kobra handle twist? flaw?

Bladite

Bladite

ǝɹnsıǝן ɟo uɐɯǝןʇuǝb
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hey y'all,

got my first official official HI product - a 20" 20 oz kobra by bura.

took my time and studied the sheath - seems spiffy and well made. there's a little tack in the back side holding a flap down - seems a bit sharp to me, might remove it, and use a dot of glue myself - i can see that abrading my pants/leg eventually. it's darned similar to a nearly 12-15 yo older kukri sheath i have [1]

blade doesn't appear to be shaving sharp out of the box, could be one of those tricky "working edges", that doesn't seem sharp, but is. will try on some cardboard later. it's too pretty to use on frozen branches just yet :)

fit and finish is pretty fantastic for something entirely handmade and crafted as this is, especially for the price, but...

the twist... noticed that the handle alignment seems a bit off - twisted - if the blade is held edge up at "12 o'clock", the narrow points on the butt are at 12:02 and 6:02. is this normal? seems peculiar to me. the handle seems mostly aligned until that point - it's an oval cross-section so would be obviously off otherwise. unfortunately, the twist is such that the upper portion of the butt as held in the right hand is immediately noticeable in terms of a pressure-point/hot-spot if one chokes down the grip. might not matter with gloves on and i'd always have gloves matey - arrrr.


[1] stamped nepal, 3 circles marked at bend on 10.5" blade, stamped NEPAL, brass inlays, horn handle (cracked now - must fix), the h-epoxy is dry now, VERY sharp, well made. it's what inspired me to keep, uh, aquiring - it might just be a tourist piece, but it's fantastically made for just junk :>

bladite
 
Cut some light stuff- some brush or bush neaby and tell me how it feels in your hand.


I'm not sure I understand your explanation. The handle butt cants to one side? I've seen one of the two corners of the 'eye' of the buttcap extend further, but that is normal and aligned.
12:02 doesn't sound very far out.

How does it feel in your hand? At 20 ounces, you have the true fighting Kobra. Don't use it for heavy wood cutting.

edit; in thinking about this more, I think I have seen some with a slightly canted handle. Most often, what the kami does in the handle is inspired by the what the knife is for. I'm sure there are mistakes. But I use my khuks in the field, so I probably wouldn't notice this unless it detracted or aided the cutting ability. That's why I suggest at least holding it and swinging it- safely.

edit; remember, if you are unhappy, you can return the blade. Was it a DOD?


munk
 
well, two minutes, 2/60ths of mr clock circle, that's 12 degrees - it's visually obvious... the twist as such occurs after the handle ring probably the last inch or so? the "spine" of the oval cross-section of the handle seems well aligned with the assumed tang.

the upper portion of the butt cap does press into the heel of the thumb when held choked down in certain grips. if it's inspired, i'd have to guess it's for a lefty, not a righty like myself. choked up, it's not particularly in the way, i think. i've not seen this on the handle of any knife or tool that i've used, or am familiar with in the range of kukris, etc i've personally handled, hence the asking.

i'm going to have to assault some cardboard boxes soon anyway. if it chops anything else, it would be soft shrubbery, not trees. it might just end up being a display queen - just not from end on ;)

bladite
 
If the handle feels uncomfortable or you just don't like it you might consider giving Yangdu a call. She can probably fix you up with something more appropriate.

If you want to do this it would be nice to do it prior to doing much chopping with the blade, so if you do end up sending it back it would still be in as-new condition. However, I doubt that would be a requirement. Yangdu is pretty focused on giving good service to her customers.
 
I have more than a dozen HI knives, and the only one with a handle that is "off" is a 15" Sirupati by Amtrak. The points of the handle are off a little, but the handle itself is fine. I could see the misalignment, but not feel it in the hand.

Seemed fine to me, but I certainly prefer having everything line up perfectly.

The knife was a swap for a knife that was damaged in shipment to me by DHL. For a short time, Bill used DHL. Unfortunately, DHL tried to kill the knife.

The Sirupati blade was so nice that I was happy with it.

I wonder about the blade length that you reported. A 20" knife should have a blade that is longer than 10.5 inches. If the but cap were turned by 12 degrees, that is a bit much, and more than I would like.

HI has always been great about standing behind their products.
 
I have a bilton with a "twisted handle"...makes me smile everytime I look at it (or think about it). I get all sorts of funny ideas in my head...

Anyway....


It's not supposed to be twisted, for sure. My guess is that the handle wasn't bored quite straight...or the tang is twisted somehow...or it just got twisted when they glued it up.

A messy Do-It-Yourself solution would be to heat up the blade near the bolster with a heat gun until the laha start to bubble/ooze...and then try twisting it back.

Otherwise, email Yangdu for a switcheroo.
 
I have several knives, including a $150 sher movie model and a $195 Dui Chirra with pinned chandan handle, that have this exact problem (if I understand you correctly; I am talking about the handle being rotated out of line with the blade, not the handle being fitted at an angle to the tang.) The biggest bug is the perception of the "misaligned" handle, as the handles are about 10-15 degrees out of rotational alignment with the blade. However on both those and several others there is no way it seems to affect chopping or the feel in the hand. I can see how it could, but not on the ones I have. From the top of the handle they are turned to the left, so my fingers seem to wrap around them fine. In fact, were I blindfolded, I don't think I could tell by feel that the butts were turned out of line.

I am hoping to get good enough to reprofile the handles to get them back aligned, but especially with the hidden tang Dui Chirra want to be careful not to screw them up. Howver as stated it is purely cosmetic and I may not even bother.

The movie model handle is oversized neem, so I think I have plenty of wood to work with. I have a half-dozen others with this condition in a minor way that I am just leaving alone.

