New Khukri/ Patina question

[drbarnes]

I just got my WWII in the mail today, it is much lighter in hand than my SGT Khadka Bonecutter.

Its only a little thicker, but the girth of the Bonecutter makes it alot heavier than than the WWII.

I tested it out chopping on an log, it bites deep for its weight! I compared it to my Busse B11, and I think the Khukri hits harder but the flair on the top-rear of handle is a little too pointy for my liking, and was digging into my palm. I put one of my chopping lanyards on (thanks to the lanyard hole :thumbup and It helped a little bit but still not as comfortable as the Bonecutter handle.

I am considering modifying the handle to grind down the top flair. Is this an insult to the Kami who made it? Has anyone else done this? Any tips/ ideas?

Also I am not a fan of really shiny blades, has anyone forced a patina on their khukri? I used grapefruit slices to force a patina on my friends knife (1080 steel), would citrus or vineger dull the shine on a HI khukri?

 

[Karda]

I am considering modifying the handle to grind down the top flair. Is this an insult to the Kami who made it? Has anyone else done this? Any tips/ ideas?

We have a rich history of woodchuckery here, it will not be an insult to anyone if you make your khukuri fit you better and be comfortable. The only way it is an insult is if you ruin it . My suggestion is to think twice cut/grind once.Know what you are planning to do right to the lasrt step, before you do it. Remove only a little at a time and check for comfort. Sometimes it only takes a slight mod to get what you need. It is far easier to take material off than it is to put back on.

Also I am not a fan of really shiny blades, has anyone forced a patina on their khukri? I used grapefruit slices to force a patina on my friends knife (1080 steel), would citrus or vineger dull the shine on a HI khukri?

Vinegar works pretty well on these khuks. Citrus works too but often doesnt come out as even. Cold bluing is another option.

My other suggestion is to use the search function. There are many threads and a wealth of information on both these subjects here.

 

[jdk1]

That's one nice looking WWII! As Karda said, many around here regularly alter the handles. The particular area your having trouble with, top of the pommel, is often filed down. I found a file and sandpaper worked very well on metal and wood, and allowed a lot of control. I put a patina on my WWII with vinegar. It looks really nice now. Here's a photo from when it was fresh. Take care.

 

[GregS]

I am considering modifying the handle to grind down the top flair. Is this an insult to the Kami who made it? Has anyone else done this? Any tips/ ideas?

Also I am not a fan of really shiny blades, has anyone forced a patina on their khukri? I used grapefruit slices to force a patina on my friends knife (1080 steel), would citrus or vineger dull the shine on a HI khukri?

I have had to grind down the pointy part on the back of a couple of my khukris. Insult to the Kami? No disrespect but that would be the last thing on my mind, just dont take off to much metal. A quick pass over my belt sander was all that was needed, it was barely even noticeable that I had removed anything, but the comfort level was much better. And yes vinegar will most certainly got rid of the shine, mine come out looking blued in places. A scotchbrite pad works too for getting rid of the mirror finish. Going from hilt to tip looks nice, then polish the edge.

 

[Howard Wallace]

Yes, many of us have taken a file to those points.

Be careful with the lanyard. Sometime you may want to let go.

 

[teclis22]

from the pic it looks like he has the lanyard well used. its only wraped around his thumb, not his wrist. so he can let go when needed.

 

[Ryan M]

How it reacts to different treatments might vary by the specific material used. My Giant Chitlangi Bowie, I put a "natural" patina on the handle using nothing but my own skin oil, and it produced a very nice, dark, even brown patina, that takes some real effort to rub off onto your hands. Tried the same with my Bura Tibetan sword, and all I've managed to accomplish is making it a dull grey with some darker spots.

All you can really do is stock up on Scotch-Brite and start experimenting! I'd hit it with the Scotch-Brite first and see if you like that, then some 400-600 grit sandpaper if it's not dull enough yet, then vinegar, then onion. On the right steel, onion can get you one of those dark grey patinas that you often see on blades that are 60+ years old.

Now I kinda wanna try an onion patina on my WWII.

 

[beammeupscotty]

I have only one HI kukuri, a Kobra by Rajkumar, and coincidentally, I just sanded that point off of my knife last night. I had to think about it for weeks before I decided to modify it, but it was so uncomfortable to handle, it just had to go. Now it is quite comfy in the hand. I cannot understand how anyone could find it comfortable in the stock configuration. A less severe flair would seem a better way to do it, or a single flair on the side opposite the palm as some of the carved kukuri handles have would help keep the blade in the hand without digging into the user's palm. I suspect the extreme double flair is more an aesthetic design element than a functional one.

 

[GregS]

Yes, many of us have taken a file to those points.

Be careful with the lanyard. Sometime you may want to let go.

Lanyards in the rearward position scare me. I picture the knife flipping around and clipping me in the forearm or elbow.

