With the original somewhat sharp edge profile, chopping into a soft iron block than Cliff gave me resulted in zero blade damage. I had planned to gently tap the edge against the block. Due to the weight of the blade my tap had more force than I had intended. The Mega Salyan produced the widest and deepest chop marks on the iron block. The impact pulse may have been extended due to me trying to slow the khukuri down. The metal may have just been pushed aside instead of chopped into.
The Mega Salyan was tested with roofing nails, also with the original somewhat sharp edge. These are the short nails with a large flat head. The quality on the nails I had could not be very good. The nails were chopped on a piece of wood. With each blow the nail was sunk into the wood and cut about half way through. There was no damage to the edge at all. At the moment, Im not sure if this was due to excellent blade quality, poor nail quality, or I may have found a way to cheat with this chopping test. The nail sunk into the wood, which greatly reduced the shock to the blade. Instead of the chop being a sudden impact, it is similar to hammering the blade through the nail.
We had a downed tree, due to high winds. It broke about 7 ft from the base and the top portion remained attached but snapped over. I dont know what type of tree it was but it was a deciduous tree. The bark was extremely hard. The Busse No. 5 and Mission MPK did little damage to the bark due to their lightweight. I took my Mega Salyan to chop it down. It took down the 13 diameter tree in about 30 minutes. The extra weight really came in handy for chopping through the bark.
Unfortunately, I found that I tired very quickly from using the 5.75LB khukuri. It turned out that I did not have sufficient endurance to manipulate and hold up the khukuri with one hand. So I tried using two hands. I had great results and the Mega Salyan chopped beautifully, and tight swings were all that was required. The left hand was used mainly to assist in holding up the khukuri and the right hand providing propulsion and aiming. I can not use (or require) two hands on my 22 Ang Khola due to painful vibrations experienced on the rear hand. The Mega Salyan did not vibrate at all and if I had held on a bit tighter it would have been very comfortable to use. Due to my loose grip, I got a few blisters on my left hand. My right hand did not experience any blisters.
My progress was very slow near the end. The final blows before the tree fell over I would hit, listen, and possibly run. Due to the angle of the top I was concern the tree would kick up. When it did go I made a mad dash away from the tree, only to look back to see it had merely tipped over a few degrees onto another down tree. Unfortunately, there is a 1.5 diameter hollow inside of the tree. This would indicate the tree had been rotting and easier to chop down than had it been fresh.
This time I did not have a comparison khukuri along as this tree was a target of opportunity. The 22 Ang Khola (3.75 LB) would have probably given similar performance without the need for using two hands. I suspect the Mega Salyan would be slightly ahead. Anything up to and including an 18 Ang Khola would have taken considerable longer. The bark would have been hard to penetrate with a lesser khukuri. I would have to admit that the 22 Ang Khola is the optimal for me and that I can not handle more khukuri than that, especially with one hand.
Both the blade and handle were undamaged. The blade was considerably duller than when I started. All the testing was done with the original edge with a bit of touch up. The touch up was required due to previous chopping. Despite the Mega Salyan being a bit beyond my capabilities, I like it and enjoyed using it. The stubby appearance is really kind of neat.
Since my initial outing with the Mega Salyan I have only had the opportunity to swing against air and sharpen it. With a bit of practice around the home, I have found I can swing and stop the big khukuri fairly well. It moves slowly but gives me a decent workout. If I hold the khukuri further forward with my hand around the bolster I find that I can control the khukuri quite well. I was able to test its edge by shaving hair off my arm with sufficient control to avoid being cut. I am looking forward to taking the Mega Salyan out again, I suspect my endurance has improved quite a bit as well.
Sharpening the Mega Salyan proved to be an interesting experience. The sharpening process went quite normally until it came time to remove the burr. While removing the burr, I do one side then check to see if it has flopped over to the other side. If required I flip the knife over and file off the burr. I repeat this until the burr does not show up. My hands and forearm got pretty tired flipping the khukuri over and over until the burr was removed.
I have had some success with a strop and abrasive, a hair shaving edge was obtained on a couple of kitchen knives, Mission MPK (A2), WW2 khukuri, and Busse No 5 and a failure with the Ti Mission MPK. So, I thought I would try it on my Mega Salyan. After a while I discovered I had removed the Mega Salyans ability to shave hair. With more stropping I could not put a hair shaving edge on this khukuri but the edge did feel sharp. Also, I found that it did not cut quite as well. I was also getting tired from repeatedly flipping over the heavy khukuri. Perhaps, I should construct a strop with closed cell foam and sandpaper.
