Khukuri Cutting Techniques Pics or STFU!

H

hollowdweller

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
13,182
We were talking about this a while back. I strained my tendons in my hand back in Sept lifting a buck (goat) into a truck and hadn't done much chopping but today was a nice day and I knew a pine had gone down on my path I have been working on so off we went.

So here's my first cut on this super hard dried pine. I was chopping an oak with a hatchet yesterday and it was softer than this bad boy.

Anyway so this notch was cut with the khukuri in the OPPOSITE direction that it's sticking in the wood. I came down at angles on both sides of the notch and then leaned over and took more wood off the opposite side, the side facing the camera.

The khuk is great I think cause I can cut across the top and over on the other side kind of leaning over the log.
k2.jpg


Next I go over the log and do the same thing from the other side. This leaves you with wood in the bottom middle.

k3.jpg


Next, and this is THE BEAUTY OF THE KHUKURI CAUSE YOU CAN USE THE LENGHTH AND CURVE TO CUT UNDER THE LOG. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS WITH AN AXE. NOT ENOUGH CUTTING SURFACE AND NOT CURVED. THIS IS WHY KHUKURIS ROCK:thumbup:
k4.jpg


Then a few whacks straight down and CRACK! Success!

One 17" Ganga Ram Villager was used for this and no blades were bent, warped or chipped and the villager once again proves it's worth:thumbup:

k5.jpg
 
that's some nice grain on that tree. is it southern yellow pine?

bladite
 
:)

I chop with a similar technique.

I'm less accurate with my cuts so my chopped area is wider. :(
 
Virginia Pine I believe. I don't think we have Yellow here.

Yeah, would have made a great beam for a cabin or something.
 
Yes, wonderful post, but are we still heading closer to the F word these days? Or am I all wet about what STFU means? I don't see why we have to keep heading to that word around here.

Not that big a deal. Thinking aloud. You guys tell me.

As for cutting, it's not just bottom up that the curve allows, but backside in as well as in felling a standing Pine. There are also numerous push pull cuts. The design is simply marvelous and I've never gotten over how useful a good khuk is.



munk
 
hollowdweller said:
<snip>

Anyway so this notch was cut with the khukuri in the OPPOSITE direction that it's sticking in the wood. I came down at angles on both sides of the notch and then leaned over and took more wood off the opposite side, the side facing the camera.
Click to expand...

While I am sure you know what you are doing, I think we need to put a warning here for people that do not do this ALL the time...

Do NOT lean over a log you are cutting unless you KNOW(as in I will bet my LIFE on being correct) that the log is under NO tension!!!

This applies even MORE if the tree is standing...
People have had their heads REMOVED doing things like that with an AXE, let alone a khukuri that you have to be closer to the cut with...
There are various methods of killing yourself while cutting a tree, with various names like barberchair, springboarding, etc... But they are ALL unpleasant and messy ways to die...

Did you know that you can make ONE cut into a 20 inch tree and have the thing split from top to bottom, making a sound like a rifle firing, with the side facing you springing out at you with all the speed given by having the pivot point 30 or 40 feet above you!:eek: This will 'RUIN YOUR DAY'tm!!!

This is NOT directed at hollowdweller, as, if I remember correctly, he knows all about this sort of thing, but at all the people that just go to trim some trees with their new khukuris.
THINK about what you are doing...As in think about what the tree CAN do, NOT what it is likely to do... And then balance that against a VERY messy death...
 
I think you ought to do a vid (or at least a few pics) demonstrating the "chipmunk" method with one of your smaller khuks, HD. That's one of those things that needs to be seen to be understood.
 
Yes, anytime the tree is under tension think about what you are doing and what will happen if.


I've been scared lots of times. Dead standing Pine is scary. The top can break off. Stuff lying on the ground with any kind of impediment or resistance to motion holding it in place whereby a ill chop can release said energy is dangerous.
It's just like shooting; 'what will happen if this goes wrong?' I always ask myself that with shots and with chops.



munk
 
James is right. I don't lean over it when I am making the final cuts. Also like he says you have to be conscious of where the pressure is on the tree. My timber harvesting professor in college really hammered that into us.

Luckily when you are using something like a khukuri on a tree, or at least me, I never take a lot out at once. So usually if the tree is under some sort of pressure you can pretty much tell it. In that way khuks are much safer than chainsaws because you can cut so fast with a chainsaw that you fail to hear the tree cracking and groaning before it pops up on you.

Another thing too is to make sure you are uphill when you are making your final cuts so it doesn't fall down on you, and if you are felling a tree or cutting one that you know is gonna swing always have an escape route planned, or cleared. That was another thing our teacher always told us.
 
Nice post HD. That knife is a real beauty. :D

My grandfather, very experienced with felling trees, was injured just prior to his 67th birthday when an enormous limb high up in an unhealthy tree he was removing from the property snapped off immediately after his first cut. That was 6 years ago, and he doesn't bother culling the unhealthy trees anymore. He said he heard a faint crack, then remembers waking up and crawling to his truck. He could barely move. He drove the truck straight to the house through fences and all, and when he got up to the house my grandmother was just pulling out of the driveway to head to town (10 mi). What a blessing she hadn't gotten out sooner. He had a large gash, and three crushed vertibray which had to be fused and he has never gotten full range of motion out of his neck.

Edited...Munk I can't figure out lots of these abbreviations including the one below. Yvsa stumps me constantly. I'm new to forums and I only know the very basic ones. I think you are right though that maybe that word shouldn't even be abbreviated here. Since last week I've been reading Uncle Bill's earlier threads, and he said there were only two rules. (1) No fowl language, and (2) No personal attacks. You are a great mod and this is just another example of how well you are doing.
 
We always called the dead limbs "widowmakers". You were suspended from class if you didn't have your hardhat on:p Also 2 downed tree lengths between you and anyone else felling in the area.

The 17" GRS IS a beauty! It's a villager. I slimmed the handle down and it's near perfect! Also it is forged so that the spine is narrower at the hilt, swells at the sweet spot, and then tapers to the point. This is the only khuk I have that is done like this and you can really tell it!
 
What is the handle made of? Walnut is my guess... I love the dark woods. Only a scant few hours before the arrival of my 18" FF!!!!!!
 
I dunno. When I write little bits sometimes the language might get rough. Hollow can put STFU in there if he wants to. I just see a rash of the F word around here lately and can't quite figure it out. Are we getting courser? More unhappy?

Don't get me wrong- I'm not loosing any sleep over it.



munk
 
Muddy Waters- Welcome. I can't imagine how you scored that name. Anywhere but a knife forum, it should have been taken long ago.


munk
 
munk said:
I dunno. When I write little bits sometimes the language might get rough. Hollow can put STFU in there if he wants to. I just see a rash of the F word around here lately and can't quite figure it out. Are we getting courser? More unhappy?

Don't get me wrong- I'm not loosing any sleep over it.



munk
Click to expand...

True, duly noted Munk!:thumbup:

The little hand guy I'm glad they put him on there. Not because I really want to use him much, but some of the threads he has generated have been humorous and thought provoking:thumbup:
 
To go back to the first post that took this thread off topic, but which was somewhat related to the subject. If I get my you know what together I may go out in the woods when the time and conditions are right and take some pics and do a safety thread.:thumbup:
 
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