Loose Bolster Woes

J

Josh Feltman

Joined
Feb 12, 2001
Messages
4,501
When I saw Justright's post where he mentioned "ghorka worriers" I knew he was talking about me :D I definitely tend to fuss over little things. Anyway, the bolster on my chiruwa WWII is still a tiny bit loose. It was loose when I got it, and I have tried just about everything to fix it. I tried superglue and epoxy-- no go. I tried pounding the bolster with a hammer to tighten it. That helped, but didn't fix it entirely, and ended up denting the brass. I tried heating the bolster with a candle, which didn't do anything. Last night, based on Federico's suggestion, I used a propane torch to heat the spine of the knife for about 30 seconds to melt the laha. It helped, but there is still a tiny bit of up and down play in the bolster. I'm talking a tiny bit of play here-- maybe the width of the brass sheeting in the bolster itself; you have to grab it and jiggle pretty vigorously to feel the wobble, but it still bugs the heck out of me. Oh, I also found out how easily horn burns:rolleyes:

Epoxy holds the bolster in place with no wobble, but a good thunk on the flat of the blade on my chopping stump disloges it almost immediately and I can pick out the shattered bits of epoxy. So, does anyone have any suggestions of other tricks I can try to tighten this puppy up? Should I just live with it and not worry about it? Does the bolster serve any structural purpose, or is it just cosmetic? What would you do if it were your knife?
--Josh
 
Try some silicone sealer, you can sometimes get it in black. Should stop the rattle if not the wiggle, and won't be shattered out on impact of chopping stuff. If all else fails, wrap the whole handle with OD green duct tape and save that khuk for operational missions.

Sarge
 
Sarge-- good idea on the silicon sealer. I'll stop by the hardware store on my lunch break and see what I can find.
--Josh
 
What part did you try the superglue on? I superglued the part of the bolster where it met the handle. The part where the bolster met the blade didn't hold very well.

Silicone might stop the rattle but it will still be mildly loose.

Duct tape :D
 
Bruise-- I tried superglue on the seam between the handle slabs and the bolster, as well as the seam between the bolster and the blade. I tried epoxy in the same locations. I figured I'd give it one more try with the epoxy, so right now it is at home drying with a bead of epoxy around the juncture of the bolster and the handle. I doubt it will hold, though, so I will probably end up trying some silicone sealant in there. It's not rattling anymore, just a tiny bit loose. It really doesn't have any side to side wobble right not, just up and down, and that is really minimal-- probably no more than the thickness of a few playing cards.
--Josh
 
Uncle-- so far I have dented, burned, and bashed this knife during my efforts to spruce it up. Surprisingly, it still looks remarkably good. I think, though, that I am going to quit while I am ahead:rolleyes:
--Josh
 
Originally posted by Josh Feltman
When I saw Justright's post where he mentioned "ghorka worriers" I knew he was talking about me :D I definitely tend to fuss over little things.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: But I know how you feel.;)

Should I just live with it and not worry about it?
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Yes.

Does the bolster serve any structural purpose, or is it just cosmetic?
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Only cosmetic in the case of chiruwa khuks. Well at least as long as it's still intact. The bolster as well as the buttcap is there to help protect the handle material from getting beat up or damaged

What would you do if it were your knife?
--Josh
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If it's a user I would forget about it after trying the silicone that the other guys have suggested.
No sense in obsessing over the small stuff.:p :)

I once knew a man that was almost old enough to be my grandfather that had a strange idea about a brand new car. Every time he would get a new car, about every 3 to 5 years, once he got it home he would take a small ballpeen hammer and using the ball end would put a couple of small dents on the lower side of the left front fender.
He said that after that he didn't have to worry anymore about getting the new car scratched or dented.

Newbies and new H.I.Khukuris should take a lesson from that old fellow as he was plenty damned smart about what is important in life.
After all they are just a tool, albeit good ones and after a while the newness will wear off and then you can treat them all as you do your other tools.
Keep them reasonably clean and oiled and they will last many more lifetimes than your own.
Besides with the lifetime warranty they have you had better use them hard enough to know you can fully depend on them as Bill isn't getting any younger and once Bill goes, well................
Unless Bill trains someone to take his place or finds someone willing to take it then the warranty is pretty much null and void after Bill walks West.
Just something to think about, after all the Nepalis' use of khuks show they last plenty long with what we consider horrible treatment.
 
Good idea. Keep in mind the bolster is primarily a cosmetic feature. The knife will work just as well without it.
 
If the Epoxy breaks out again. Try useing a rubber glove with the epoxy. Put the blade in a vice wrapped with a rag. Pull the bolster down as tight as you can against the blade. and force the epoxy inside the bolster with the rubber glove. Sound like there has to be some space inside the bolster that is not being filled just beading it between the bolster and handle slabs. anyway it is worth a try. Worked for me on a khuk that one of my sons dropped for me. That and just a touch of gloss black paint. :)
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I am going to try some silicone, and it that doesn't work, I think I'll just leave it as is. The knife is definitely a user, so looks aren't critical. Besides, it's such a minor thing, and it doesn't affect the performance of the knife. I just need to learn to not sweat the little stuff.
--Josh
 
Im sorry Josh, I wasnt clear in my other post. I meant to say, that if you used epoxy already, dont try to melt the laha. Theres something about the epoxy not moving with the heat, so at best nothing happens and the warm laha stays put, at worst the epoxy burns. In otherwords, once the epoxy is there the laha wont move by heat. Trying to melt the laha, for me, would be a first or second try at fixing (probably pound the peen on the tang first, but since I dont know how the buttcap is attached on chiruwas, since I dont have one, I wouldnt know), but definitely before I try filling with epoxy. Once you go epoxy, it changes the situation. Anyways, like Yvsa said, dont worry about it. Realistically youll always be able to loosen it, if you torque it hard enough, itll just end up driving you mad. Anyways, Ive had plenty of those stubborn projects, where everything I do seems to make it worse. Its amazing what even a week or 2 away from working it, changes the situation. Almost like having magic work fairies come in and do stuff. Whenever I come back after setting the project down, Im always amazed that I thought things were going bad, and how right things really were going. :)
 
Hey, Federico-- no problem-- I understood what you were talking about. I managed to pick most of the epoxy out of the gap with a safety pin after it shattered, so I figured I would try the heat. It did help things somewhat, but maybe there was some epoxy deep down in there that I didn't get out which kept the laha from melting and flowing. Next time I will definitely try the heat first.
--Josh
 
Perhaps a different brand of epoxy. I've found that the brand called 'J-B Weld', available in auto supply stores, is much superior to the hardware store stuff, which seems engineered to crumble, shear and break under extreme stress. I've used J-B for many years to assemble knife handles and it's the BEST.
If I had this problem, I'd drill a couple of holes in each side of the bolster, through brass, laha and all, (but not through the blade tang), force in as much epoxy as I could, and put a couple of brass rod pins (welding rod) in to anchor everything (coated with the J-B Weld.) I think it would stabilize things nicely. Trim the rods off flush and polish, and you'd hardly notice them.
 
Using a pair of vise-grips might create an interesting pattern, even if it doesn't fix things.

( ducks behind BIG boulder ):p
 
Just leave the vice grips attached and you have a khukuri ala cop nightstick -- or the only two handled khukuri in the world.
 
You and I are politically incorrect. It is the same thing but, they sell it as utility wire now.
The bales are done with reprocessed movie film made into a pretty strong cord.

The JB Weld is good stuff. I have repaired tractor parts with the stuff.:)
 
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