take an arm off in one swipe with a sharp khuk.
 
cocomen69 said:
Pics and/or Descriptions of what/how you did it man!
Click to expand...

I used a diamond hone to get the bevel where I liked it and then slowly smoothed it out with my Surgical Black stone, then touched it up with my 1930s razor strop.

And yes I couldn't help myself. I shave with my great grandfather's Sheffield straight razor (1890s). This time I used that 26" chitlangi's karda.

Yikes, that is scary scary sharp.
 
I like threads like this. Sounds like you had a good time getting the KHukuri sharp and then testing afterwards. Now where are the pictures?

Heber
 
wildmanh said:
I like threads like this. Sounds like you had a good time getting the KHukuri sharp and then testing afterwards. Now where are the pictures?

Heber
Click to expand...

It's the one on top:

HPIM0714.jpg

26" Chitlangi - saatisal - kami Bura
21.5" Chitlangi - horn - kami Sher

My two favorite Khukris.

Tomorrow evening I think I'll see how sharp I can make Sher's work.
 
Sweet Wolf! That's some nice wood on the big Chitlangi. Really neat pair. :thumbup:

Norm
 
hollowdweller said:
People seem real hung up on a khukuri being pointy, I guess like you are gonna run somebody thru with it:eek:.
Click to expand...

I don't get this either. The standard blade profile isn't difficult to run something <cough>3/4" plywood<cough> through with. You don't need it to be "pointy-er" or have the spine sharpened for it to stab just fine.

But I do sharpen mine with a convex edge just for durability. Maybe not shaving shapr, but it's hell on wood.
 
I usually get mine sharp enough to easily take hair off my arm from the tip of the blade through the sweet spot. I don't even mess with the recurve usually. Even getting them this sharp is probably overkill....It sure is fun to try though;)

Khuks don't take much of an edge to be highly effective at delimbing someone. Hell, just ask Heber. He almost took his hand off because of a little "oopsie" with a 15" AK some 5 years back or so.:eek:
 
I convex my edges too but I do it by hand. I discovered it on my own in high school that an edge like that was adequately sharp but very durable. I didn't know what it was called at the time


Well anyway tonight I gave the special attention to my 21.5" Chitlangi (Sher) and got it very very sharp. It's not supernaturally sharp like the one made by Bura, but almost. It shaves very cleanly now. I took a sheet of paper out of the printer and it sliced it with ease. The karda also took a very keen edge; on par with the one made by Bura.

And it sheared easily through a 2" diameter maple branch with only a moderately powered swing. :eek:

An edge like this usually isn't what I go for on a heavy duty chopper but I was curious to see just how sharp I could make an H.I. khukri. Now I know and I'm very pleased with the results.

My conclusions:

#1 - they can be made as sharp as you desire them to be. Perhaps more.

#2 - being hit by one with a super sharp edge would really ruin your day.

#3 - not only can a khukri be used for clearing brush, chopping firewood, and combat, you can probably also use them for shaving and surgery.

#4 - I love khukuris :D
 
i am working with a leading research scientist in developing an edge insert made out of alloyed unobtanium and the carbon compound thiotimoline. as you are no doubt aware, thiotimoline has temporal properties due to it's extreme soluability in any solvent to the point that it actually dissolves before it hits the solvent. dr. i. asimov, the renowned chemist that discovered it did not take his theoretical research into practical realms tho. unobtanium of course has the perfect properties for a cutting edge, easy to forge at low temperatures, easy to heat treat in a common household oven, and 15 hardness on the moh scale, yet able to be easily sharpened to a monatomic edge with common household items. it's inertness to oxidation and corrosion by even molecular acid is another benefit as is the ease of polishing to a 100% reflective coefficient.

we believe that, in appropriate proportions, doping pure unobtainium with a few ppm thiotimoline will have a significant impact on edged tool technology.

our results so far have shown that less than 10 ppm of thiotimoline added will enable a kukhri with the special alloyed edge enables the blade to cut it's targets 1.2 seconds before contact.

as with asimov's thiotimoline & water experiments, intent is everything, if you try to fool it by stopping a few millisec before contact, the blade will not cut, you must really intend to cut.

we are having a few control problems at the moment tho, so have not as yet gone into production.
 
Wolf_1989 said:
I convex my edges too but I do it by hand. I discovered it on my own in high school that an edge like that was adequately sharp but very durable. I didn't know what it was called at the time
Click to expand...
That's about the time I discovered it, admittedly because I was screwing up trying to make a flat bevel by hand, and discovered something better. I also do my sharpening by hand.

Wolf_1989 said:
Well anyway tonight I gave the special attention to my 21.5" Chitlangi (Sher) and got it very very sharp. It's not supernaturally sharp like the one made by Bura, but almost. . .And it sheared easily through a 2" diameter maple branch with only a moderately powered swing. :eek:
Click to expand...
I found similar results with my 20" ang khola on oak. Although I also tried a really powerful stroke and cleanly severed a 3" oak branch.

Wolf_1989 said:
#2 - being hit by one with a super sharp edge would really ruin your day.
Click to expand...
Being hit by a kukri will either result in death, or the removal of what it hit. Either way, the target will be taken out of the fight for the rest of his life.

Wolf_1989 said:
#3 - not only can a khukri be used for clearing brush, chopping firewood, and combat, you can probably also use them for shaving and surgery.
Click to expand...
Don't believe the brochure, they can NOT be used for vasectomies. :eek:
(Well, they can, but. . .) :eek::eek:

Wolf_1989 said:
#4 - I love khukuris :D
Click to expand...
Welcome to KA (Kukris Anonymous).
 
Wolf_1989 said:
And it sheared easily through a 2" diameter maple branch with only a moderately powered swing. :eek:

My conclusions:

#1 - they can be made as sharp as you desire them to be. Perhaps more.

#2 - being hit by one with a super sharp edge would really ruin your day.

#3 - not only can a khukri be used for clearing brush, chopping firewood, and combat, you can probably also use them for shaving and surgery.

#4 - I love khukuris :D
Click to expand...

Wolf, thanks for posting that picture. :)

#2 is correct! Trust me, I'd know. Though it's amazing what modern Micro Surgery can do. ;) And it's really expencive! :eek:

My 20" Sirupati has been used to clear trails, gather firewood, clear brush and so on. I keep it almost shaving sharp. Seems to cut brush best with a toothy sharp edge. Or maybe thats just me....

Heber
 
One thing for certain: an extremely keen edge like this applied to a khukri built for speed, such as an H.I. Kobra, would be a very deadly piece of self-defensive gear.
 
Wolf_1989 said:
One thing for certain: an extremely keen edge like this applied to a khukri built for speed, such as an H.I. Kobra, would be a very deadly piece of self-defensive gear.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. A 15" Sirupati or maybe a 16" GS would make a great SD blade.

Heber
 
Nice picture, thank you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top