M43 - handle shortening - Should I?

H

hunglvq

Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
232
Hi Mates,

I got this fantastic M43 by Rajkumar. Everything is outstanding. The only problem I have is the big & long handle for my small hand. When I hold the part near pommel, the balance is a bit heavy, especially when I draw it back for another swing. I'm only comfortable with is the part near the bolster. It’s where the swings are easier.

Key dimensions:
- Weight: 37oz
- OAL: 18"3/4
- BL (cho to tip): 11" 1/2
- HL: 6" over all (5" for wood scale & 1" for bolster)
- Spine thickness (at shoulder): 7/16" (11mm)
- 1st pin: 1"3/8 wide x 1"3/8 thick (35 x 35mm)
- 2nd pin: 1"3/8 wide x 1"10/32 thick (35 x 33mm)

rehandle.jpg


I intend to make the handle about 1” shorter by dis-assembling the slab, send it to my village blacksmith to make a shorter tang (see the red line), then I put on may be a new pair of slab. By shortening the handle, I can hold it better. However, I’m still hesitating if it’s a good improvement or a silly action from an eager idiot. The shortened tang can affect the angulation of the knife overall. While it is long, I still have about 1" free so that the pommel wont dig my hand while chopping. When it shorter, for sure it will dig.

The other option is to leave the handle length as is, just to shave down the thickness as well as the width for more ergonomic grip. When you look at the dimension above, you can see the handle is almost round, not oval or egg-shape.

I need to get your experienced recommendation on this.

Thank you in advance.

Hung
 
Well all I can give is an inexperienced recommendation but I think you would be best served by shaving the handle down while leaving the length alone.
 
The shortened tang will effect the over all balance of the blade since you are removing weight from the other end of the fulcrum. If the blade feels right balance-wise to you now, I would hesitate to do what you propose for this reason alone. To make the handle easier for you to hold might be better served by you sanding the diameter of it down until you are better able to grasp it firmly. Make it more of an egg shape like you are saying and leave the length alone. You can always choke up on the handle like you have been doing and only use the part of the handle you need to use. Removing a bit of wood isn't going to effect the balance like removing an inch of metal from the tang. I would bet that if you do remove that much of the tang you will be a lot less happy with the way it preforms for you afterward.
 
it sounds like you would like to hold it at the pommel to have a better grip when you chop, but that when you do that it feels sluggish. There are two possibilities
1 shorten the handle - you can do this but it is pretty drastic b/c you won't know the result until it's done.
2 lighten the blade - What I have done with several HI pieces is to use a belt-sander to round and reduce the spine. I have found that to be very effective, and also you can proceed gradually to find out if you like the effect or not. HI tools generally have thicker spines than necessary to ensure appropriate strength. This will result in a nimbler tool but the handle will still be longer than you might choose if it was custom-built for you.

As said, reducing the girth of the pommel will slightly change the balance towards the blade. If you can find someone with a belt-grinder I would say first reduce the bell pommel, and contour the grip for best fit. Then start by rounding the spine, which will reduce a little metal, and see how that feels. If an improvement, you can keep reducing until you find the perfect balance.

I have done exactly this to several HI knives with great results!
 
Thanks mates for your advice! I was just 50/50 reluctant on which way to go. I will start first with reducing the thickness of the handle.

Cheers,

Hung
 
I would shave down the handle. I've done it with my Chitlangi as well as production knives from other companies.
Keep in mind that if you're using sandpaper, the pin won't sand down as quickly as the wood so you'll have a bulge around the pin. Using a file or a power tool would probably get around that problem.
 
I just grabbed my hand grinder with a sand paper disc to shave the top and bottom line of the handle, then the wood part. It looks skinny, right? This is just one side of the handle. Tomorrow, I’ll finish the other. The feel is MUCH MUCH better. The balance is great. Now I know that the size of the handle affects the feel in hand. Deep thanks to you all for your advice. Otherwise, I did become an eager idiot.

DSC00679.jpg


After rough grinding with the hand grinder, I finetuned the wood with a file. I did not file off the aluminum rivet just to save some metal to hammer tomorrow.

