khuk edge repair

Joined
Nov 10, 2003
Messages
361
Does anyone have any experience restoring the cutting edge of a khuk? I have a 15" AK that I snagged as a blem to use as a working knife. I have been using it to clear small limbs(thumb size) brush, vines etc on my land. After my last assault I was checking the edge to see if it needed a little touch up. I did a double take. There is a chunk about 1cm long an maybe 1.5 to 2mm deep in the sweet spot. The tip has .5 to 1 cm spot where the edge seemed to break and turn. I tried to steel the edge to clean it up a bit, that removed all the burrs from the break but the chunks where
still there. I tried to sharpen on stones. (I am quite good at doing kitchen cutlery, and pocket knives) I have succeded in scratching a good bit of the mirror polish off, but since it's a working knife I'm not too concerned. It looks a little better, but if you view the edge there are still sizeable chunks visible. Any ideas on how to get the edge back? Will the stropping with a strong abrasive work? I am concerned since the khuk was working so well, I want to get it back in good form.
 
mross-- try a bastard file to get rid of the big damage, and then use a stone or wet/dry sandpaper on a mousepad to restore the edge. YOu could also use a coarse stone to grind down the damaged area, but the file is probably quicker. From your description, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes with a file to get rid of most of the damage.
--Josh
 
If you have access to a belt sander, it would be a simple matter. Take the edge down to the bottom of the deepest chunk (flatten it), then resharpen. This may reprofile the edge a little.
 
Originally posted by Aardvark
If you have access to a belt sander, it would be a simple matter. Take the edge down to the bottom of the deepest chunk (flatten it), then resharpen. This may reprofile the edge a little.

(Josh glances down at his primitive hand tools, marvels at electricity, then slinks back into his cave to try to make fire)
--Josh
 
OUEST FOR FIRE !!!!

I LOVE it. I can't count how many times I've watched it. Truly a loveable film. I suspect it is not for the literal-minded, however.


(Apollo Review)


Some 80,000 years ago, prehistoric man was plagued by the vital question: “hey buddy, you got a light?” Before our ancient ancestors learned to create fire, they had to steal it from nature and guard it against the elements. In Quest for Fire, director Jean-Jacques Annaud fictionalises the moment in history when the human race made a great leap forward and began to exert some control over its environment.

The film opens as the Ulam tribe is attacked by Neanderthals, who extinguish their source of fire. Three Ulam tribesmen are sent out into the wilderness to score the tribe a light. The three – Naoh (Everett McGill), Amoukar (Ron Perlman) and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi) – ham it up like the prehistoric versions of Larry, Moe and Curly as they bumble from one predicament to another. They are variously attacked by animals, stuck in a tree, trapped in quicksand and attacked by rival tribes. Aside from one bizarre moment during which the Ulam appear to be communing with a herd of mammoths, the situations they encounter are reasonably credible and gripping. When our boys finally find a flame, they are so desperate that they attack the cannibals who possess it and free their female captives, one of whom – an Ivaka tribe member named Ika (Rae Dawn Chong) – joins their travelling party. As the journey home continues, the Ulam learn that Ika knows an amazing trick involving two sticks and a lot of rubbing.

The action in Quest for Fire dawdles at times and the battle scenes are generally gory and interminable, but the sheer cinematic spectacle of the film is impressive. Shot in Scotland, Canada, Iceland and Kenya, the landscapes are a breathtaking – if somewhat inconsistent – backdrop to the action. The Oscar-winning costuming and makeup lend an authenticity to the characters: these primitive dudes, unlike coifed Daryl Hannah in another prehistoric drama (The Clan of the Cave Bear) appear to be encrusted with some seriously Palaeolithic grime.

Anthony Burgess, known for his creation of a new vernacular in his novel A Clockwork Orange, created spoken languages for the film’s various tribes. Although the dialogue here isn’t subtitled, the plot is easy enough to follow, partially due to the body language and gestures invented by anthropologist Desmond Morris. The Ulam also employ a wide variety of ape-like grunts and shrieks which, along with their barbarous attitude toward sex (evidenced in several explicit humping scenes), indicate that the Ulam are not exactly the brightest lampposts on the block.

Nonetheless they are loveable numskulls and the subtle characterizations will reward your patience through some of the more sluggish plotting. Despite the film’s occasional goofy turns, by the end, chances are, you’ll be rooting for the Ulam to work out that nifty little stick-rubbing trick for themselves.

Rachel Sanders
:)
 
MRoss?

You can flatten with a file or the rough edge of a stone, then bring back the edge by working coarse, fine, steel, and ceramic. There may be a flat spot on the profile, but the hardened edge extends quite a bit up towards the spine. Should be fine.

Watch your palm as you bring the edge down to even, it's easy to slice yourself with the rest of the blade. (Don't ask.)
 
If I am not mistaken if you bought the blade from HI you can return it for a replacement. That's what I would do.
 
Originally posted by hollowdweller
If I am not mistaken if you bought the blade from HI you can return it for a replacement. That's what I would do.

