My First HI

B

Baetis

Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
54
It arrived today! I do thing that aunties magic shipping portal has been slowed down by all you sharks, it took six days to reach me in Colorado! My first impression was WOW! Kumar does some great work. It is not as sharp as I would like, easy fix, and the shrunken handle is more than it looked in the pic. I am going to have to work the tang a little bit but what a great way to get to know my new toy. The balance and feel of this awesome, hand made knife is fabulous. Time for the Pics.

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A little bit of mod work makes it all that more unique and gives it a special personal touch I reckon. I mod all my knives to make them personally mine even if they're perfect! Haha. Thanks for the pics.
 
Just a word of note.....Do Not balance these knives on your finger. One slip and you will be the recipient of a trip to the emergency room for stitches.
Always use good judgement and proper care while handling any sharp blade.
 
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Yeah I know Karda, I realized the poor judgement call, after I took the pics. I don't do this with any of my other knives. I was overwhelmed by the excitement and thought balancing a balance knife would be a cool pic.
 
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Very nice and congrats on a fine blade indeed, what you might want to try before you work the tang is a soak in mineral oil, I know its wood but it will drink it up like it was horn and might swell it back some and be less work for you. I would soak it at least a day or two then wipe it down and give it a day then start with some BLO or tung oil and it will pop.
 
Nice looking blade, you should be able to remedy the sharpness easily, there is a great post on this here:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/147613-Probably-the-best-sharpening-post-ever-made

I will reiterate the safety measures you should take while handling these knives - I am an extremely careful person and I managed to cut myself yesterday handling my first HI kukri so do be careful once you have it to the sharpness you prefer. That is a great piece, I really like the size actually - its a great knife to sit by your desk.
 
The wood and horn can be very dry due to weather changed between Nepal, Reno and it's destination.

The mineral oil or linseed oil or whatever will nourish and revitalize the wood/horn.

I know auntie has taken to wiping the handles and blades down with oil when she gets them but still its very dry in Reno. With winter coming it should be less critical but always a concern.
 
Baetis said:
Yeah I know Karda, I realized the poor judgement call, after I took the pics. I don't do this with any of my other knives. I was overwhelmed by the excitement and thought balancing a balance knife would be a cool pic.
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It was indeed a cool pic. Perhaps mild poor judgement but with care you came out unscathed and we got a cool pic.

Happy, happy, happy.
 
Because these knives are made in Nepal, then shipped to Reno Nevada. There they sit for a little while to acclimatize to the new humidity/temperature in the US comared to Nepal. During all of this the wood dried out a bit, and that is what causes the cracks that make them DotD blems. By allowing the wood to re-hydrate you keep the wood from cracking further and you will find that the wood swells back almost to the point it was before it dehydrated and the crack will be much smaller and easier to fill/work.
 
Sweet blade man, thanks for the great pictures. I have had good luck with a leather strop and compound for these convex edges.
 
Shavru said:
Because these knives are made in Nepal, then shipped to Reno Nevada. There they sit for a little while to acclimatize to the new humidity/temperature in the US comared to Nepal. During all of this the wood dried out a bit, and that is what causes the cracks that make them DotD blems. By allowing the wood to re-hydrate you keep the wood from cracking further and you will find that the wood swells back almost to the point it was before it dehydrated and the crack will be much smaller and easier to fill/work.
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Shavru is right on the money with her statement. I have allowed some of my handles to soak in boiled linseed oil for wood and mineral oil for horn. I have had a few cracks and splits all but disappear.
 
So how long should I soak a wood handle in boiled linseed oil? I did overnight, should I do more? Do you all think it would be worthwhile to soak it for a few days?

There's also a tiny hairline crack, almost looks like the grain in the wood. Is that just something to monitor, or when would you try superglue or epoxy?
 
xylum said:
So how long should I soak a wood handle in boiled linseed oil? I did overnight, should I do more? Do you all think it would be worthwhile to soak it for a few days?

There's also a tiny hairline crack, almost looks like the grain in the wood. Is that just something to monitor, or when would you try superglue or epoxy?
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xylum: I have tested soaking an asare wood handle in mineral oil and found it soaked up a significant amount of oil for three days.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ch-mineral-oil-can-a-KLVUK-asare-handle-drink
It would depend on the porosity of the wood and the fact (?) that BLO is thicker than mineral oil and such but another day would would probably be desirable. I doubt you would have a drying and cracking problem hydrating for a day but since its already there you might find that crack disappear tomorrow?
Heres my calculations for Asare in mineral oil. other oils and woods YMMV.

% total oil absorbed by day.

Day 1=62.1%
Day 2=17.2%
Day 3=10.3%
Day 4=6.9%
Day 5=3.4%

In other words more than half first day
Almost 80% day 2...
For hard satisal oak and denser woods and maybe horn id expect these ratios to be spread out over more days but i dont know? Might be fun to try?
 
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