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- Mar 5, 1999
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We talked to Kami over the weekend and here's the progress report from shop 2.
It is now organized well enough so that Kami is taking two weeks to go home to the Solu Khumbu and make arrangements to build a new gompa next to his home. The old one was badly damaged by a recent earthquake. Son Gelbu will be running the shop in his absence.
The kamis in shop 2 have reverted to a method of forging that was used by their grandfathers. I don't think this method of manufacture has been used in Nepal for maybe 40 years except in rare instances in the villages when the kamis were trying to make a top notch khukuri. It involves rubbing the blade with some kind of "magic" stone during the forging process. What this stone is I still don't know but I'm trying to find out. My guess is it is some type stone that imparts small grains of sand or some other material to the blade which is pounded into the steel during the forging -- maybe a higher silicon content or carbon content is the end result of the "magic" stone. I'm just not sure right now. However, the kamis swear this insures the blade will never break under any circumstances. And, who am I to argue with kamis who have a four or five hundred year tradition of knifemaking to their credit. Kami tells me these are the best lot of khukuris he has ever seen so I have to believe they are something special.
The khukuris from shop 2 are also blessed with a slight Buddhist variation. Rather than the blood letting, Kami breaks an egg as a sacrifice to Kali. Being an 8 year Gurkha vet he is qualified to impart the Gurkha blessing to the khukuris. I will have to find out if the kamis spill a little of their blood on the blades.
Since the six master kamis in shop 2 are all village kamis who have come to Kathmandu to get rich they want to make some village knives right in shop 2. They estimate they can make 10 per day of various styles and sizes. When everything goes absolutely right they can produce a single HI khukuri in a day. I told them to go for it and make 20 villagers from shop 2.
Now for the best news of all. Kami wants to get some shop 2 khukuris into the field for heavy use and would like feedback from customers -- any suggestions for improvement will be much appreciated and he wants to know if the "magic" stone helps. In order to get fifty or so into use Kami told me to discount the knives $50 per knife until the reports are in -- except the chandan handled khukuris. So, anybody wanting a shop 2 khukuri for a fifty dollar savings email me now. Our first shipment which should arrive this week has only 13 khukuris, 4 of them the chandan handled models.
That's all until next week.
Uncle Bill
It is now organized well enough so that Kami is taking two weeks to go home to the Solu Khumbu and make arrangements to build a new gompa next to his home. The old one was badly damaged by a recent earthquake. Son Gelbu will be running the shop in his absence.
The kamis in shop 2 have reverted to a method of forging that was used by their grandfathers. I don't think this method of manufacture has been used in Nepal for maybe 40 years except in rare instances in the villages when the kamis were trying to make a top notch khukuri. It involves rubbing the blade with some kind of "magic" stone during the forging process. What this stone is I still don't know but I'm trying to find out. My guess is it is some type stone that imparts small grains of sand or some other material to the blade which is pounded into the steel during the forging -- maybe a higher silicon content or carbon content is the end result of the "magic" stone. I'm just not sure right now. However, the kamis swear this insures the blade will never break under any circumstances. And, who am I to argue with kamis who have a four or five hundred year tradition of knifemaking to their credit. Kami tells me these are the best lot of khukuris he has ever seen so I have to believe they are something special.
The khukuris from shop 2 are also blessed with a slight Buddhist variation. Rather than the blood letting, Kami breaks an egg as a sacrifice to Kali. Being an 8 year Gurkha vet he is qualified to impart the Gurkha blessing to the khukuris. I will have to find out if the kamis spill a little of their blood on the blades.
Since the six master kamis in shop 2 are all village kamis who have come to Kathmandu to get rich they want to make some village knives right in shop 2. They estimate they can make 10 per day of various styles and sizes. When everything goes absolutely right they can produce a single HI khukuri in a day. I told them to go for it and make 20 villagers from shop 2.
Now for the best news of all. Kami wants to get some shop 2 khukuris into the field for heavy use and would like feedback from customers -- any suggestions for improvement will be much appreciated and he wants to know if the "magic" stone helps. In order to get fifty or so into use Kami told me to discount the knives $50 per knife until the reports are in -- except the chandan handled khukuris. So, anybody wanting a shop 2 khukuri for a fifty dollar savings email me now. Our first shipment which should arrive this week has only 13 khukuris, 4 of them the chandan handled models.
That's all until next week.
Uncle Bill