As others have said, the bottom line is if it affects your hand. If it does and bothers you then drop an email to Yangdu. I think it's simply that the handle is fit to the tang and bolster very well, but the butt and cap are not always similarly lined up.

Norm
 
Svashtar said:
I have several knives, including a $150 sher movie model and a $195 Dui Chirra with pinned chandan handle, that have this exact problem (if I understand you correctly; I am talking about the handle being rotated out of line with the blade, not the handle being fitted at an angle to the tang.) The biggest bug is the perception of the "misaligned" handle, as the handles are about 10-15 degrees out of rotational alignment with the blade.
Click to expand...

the handle appears to be rotationally correct from the bolster to the handle grip rings, the oval cross-section is lined up with the spine just fine, it's after the ring, the wood was carved with a slight spiral clockwise as viewed from the butt end towards to the tip. the spiral ends up being about 12 degrees of rotation over the distance of ring to butt, i think the deviation from center to where the actual butt tips are is about 7-8 mm. 15 degrees would be more like a whole centimeter.

Svashtar said:
However on both those and several others there is no way it seems to affect chopping or the feel in the hand. I can see how it could, but not on the ones I have. From the top of the handle they are turned to the left, so my fingers seem to wrap around them fine. In fact, were I blindfolded, I don't think I could tell by feel that the butts were turned out of line.
Click to expand...

my most common usage for "long chopping objects" was playing tennis and raquetball tournies :) very fussy with the handles and the grips, and totally, a 5 degree pitch would have caused poor deflection on ball hits - it's made me very fussy with other handles too - i've spent hours and hours rewrapping handles and such on stuff. one can notice without looking if you have a feel for it. now, you could get used to it, but that would require a bit of training.

if the handle were spiralling to counter-clockwise, i'd be all set, but in a choked down grip, there is that hot spot. i guess i'll someday fix it, or gift it, but in the meantime, i'll wear gloves and/or not worry about it too much.

Svashtar said:
I am hoping to get good enough to reprofile the handles to get them back aligned, but especially with the hidden tang Dui Chirra want to be careful not to screw them up. Howver as stated it is purely cosmetic and I may not even bother.

The movie model handle is oversized neem, so I think I have plenty of wood to work with. I have a half-dozen others with this condition in a minor way that I am just leaving alone.

As others have said, the bottom line is if it affects your hand. If it does and bothers you then drop an email to Yangdu. I think it's simply that the handle is fit to the tang and bolster very well, but the butt and cap are not always similarly lined up.
Norm
Click to expand...

as i bought it from another forumite and not directly, there is no warranty recourse for me, and it's minor enough i probably wouldn't go that route anyway - this thread has been more educational/information for me.

i'll keep this particular fit/finish "issue" in mind for future purchases directly from the nice HI folx. it's not so critical with a show piece, i think, but for a worker, my hands would appreciate shaped perfection. if need be, i can reshape the butt to suit, and round everything off with epoxy and shape and sand.

thanx!

bladite
 
Bladite said:
... my hands would appreciate shaped perfection. if need be, i can reshape the butt to suit, and round everything off with epoxy and shape and sand.
Click to expand...

Many of us have gone this route. Not because of flaws, but because the ideal shape of a handle is a very personal thing. Rusty used to thin out his handles because they fit his smaller hands better that way. Many of us have filed down butcaps on knives with short handles. Then there's a whole crew here that applies special finishes, and can debate the virtues of a superglue vs. true-oil finish.

The end result of this is to make the knife uniquely your own.
 
my 15" sirupati's handle took a good twist after some hard use. Hasn't moved since and actually feels better this way!
 
okokokok now...

lemme understand here...ok?

the blade is NOT canted or twisted to one side or the other....

rather...

the handle itself...the wood thingie on the end of the knife...was carved or turned in such a way that the part furthest from the blade has a different axis orientation than that part in front of the ring in the center of the wood handle.

Yes? This is the case?

huh. All this time I thought the blade had warped a bit during tempering.






sandthesumbich. You the handle's god. Wreck your terrible havoc.



uh...tape the blade first.
 
Kismet said:
okokokok now...

lemme understand here...ok?

the blade is NOT canted or twisted to one side or the other....

rather...

the handle itself...the wood thingie on the end of the knife...was carved or turned in such a way that the part furthest from the blade has a different axis orientation than that part in front of the ring in the center of the wood handle.

Yes? This is the case?

huh. All this time I thought the blade had warped a bit during tempering.

sandthesumbich. You the handle's god. Wreck your terrible havoc.



uh...tape the blade first.
Click to expand...

yes, the wood is carved twisted, the blade is fine.

can't just it, the twist portion includes the entire finished butt end, and cap, sanding/grinding would expose raw metal edges and change the shape of the butt end from an "eye" shape to something smaller and different...

try this... draw a perfect oval on paper. narrow parts on top/bottom, much like a kukri butt would be - mark the center. rotate it 12-15 degrees clock wise in front of you on the table. now draw another oval of the same size, centered on the same place. note the distance differences of the narrow peaks. now, to grind the old one down, to best match the now vertical (second) oval, you'll have to remove much wood and metal from the 12:02ish and 6:02ish o'clock positions, and attempt to keep them symmetrical to opposite vertical (mirror) axis. gotcha? the buttcap can't just be remove and then the wood reshaped, as the wood butts shape and size will become smaller.

tricky work.

bladite
 
IF you can use it as is, if it feels 'right', keep it. If this will never be resolved either by leaving the present handle and/or having no impetus to make a new handle, contact Yangdu and get this resolved.

Not to worry. It's a handle and the 02 content of our atmosphere still sustains life.

And I haven't even had my second cup of coffee today.




munk
 
Send it back to Himalayan imports for replacement.

Himalayan Imports
3495 Lakeside Drive PMB 69
Reno, NV 89509
 
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