M-43 sweet spot

[bennyjenkins]

is the hardend area on the m-43 blade moved forward to accomodate for the more forward balance?

 

[Karda]

The sweet spot always covers only the chopping area, no matter the model.
The area in front of the sweet spot is left unhardened to prevent shattering, should you strike an object harder than the steel. The rest of the khukuri is unhardened to provide all the resistance and flexibility that 5160 steel provides. This is customary on all traditional made khukuri, no matter the maker.

 

[BearKinder]

I think he's asking ifd that section is closer to the tip than with models with less curvature. Due to the curvature, it would make sense, since you're going to impact closer to the tip than on one of the straighter blades.

I don't think he was asking if the spot was larger or hardened all the way to the tip.

I would suspect that these guys would know enough to harden it where the geometry dictates the strike would be, but confirmation of that would be nice.

 

[bennyjenkins]

I think he's asking ifd that section is closer to the tip than with models with less curvature. Due to the curvature, it would make sense, since you're going to impact closer to the tip than on one of the straighter blades.

I don't think he was asking if the spot was larger or hardened all the way to the tip.

I would suspect that these guys would know enough to harden it where the geometry dictates the strike would be, but confirmation of that would be nice.

Precisely what I meant. Thanks for helping me clarify.

 

[Karda]

I would suspect that these guys would know enough to harden it where the geometry dictates the strike would be, but confirmation of that would be nice.

That would be true, the kami's have been doing this for a long time.
There are two ways to confirm where the sweet spot is.
One is to take a mill file that harder than the blade and run it along the edge. It should cut where the sweet spot is not and skate where it is.
The other way is to perform an etch to show the Hamon. 5160 steel is a deep hardening steel, so any hamon will be fainter than with most other knifemaking steels.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

IIRC, once upon a time guys were asking for the sweet spot to be a little closer to the tip on some of the models. I think the M43 was one of these. Now, is your M43 that you have or are going to get one like this, it's hard to say. The kamis can switch things up on us from time to time

Like Karda said, doing at etch or running a file lightly down the edge will tell you where the sweet spot is. I generally find that even a butcher's steel will bite a bit on the curve and really skate over the hard parts.