Will
The Mega Salyan was tested with roofing nails, also with the original somewhat sharp edge. These are the short nails with a large flat head. The quality on the nails I had could not be very good. The nails were chopped on a piece of wood. With each blow the nail was sunk into the wood and cut about half way through. There was no damage to the edge at all. At the moment, Im not sure if this was due to excellent blade quality, poor nail quality, or I may have found a way to cheat with this chopping test. The nail sunk into the wood, which greatly reduced the shock to the blade. Instead of the chop being a sudden impact, it is similar to hammering the blade through the nail.
We had a downed tree, due to high winds. It broke about 7 ft from the base and the top portion remained attached but snapped over. I dont know what type of tree it was but it was a deciduous tree. The bark was extremely hard. The Busse No. 5 and Mission MPK did little damage to the bark due to their lightweight. I took my Mega Salyan to chop it down. It took down the 13 diameter tree in about 30 minutes. The extra weight really came in handy for chopping through the bark.
Unfortunately, I found that I tired very quickly from using the 5.75LB khukuri. It turned out that I did not have sufficient endurance to manipulate and hold up the khukuri with one hand. So I tried using two hands. I had great results and the Mega Salyan chopped beautifully, and tight swings were all that was required. The left hand was used mainly to assist in holding up the khukuri and the right hand providing propulsion and aiming. I can not use (or require) two hands on my 22 Ang Khola due to painful vibrations experienced on the rear hand. The Mega Salyan did not vibrate at all and if I had held on a bit tighter it would have been very comfortable to use. Due to my loose grip, I got a few blisters on my left hand. My right hand did not experience any blisters.
My progress was very slow near the end. The final blows before the tree fell over I would hit, listen, and possibly run. Due to the angle of the top I was concern the tree would kick up. When it did go I made a mad dash away from the tree, only to look back to see it had merely tipped over a few degrees onto another down tree. Unfortunately, there is a 1.5 diameter hollow inside of the tree. This would indicate the tree had been rotting and easier to chop down than had it been fresh.
This time I did not have a comparison khukuri along as this tree was a target of opportunity. The 22 Ang Khola (3.75 LB) would have probably given similar performance without the need for using two hands. I suspect the Mega Salyan would be slightly ahead. Anything up to and including an 18 Ang Khola would have taken considerable longer. The bark would have been hard to penetrate with a lesser khukuri. I would have to admit that the 22 Ang Khola is the optimal for me and that I can not handle more khukuri than that, especially with one hand.
Both the blade and handle were undamaged. The blade was considerably duller than when I started. All the testing was done with the original edge with a bit of touch up. The touch up was required due to previous chopping. Despite the Mega Salyan being a bit beyond my capabilities, I like it and enjoyed using it. The stubby appearance is really kind of neat.
Since my initial outing with the Mega Salyan I have only had the opportunity to swing against air and sharpen it. With a bit of practice around the home, I have found I can swing and stop the big khukuri fairly well. It moves slowly but gives me a decent workout. If I hold the khukuri further forward with my hand around the bolster I find that I can control the khukuri quite well. I was able to test its edge by shaving hair off my arm with sufficient control to avoid being cut. I am looking forward to taking the Mega Salyan out again, I suspect my endurance has improved quite a bit as well.
Sharpening the Mega Salyan proved to be an interesting experience. The sharpening process went quite normally until it came time to remove the burr. While removing the burr, I do one side then check to see if it has flopped over to the other side. If required I flip the knife over and file off the burr. I repeat this until the burr does not show up. My hands and forearm got pretty tired flipping the khukuri over and over until the burr was removed.
I have had some success with a strop and abrasive, a hair shaving edge was obtained on a couple of kitchen knives, Mission MPK (A2), WW2 khukuri, and Busse No 5 and a failure with the Ti Mission MPK. So, I thought I would try it on my Mega Salyan. After a while I discovered I had removed the Mega Salyans ability to shave hair. With more stropping I could not put a hair shaving edge on this khukuri but the edge did feel sharp. Also, I found that it did not cut quite as well. I was also getting tired from repeatedly flipping over the heavy khukuri. Perhaps, I should construct a strop with closed cell foam and sandpaper.
Will
