- Joined
- Sep 11, 2002
- Messages
- 3,548
My friend Pete's mother had some bothersome saplings blocking her view of the lake from her living room window. Because I always bring khukuris and stuff over to show Pete when I visit, his mother ("Aunt Mary Jo" to me) asked if I would rid her of these problem "rogue trees."
I took my double-cut Battle Mistress E and a Himalayan Imports Chiruwa Ang Khola khukuri so Pete and I could do the job. Pete's a History buff who first introduced me to the Gurkhas and their khukuris back in school, so I let him use the AK. The Ang Khola is about 17" long and 7/16" thick, so I must admit that it outchopped the ol' BM-E when it came to the 6"+ thick trees, but that's expected. The Battle Mistress excelled at brush clearing, and certainly held her own against the trees and roots.
The trees were growing up from a steep hillside and both knives were stuck in the ground and used for prybars, etc.
A dozen trees later we went inside for some Yuengling lagers and to wash up in case of poison ivy.
The Battle Mistress still shaved (no surprise there) but some rocks had chipped the edge near the tip. The AK had chips near the tip and the belly, and all but the hardened "sweet spot" was dull. I gave the AK a few passes with the burnisher and straightened out the rolled edge.
Both knives needed some stone work to take out the tiny chips (less than 1mm). I used Razor Edge's angle guide on the BM-E, and free handed the AK, both on a coarse Razor Edge stone, then on translucent Arkansas. The AK got the sandpaper/mousepad treatment until it was shave-sharp, and the Battle Mistress just needed a few passes on a loaded strop to get hair-popping sharp again. Even the once-dull chipped out curve at the tip of the BM-E is shave-sharp again, and it only took a few minutes work. I was worried about sharpening the asymmetrical edge, but with the Razor Edge guide and a strop, it was no trouble at all.
I knew INFI would outperform spring steel, but I'm impressed at how easy it was to repair the edge after it chewed up all those rocks! The Ang Khola is still in great shape, but it was a lot more work to resharpen it and grind out the dings.
We really need a Busse Kukri one of these days.
I took my double-cut Battle Mistress E and a Himalayan Imports Chiruwa Ang Khola khukuri so Pete and I could do the job. Pete's a History buff who first introduced me to the Gurkhas and their khukuris back in school, so I let him use the AK. The Ang Khola is about 17" long and 7/16" thick, so I must admit that it outchopped the ol' BM-E when it came to the 6"+ thick trees, but that's expected. The Battle Mistress excelled at brush clearing, and certainly held her own against the trees and roots.
The trees were growing up from a steep hillside and both knives were stuck in the ground and used for prybars, etc.
A dozen trees later we went inside for some Yuengling lagers and to wash up in case of poison ivy.
The Battle Mistress still shaved (no surprise there) but some rocks had chipped the edge near the tip. The AK had chips near the tip and the belly, and all but the hardened "sweet spot" was dull. I gave the AK a few passes with the burnisher and straightened out the rolled edge.
Both knives needed some stone work to take out the tiny chips (less than 1mm). I used Razor Edge's angle guide on the BM-E, and free handed the AK, both on a coarse Razor Edge stone, then on translucent Arkansas. The AK got the sandpaper/mousepad treatment until it was shave-sharp, and the Battle Mistress just needed a few passes on a loaded strop to get hair-popping sharp again. Even the once-dull chipped out curve at the tip of the BM-E is shave-sharp again, and it only took a few minutes work. I was worried about sharpening the asymmetrical edge, but with the Razor Edge guide and a strop, it was no trouble at all.
I knew INFI would outperform spring steel, but I'm impressed at how easy it was to repair the edge after it chewed up all those rocks! The Ang Khola is still in great shape, but it was a lot more work to resharpen it and grind out the dings.
We really need a Busse Kukri one of these days.
