I'm not missing Sarge

T

TomFetter

Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
1,103
'cause I got a package from him today. A stunningly pretty Sher made 18" AK, which he and I had spoken about a couple of times. It looks like if it's ever been used, it's been used very lightly. Lovely Chandan handle; it's stock from a couple of years back, without the UB initials.

Christmas came early at my house, and so far as I can tell, Santa prolly talks with a bit of a Texas drawl and shaves with a straight razor (or an Opinel).

As Sarge and I had agreed, the purchase price is going into my local food bank coffers ...

t.
 
Thats just awesome innit. How bout some pics?
 
No pics (yet), but I'm thinking I might do a chopping comparison review of my well-loved Kumar 16 1/2" WWII and this big Sher 18" AK. An inch and a half difference in overall length doesn't sound like much, but these things are built on a different scale. I really didn't anticipate that anything was going to make that Kumar blade feel ... er, dainty.

Sarge, predictably, has tuned this AK up a bit too. Ground the karda to a useful, fullly convexed edge profile, and likely re-profiled the Khuk's edge too. The handle shows signs of re-shaping into an upside-down egg shape, has a slight curve to it which may or may not have been there originally, and is a bit thinner in overall section just before the flare at the butt, where you'd hold it for hard chopping. It feels very comfortable and secure overall ... which is a good thing, considering the mass of the blade that will be whistling 'round.

t.
 
So I've a couple of red oak limbs that blew down a year back, about 6-7" in diameter. Been sitting in the carport, waiting for someone to get ambitious.

The 18" AK made me feel a bit ambitious alright. Now, I'd gone at one of these with my 16 1/2" WWII before, and with dry oak, well, my arm was almost finished before the branch was. It chopped well, but really needed some more oomph to do damage to the seasoned hardwood, without damaging me more.

Not so the new-to-me AK. No, I didn't have the digital camera out ... but I must say I was impressed. Significant penetration, chipping out really good sized pieces of wood. I was through the log in perhaps 5 minutes - longer than a saw would take, but vastly more efficient than the lighter WWII. The extra weight made a simply enormous difference.

I was looking for a serious heavy chopper to pair with my all-round WWII - and couldn't be more pleased. Thanks again Sarge.

t.
 
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