Kukuri temper

S

sirupatespecial

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Oct 16, 2013
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537
Just received 2 kukuri's a couple of weeks ago. My question is about the temper. One is a "Jungle Panewal" 11.5" blade. Other is a, you guess it, a Sirupate 10.5" blade. Anyway. The Jungle is very soft on lower part of blade. Hardens up toward the middle and the "sweet spot" up to the tip is what I would consider normally hardened.

Sirupate is harder toward the bottom of blade than Jungle but still softer and gets progressivly harder toward tip.

I thought "differentially hardened" meant the spine was softer than the cutting surface. Is it normal for the cutting surface to vary this much in temper? And if so, what is the reasoning behind it?
 
Most traditional khukuri are only really hardened at the sweet spot. The heat treat will be progressively thinner as you get away from it.
It depends on how the kami was working that day.
The spine, rest of the blade is not heat treated to provide all the ductility the steel can provide.
The tip is usually unhardened to prevent it from shattering in your face if you should unknowingly hit something harder than the blade.
The belly away from the sweet spot is progressively less hardened for ease of sharpening, to provide ductility and because you are not supposed to be chopping with any other part of the blade than the sweet spot.
Proper technique is important when using a khukuri, both for user safety and the safety of the khukuri.
 
The traditional method used for hardening khuks involves a teapot and seems much more art than science! It seems to take a very experienced kami to get things right and kamis seem set in their ways. It's possible it didn't turn out right, or was done exactly how THEY prefer their own khuks:) I've seen khuks which had pretty much the whole edge hardened and others which were all soft. From what I understand, the khukuri is supposed to be softest at the spine and tang, with a hardened belly. The two extremes of the edge should be soft(er) to absorb shock and allow the tip, which is the most likely part to come in contact with rocks, to be fixed if damaged. Hope that helps. You can try a vinegar patina to see if a hamon line becomes visible if you really want to know what's hardened. Take care.

ETA: I was a little slow on the draw, but it looks like you got the answers you needed.
 
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