 

[Howard Wallace]

I have only one HI kukuri, a Kobra by Rajkumar, and coincidentally, I just sanded that point off of my knife last night. I had to think about it for weeks before I decided to modify it, but it was so uncomfortable to handle, it just had to go. Now it is quite comfy in the hand. I cannot understand how anyone could find it comfortable in the stock configuration. A less severe flair would seem a better way to do it, or a single flair on the side opposite the palm as some of the carved kukuri handles have would help keep the blade in the hand without digging into the user's palm. I suspect the extreme double flair is more an aesthetic design element than a functional one.

The key is hand size. If the handle is large compared to your hand the flare is not a problem.

 

[drbarnes]

I finished up my patina and handle mod, Karda was right, a very small amount of material actually needed to be removed, I didnt take a picture because it doesnt look different enough to notice.

For the patina I cleaned the blade with acetone, then used vinegar soaked paper towel for 1 hour, rinsed it off with warm water, patted it dry and sprayed it with windex to stop the vinegar reaction (not sure about this, read it on another thread and figured it couldnt hurt). Then I wiped it down with mineral oil. The patina turned out good for the most part pics:

I dont know if you can see but the dimples from the paper towel kind of look like snake skin, some of the blade is goldish colored and some is nice dark grey. I do like how the hamon is visible, unfortunately you cant see it very good in the pics:

If I take steel wool to it will the "snakeskin" patina come off leaving the darker grey under or will it be lighter/shiner if I do this?

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

It will be lighter, if it's anything like the paper towel patinas that I've done. I use fine steel wool though, nothing aggressive. Gives the patina a nice polish.

 

[JayGoliath]

DocBarnes,

Do watch out for pitting. Mine did. Too long of a time in the lemon bath....Lemony...

 

[C.S. Graves]

sprayed it with windex to stop the vinegar reaction (not sure about this, read it on another thread and figured it couldnt hurt).

I used to do the Windex thing in the belief that it would neutralize the etching process, but I think I might not have fully understood the chemical reaction at play. Mostly, I use it as part of the initial cleaning/de-greasing process. For a safer neutralizer, you can slather the blade with a paste made from baking soda and a bit of water. If it'll stop ferric chloride (which I use for most of my etches), it'll stop vinegar I reckon!

Bottom you can see my Khadka Bonecutter, which I etched with ferric chloride/water mix:

Will steel wool rubbin' diminish one oxide colour more than another? I'd wager that you'd subdue both colours... I can't imagine if the red would be etched deeper than the black oxide. Might be worth a try if you don't mind having to re-etch/patinate in a worst case scenario.

 

[wildmanh]

Pictures like this are why I have a water proof keyboard! Very cool!!!

 

[C.S. Graves]

Pictures like this are why I have a water proof keyboard! Very cool!!!

Thanks! I think that I had just switched from a point-and-shoot to my DSLR camera around this time, which generally improved my pics. Oh, and havin' a pair of Khadka blades in the shot don't hurt.

 

[Issun]

Ive found that even a very light patina greatly reduces rust production... meaning that a second attempt at a patina is difficult, though even your lightened patena from some steel wool work will help prevent rust in the field

 

[C.S. Graves]

Ive found that even a very light patina greatly reduces rust production... meaning that a second attempt at a patina is difficult, though even your lightened patena from some steel wool work will help prevent rust in the field

That and the mirror polish on many of the HI khuks will help. That Samsher above the etched Bonecutter in my photo? I once used it to fell a tree in the pouring rain for about an hour or two of felling and limbing. No rust on the thing. Oh, there's a dark spot of patina from some apple wood sap few years prior, but that's about it.

 

[Svashtar]

Good job on the handle! As mentioned, if you were a small Nepalese guy the stock handle would feel fine, but if the handle is the right config and you have larger hands you have to take that hump down a bit, and I usually do a few or even more passes on a slack belt grinder. Depends on the height of the hump.

That's why I always liked the chainpuri style handle; they seem to fit most hands and the harder you swing it the better it fits your hand. The metal buttcaps or exposed tangs can feel even worse than just wood if they poke you. My most comfortable kukri is a Sgt. Khadka WWII with a chainpuri style handle he did years ago when he was trying a couple of new things. (Pic attached, it's the middle handle.)

On the blade, go with the look you like, but really all you need is a scotch brite pad, as Greg and a couple of others have said. It gives a beautiful satin look to the steel. Use a green scotch brite pad and WD-40 or any other oil, and rub it out.

After you use it and the edge is a bit marked up, the same scotch brite pad and oil will return it to a perfect satin finish. The only way to get it back to factory after using it is to buff it out, and it's too easy to dull the edge sometimes doing that if you're not careful. That's why Villagers are always razors compared to the standard full polished models.

BTW, a satin finish resists rust much better than the mirror polish, as it holds the oil longer on the blade. In 2005 at the Khuk Khonvention at MamaV's (Gin) in Mesa, I had a pile of kukris that went from super hot weather to super cool weather in 8 hours, sealed up in a big Pelican case. When I took them out two days later when I got around to unpacking, every full polish blade had rust on it, but not a single satin blade did. That sold me right there.

Best,

Norm

 

[Ironhandjohn]

My M-43 after a quick rubdown with Burchwood-Casey cold-blue.