That's certainly an option, and I'm sure Uncle Bill would replace it, but in my opinion, it's a shame to return something that can easily be fixed. It's a large chopping blade, and it will be damaged if you use it. That's just the nature of khukuris. Fortunately, most minor blade damage can easily be repaired.
--Josh
 
Originally posted by hollowdweller
If I am not mistaken if you bought the blade from HI you can return it for a replacement. That's what I would do.

Speaking of dull khuks; yours got here today HD.:D Not so bad. I sent you an email.
Nice hard edge and thicker than many I've seen lately, a good thing.;) :D
 
Yvsa,

That was quicker than Uncle Bill! I sent that Friday at 2pm! I worked on it a little before I sent it. Hey check out the area about halfway between the tip and the sweet spot. Seems hard as hell. Very hard for me to take any metal off there. Thanks again!!
 
Is it a Bura? I have found his work to be the hardest of the BirGhorka edges. All the others seem to be a little softer. !'s are pretty hard too. Though I only have one of his.
 
Bruise,

Made by Shankar? Trisul. Harder than the Bura ones I have. or maybe just as hard but not as sharp out of the box so was hard for me to get an edge on with just my hand tools.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm more along Josh's line, no access to big power tools. So it looks like me and a file have some work to do. (Note to self wear heavy leather gloves.) This seems pretty radical, but I wanted to get a Sirupati next anyway! :D

My only concern is the reason for the damage. I suspect a heat treatment problem, since the heat treatment is key. No it's not a Bura. I have heard how good he is at heat treating, that makes him worth his weight in gold.
As for returning it, noooo it'sss my precious!! :) But no if it's fixable I'll do it and not take advantage of Uncle. However if it seems to be a failed heat treatment, ie it keeps on breaking on twigs and things then well see.
 
Don't return it. Get a file or a coarse sharpening stone and work that out. Then sharpen her up with sandpaper or stones. You'll get to know your khukuri very well this way :)
All good tools require maintenance now and then. Nowadays we just buy cheap and throw away, but a solid khukuri isn't in that category!
 
Whoah now!!!

YOur comment.......

"That's certainly an option, and I'm sure Uncle Bill would replace it,"

That is fine

as to your next comment......

************
In my opinion, it's a shame to return something that can easily be fixed. It's a large chopping blade, and it will be damaged if you use it. That's just the nature of khukuris. Fortunately, most minor blade damage can easily be repaired.
--Josh
*************

Er....what?
"Its a large chopping blade and will be damaged if you use it?

Uhm......since when is this true? Other than for crappy mass produced blades in the sixties to maybe early eighties. Even many machetes will not do that.
And custom blades? Holy Smokes is this what we are now saying? What we now believe? What we have been reduced too?
Even the Mass produced grinder jocky houses do better than that.
Cold steel, blackjack, etc etc..would NEVER accept that.

Custom individual smithing
No American smith of merit I know of would EVER agree with that performance statement either. Would you like to borrow one of my knives and TRY to break it? Actually go out and TRY! I cut three inch trees, cable and brass rod with 30" swords with hundreds- hell probably thousands- of cuts. No edge damage, no edge roll, no chipping. Care to compare the inservice requirements of a sword to a Kukri?
And I am no different/better from hundreds of other smiths doing the same or similar work here.

Listen
The kamis make tools-not custom high end knives- love em, buy em, use em.
But don't EVER think this is ANY standard of steel performance other than what they are trying to achieve for a price that is affordable.

MROSS has a great response that echos my own
Dont return it.

Everyone else can do what they want,these knives are great for the price, backed by a man of integrity- so if anyone wants they can return it for a refund or do what I did and MROSS proposes. Keep them and leave the money on the table as a donation and buy some more. MROSS you and I may have gotten the rare fluke. Which is understandable with their production. I just love the fact that I have some knives hand made in Nepal and it put clothes on their backs, and I leave it at that.

cheers
Dan
 
Dan Harden,

That was my point when I said you could return it and that was what I would do.

Based on the type of cutting you said you were doing, you said small branches, and the extent of metal loss you said you experienced I would rather put the effort into mailing it back for a replacement rather than doing a bunch of work to the edge with the potential that you'd end up having to do it all over again.

On the other hand if I had a really good blade but the handle went belly up I'd try to replace the handle rather than send it back because with the ones I have had it seems like it is harder to get one with the really good hard edge and blade than anything else.
 
Wow, Dan, that's quite a response. Based on the amount of damage reported by mross, a .5-1 cm long region impacted 1.5-2 mm, I would classify it as pretty minor. Maybe he hit a rock or an inclusion while chopping. I don't know; I wasn't there at the time. Do you ever have to sharpen any of your blades? If so, they have suffered damage during use, else why would you have to restore the edge through sharpening? In this case, the damage was just a bit more visible. When I got my first khukuri, a BAS, I was out chopping small branches. I chopped through one and ended up making contact with a rock. It took a small chunk out of the edge. Does this make it an inferior knife? Should I have sent it back to Uncle Bill for a replacement even though I was able to fix the damage myself with little effort? For me, at least, the answer to both these questions is no. I think if you do a search, you will find that even super tough blades like Busses and Striders sometimes suffer minor damage during use.
--JOsh
 
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