DSC00680.jpg
 
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Looks good Hung, I am sure that you will be a lot happier doing this than chopping the tang off.
This is far less likely to mess up the balance and far more likely to make it easier to handle.
 
My goodness! Just some metal of the tang and one side of the wood slab, I could reduced it by 2oz.

Great! May be after shaving the other slab, it would be another 1oz.

34oz would be nice for a M43
 
I suppose if Overall weight is all that matters to you. I find that even the super heavy blades can be wielded with ease if they are well balanced.
Therefore for me, I am far more concerned about maintaining the balanced feel of a blade over simply making it lighter. YMMV.
 
i think you'll find with a better grip with the sanding, and the slight reduction in weight from the handle will result in a more aggressive chopping action.

it was the right move to not chop the end off. though don't forget to use very fine sandpaper and buff the metal for rounder edges/points, and fill any gaps with super glue.


Bladite
 
warty said:
I suppose if Overall weight is all that matters to you. I find that even the super heavy blades can be wielded with ease if they are well balanced.
Therefore for me, I am far more concerned about maintaining the balanced feel of a blade over simply making it lighter. YMMV.
Click to expand...


^^ Wut he sed.

Seriously, balance makes all the difference. And different people like different balance points. Most of the ones I'm getting rid of are lighter than my 20" CAK, but don't balance as well for me, so they don't feel quite as lively or capable.
 
Warty, Cpl. Punishment - gotta agree with you guys. Despite my preference for lighter-weight khukuris, I too feel that a lot of times balance and "feel" of the khukuri or any other blade matters more than weight. I have several heavier khukuris with a great balance and a lively feel that I am a lot more comfortable handling than other lighter khukuris that don't seem to have a similar balance and feel.

Hung, your M43 is looking good, will be keen to see how it turns out after you're completely done with it - please do keep posting pics of your progress, as well as its difference in weight, handling, etc. :thumbup:
 
And how you did it. I understand carefully dremeling away the wood to slim it down, but are you grinding away the metal of the tang from the front and the back of the handle? Also, what does one do with the protruding pins? why hammer them instead of grinding them flush with the slimmed handle?

Thanks, i have very little experience tinkering around with knives.
 
moogoogaidan said:
why hammer them instead of grinding them flush with the slimmed handle?

Thanks, i have very little experience tinkering around with knives.
Click to expand...

It's called peening - pretty much making the pins mushroom over the wood to help keep the slabs in place. Laha can loosen up or crack and if the pins aren't properly peened, the slabs will loosen up. Happened with my old m43 because one of the pins was improperly peened and the slabs loosened up when the laha dried out. Epoxy didn't quite fix it and I couldn't peen the handle because it was too short and the handle was horn and would have probably cracked...
 
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I grind the handle with both wood & steel part at the same time. I keep it a bit oversized then use a file to do the finetuning work.

As for the alu rivet, if i shaved them toghether with the wood, i cannot make it mushroomed as Killar has explained


moogoogaidan said:
And how you did it. I understand carefully dremeling away the wood to slim it down, but are you grinding away the metal of the tang from the front and the back of the handle? Also, what does one do with the protruding pins? why hammer them instead of grinding them flush with the slimmed handle?

Thanks, i have very little experience tinkering around with knives.
Click to expand...
 
Just could manage some spare time this morning to finish the handle. This is how it looks. Dont know what kind of wood it is. It's a kind of brown-yellow wood with some stripes, not too hard.

DSC00717.jpg



I admired the rivets of Sgt Khakda, esp. in his Bone Cutter. It's really round, not in odd shape like others. This is the best finish I could do for the rivet with a little trick.

DSC00714.jpg



It fits in my small hand better.

Final dimension:
At first pin: 1&5/6" wide x 1&1/4" thick
At second pin: 1&1/4" wide x 1&3/32" thick
Weight: 34.5 Oz

DSC00711.jpg



Overall look

DSC00712.jpg
 
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Hung, you are very talented. thanks so much for sharing. you are a valuable resource for the family. if only you lived in th US, you would have a great money making hobbie/side job;). Thanks again.
 
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