Hi Mates,
I just finished my new knife and post here to share with you.
One day, I took the ASTK out for some chop and I feel amazed while chopping with very little shock to the wrist thanks to the curve profile. And I feel myself addicted to Siru then I asked myself why not make a Siru in the curve shape of the ASTK?. I would like to combine the best property of these 02 famous knifves: Curve and Quick, an agile and enjoyable slasher.
Then the project began around 02 months back.
I want to send deep thanks to Jay Goliath who has spent time discussing and giving me lots of advice in this project.
I sketched the profile of the ASTK on paper, thinned down about 12mm from spine, developed a draft on a sheet of metal, then have my village blacksmith forged the raw blade as usual.
The raw blade weighs 600 grs
Then I started to profile the topline, bottomline, and the fuller.
Then I sent it back to the village blacksmith for heat treating. Time to work on the handle. I decided to use buffalo horn as it is the lightest handle material I had in hand.
Drilling the curve hole is always a mad job. I divided the curve into 02 smaller straight lines, and drilled from both sides. The drill bit is 8mm diameter. I shake the drill up down to create an oval shape of the hole.
I imitate the kamis to chop down some excess part of the horn with my favorite Hmong knife.
Draft shaping with the hand grinder
Time to make the bolster. I welded a piece of sheet brass to make a ring. One end is smaller than the other to fit both the blade and handle.
Put it into the handle and hammer to bring into the draft shape
It seems to fit
I epoxied the bolster to the handle and had some quick filing on the bolster. The blade was just draft laid into the handle. I also shave down the handle as you can see in the pix
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I cut a ring to mark where the palm ring starts
Then I proceed to shave the bottom part of the handle. It is now still in draft shape with no palm ring popping out.
I shaved / cut the handle down to expose the palm ring, using a sharp knife.
This stage I cut the second ring to form the palm rings, using a string saw
Now the handle is in a neater draft shape with palm ring exposed.
Now to make the butt cap. I cut a piece of 1mm thick sheet stock of brass, hammer hard in the center, hammer less in the outside to bring it to a globe shape. Then drill a hole. Same method applied to make the keeper.
Then the fun job of epoxy and peening
Took me a lot of time to complete the finishing with fine sand papers. Here come Mrs Singh Siru,
And side by side with her husband, the ASTK.
I just finished my new knife and post here to share with you.
One day, I took the ASTK out for some chop and I feel amazed while chopping with very little shock to the wrist thanks to the curve profile. And I feel myself addicted to Siru then I asked myself why not make a Siru in the curve shape of the ASTK?. I would like to combine the best property of these 02 famous knifves: Curve and Quick, an agile and enjoyable slasher.
Then the project began around 02 months back.
I want to send deep thanks to Jay Goliath who has spent time discussing and giving me lots of advice in this project.
I sketched the profile of the ASTK on paper, thinned down about 12mm from spine, developed a draft on a sheet of metal, then have my village blacksmith forged the raw blade as usual.
The raw blade weighs 600 grs
Then I started to profile the topline, bottomline, and the fuller.
Then I sent it back to the village blacksmith for heat treating. Time to work on the handle. I decided to use buffalo horn as it is the lightest handle material I had in hand.
Drilling the curve hole is always a mad job. I divided the curve into 02 smaller straight lines, and drilled from both sides. The drill bit is 8mm diameter. I shake the drill up down to create an oval shape of the hole.
I imitate the kamis to chop down some excess part of the horn with my favorite Hmong knife.
Draft shaping with the hand grinder
Time to make the bolster. I welded a piece of sheet brass to make a ring. One end is smaller than the other to fit both the blade and handle.
Put it into the handle and hammer to bring into the draft shape
It seems to fit
I epoxied the bolster to the handle and had some quick filing on the bolster. The blade was just draft laid into the handle. I also shave down the handle as you can see in the pix
I cut a ring to mark where the palm ring starts
Then I proceed to shave the bottom part of the handle. It is now still in draft shape with no palm ring popping out.
I shaved / cut the handle down to expose the palm ring, using a sharp knife.
This stage I cut the second ring to form the palm rings, using a string saw
Now the handle is in a neater draft shape with palm ring exposed.
Now to make the butt cap. I cut a piece of 1mm thick sheet stock of brass, hammer hard in the center, hammer less in the outside to bring it to a globe shape. Then drill a hole. Same method applied to make the keeper.
Then the fun job of epoxy and peening
Took me a lot of time to complete the finishing with fine sand papers. Here come Mrs Singh Siru,
And side by side with her husband, the ASTK.
