need advice WWI kukri

LOL! You're correct davidf99, I love spell check! I did mean sanding. Although with gasoline it could be standing! :)
 
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davidf99 said:
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I did spend several years on a wakizashi that I made entirely from a piece of ironwood (lignum vitae). I could only use sandpaper and files for most of the work because that wood has an intertwined grain and is impregnated with amber, so planing causes tearout. In fairness, I put the project away for a couple of years between the start and the finish...
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i have a US ironwood dowel about 5 ft. long by 1.25 in. the vendor supplied it smooth and semi=polished. beautiful. i surmise he must have use a metal lathe and worn out a few carbide bits turning it round. it's gonna be a few more years before i can put a steel ferrule on the end unless i get access to a metal shop. the steel ferrule will likely soften the impact with the ground & wear faster than the ironwood. i think it's about 70RC. i will feel sorry for anything i hit with it.

p.s. - back on track, i reccommend the universal panacea, it cleans, cures warts, stomach disorders, trench foot, ulcers, barrel fouling, rust and corrosion, wounds, softens and preserves leather, good on stocks, developed in the late 19c for a contest to provide a solvent for general firearms maintenance, and the winner was - ballistol. it even has a pleasant anise aroma. some defective souls do not lke the aroma tho. like the colonel in 'alpacalypse now' i love the smell of ballistol in the morning.

AlpacalypseNow.jpg
 
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Rhinoknives1 said:
The Chinese stuff was really weird.:confused:
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Rhino, I wonder if it was anything like the stuff the Chinese seem to pack their knives in. That appears to be a really viscous version of a fish based oil. I dang near passed out from the smell when I opened up a knife a couple years ago. Evidently that knife had been sitting packed in this fish oil for decades... it smelled so bad that gasoline didn't even hide the smell.
 
Shavru said:
Rhino, I wonder if it was anything like the stuff the Chinese seem to pack their knives in. That appears to be a really viscous version of a fish based oil. I dang near passed out from the smell when I opened up a knife a couple years ago. Evidently that knife had been sitting packed in this fish oil for decades... it smelled so bad that gasoline didn't even hide the smell.
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UUUrrggggh! The Japanese used that stuff to fill motorcycle front forks with when they exported them to US dealers. First thing you do out of the crate is drain that noxious stuff. Then chase all the neighborhood cats off:D
 
Yes, I believe it is very similar NDog. Super Noxious, I personally think even the cats would turn tail and run from that smell LOL.
 
Hi Me again, I got my kukri from AC today it is in much better condition than I expected here it is after I removed the plastc
kukbefor_zpsmbb0oknm.jpg

next 2 after removing the grease
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kukri%203_zpskc06cwmo.jpg

still got more work to do on the habdle
 
From the blade shape I believe that's a Bhojpur rather than a Longleaf model, not that it matters. My AC Longleaf came in similar condition.

Can you tell us the overall length (measured in a straight line from tip to pommel) and the weight? Also is there writing engraved on the spine in Devangari letters? There are some people on this forum who know how to interpret that engraving.
 
Hi,I worked on the handle it is very dark kind of a oxblood color. I noticed some areas were geting light so I think i will leave it dark its probably darkened from use. All I could find wrong with it is a chip in the edge of the pommel. It is almost battle sharp all I had to do was run the back of my knife along the edge. Also this feels so good in my hand. no inscriptions on the blade there is this stamp in the middle of the pommel. The blade is 13" long
kukri%203d_zpsz0jidskw.jpg
 
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You should leave that stamp in the pommel till you find out more about it. I remember reading those are a bit rare to be marked there but it is known to happen. First character looks like a "1" and the next "Ra?" something or other. Ill look it up in the book but someone here can likely tell you before I could decode it. Im not Nepali just normal american dummy with a desire.
 
I will leave that stamp in. What I am wondering is about the black on the blade, is it normal discoloration or should it come of, I don't want to polish th knife I just want to clean it
 
I recall that my Longleaf also had something engraved or stamped on the pommel, but it was hard to make out. The knife is hidden away somewhere right now, so I can't check.

I think you're right to leave the wood as-is. If your picture of the pommel is any indication, the wood is in good shape. No telling what kind of protective coat it might have, whether on the surface or soaked in. Also, no telling how the wood might react if it's exposed to the air for the first time in a hundred years or so.

The black on the blade might be residue from the original forging scales when the knife was made. Hard to tell from these pictures.
 
Oh definitely clean it with solvent no problem but id not use heavy abrasives on it. These blades are really unique in their patterns etc because they are laminated. Id wipe it clean with a solvent and at most use a 3M scotchbrite to clean the stubborn stuff. For the wood if you dont feel comfortable wiping clean with Gasoline or something like that then run water over it then pour dawn dishwashing liquid all over it and scrub it with the same 3M scotchbrite or sponge then rinse it immediately. Wipe it dry with paper towels or old T-shirt. Then you can wipe some mineral oil liberally all over it and the blade as well and all will be fine. The wood is pretty saturated already from the oils its been packed in for the last 100 years so its really pretty stable. Anything you do to the wood will be superficial and not be very penetrative. Thats why you can use harsh chemicals to clean it then wipe it clean then treat it accordingly without doing harm. You dont want to soak it because you dont want to dissolve the natural glues (Laha) used to bond the handle and bolster etc. I have found the best solvent in the world in my opinion is mix gasoline and dawn dishwashing liquid like four to one gas to soap and it cleans like nothing else. The faster you clean it the less damage you do to it. wipe it clean then mineral oil or BLO it and all is good. The gas and soap mix would be overkill for these blades tho in my opinion. Soap and scotchbrite is probably all you need.
 
I didn't do much to the wood, wiped it down with gas, I quit when light spot appeared, I was removing the black surface. I didn't do that because that is part of the knifes history. Later I oiled it with mineral oil, let it set for a few minutes then wiped it dry, it looks real nice
 
the black iron left after cleaning off the gunk is likely Fe3O4, the stable oxide of iron that developes over time and protects against the red rust of corrosion. it's a form of bluing.
 
There's always a strong temptation to take old stuff and make it look shiny and new. Your doing and have done the right thing.

Enjoy it and love it as is. Some old things just shouldn't be trifled with. I'm a good example myself.

I have a Long Leaf, Ndog sent it to me years ago, I had the same temptations but I left it as is and I think it's the right thing to do.

One of my favorites though, if only these old knives could talk, would be some good stories.
 
yea these knives could change history of they could talk. I remember a story I saw On TV years ago.It was a show about the rise of Black and Decker tools. The found was on the show. He told that when he retired his staff resurrected his first practical circular saw it was a big heavy monster scrapped and cuffed with a patina of age they couldn't have that. What did they do, well when they presented it to him it looked as if it came of the store shelf all polished and pretty, they ruined it. Some people have no respect for age
 
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