New Longleaf +Inscription Q

Jens Schuetz

Jens Schuetz

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Jun 24, 2013
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Inspired by Ndoghouse's threat (didn't want to hijack it) I got me one historical victorian longleaf kukri (hand selected) too.

It's very cool but makes me appreciate HI even more.

Atlanta Cutlery needs to get some of Aunty's Reno newspapers to keeps blades from scratching each other during transport :eek: (had a Bhojpure in the same package)

The blade itself looks thin but is with 9mm actually 1mm thicker than my Ang Khola. However it's super large so the thickness doesn't show.

The craftsmanship for army kukris back then wasn't up to HI standards today. The double lines on both sides of the blade seem to be drawn in a hurry.
The handle is super tiny (I asked for the biggest one they could find and can only wrap 3 fingers around it). The blade cross section is also very simple. basically a triangle which is a bit rounded only towards the very edge. The wood however is nice dark and seems rock solid. Looks like a very old piece of redwood. No shrinkage and no space between the handle and the guard. Its probably soaked with grease but it seems hardened and feels good. Nothing to change there except putting a layer of Lanolin on it.



It still seems capable of doing some serious work, once I'm strong enough to swing it with 3 fingers :p

I like the patina it developed. No way I am polishing this one away. The Cosmoline was easy to remove. Just 4 alcohol swaps like the doctor uses before injections were enough (100 for $2 at Walgreens). For now its soaked in oil and next week I will replace that with Renaissance wax.
The Bhojpure has an even better patina. It shows patches of different colors. Was the cosmoline applied unevenly, was there some variation in storage or have different steels been forged together without making them homogeneous at first (melting or folding)?



I am still at a loss when trying to decipher the numbers and letters on the longleaf. Who can help?


Thank you.
 
Those blades look beautiful :)
Sri 3 cha ndra ha wa ra sha 8 / 2 3.... <---- Changed 1 to / based on ndoghouse's insight...
The fourth char from the right is definitely not 4. It is either 8 (in bad handwriting) or something that does not look like standard Devanagari (or at least I do not recognize it)...
Let's see what others think...
 
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Congrats Jens! Looks like you got some good ones! Edges look very good, few tiny nicks on the Bhojpure but excellent samples. I got all my knives packed up at the moment because i became a grandpa again last night and guess who gets to watch the other grandkids? Grandkids and Khuks just dont go together:eek: Looks like sri 3 chandra ? ? ? ? /23. Dont think that fourth character after ":" is a four. I think it is now generally accepted that the next character is not a "1" but a "/" and is consistent with markings on some other non-Khuk weapons from the stash. The puddle shaped markings i believe are actually from were the plastic packing was in contact with the blade. They are likely only surface features. I wased my blade with gasoline and worked very well. I tried to avoid the handle though. I used mineral oil mixed with dawn dishwashing soap and then after a quick rinse i recoated with fresh min oil. OK this aint workin! Grandkids are relentless! Back to ya later this evening. Your handle looks about the same as mine. I love it for my size hands. I wish I could get my HI blades like those.
I found a cool Devanagari dictionary which is fun to browse.
http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/projectteam/turin/downloads/nepali_english_glossary.pdf
Great! Thanks Verpa!
 
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ndoghouse, you are spot on. Having played with a few of WW1 and WW2 khuks, I can tell you that the quality back then was nowhere close to what we get today from HI. You think the officers got better service blades than a soldier back then? I need to buy me one of em officer khuks in that case...
 
Congrats ndoghouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome guys, thank you for your help. And the link is cool too!
Sri 3 Chandra is the prime minister, who probably added his name to all blades , new or old.
After Sri 3 Chandra should be the company or battalion name. Here (2/3 down is a list of units http://www.ikrhs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=308
The only one which somehow matches the inscription would be the vajradal company.
Wa ra sha the sha could actually be a (dha) here in this link it looks very similar and if you make the dha less ornamental it looks like on the blade. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nepali.htm
Is it possible to read Wa Ra Dha as Vajradal?
edit: the hook hanging from a ceiling (which Verpra thought could be a badly written 8) should be an 8 since there should be only numbers at the end. 8/23
Its kind of hard but I bet not as hard as if in 100 years somebody would try to decrypt my handwriting :p
 
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Jens Schuetz said:
It's very cool but makes me appreciate HI even more.
Click to expand...

You have a bit of history.

Although some may disparage old truck springs, they are a quality of steel that was hard to come by when those kamis were forging blades.

And as you've discovered, an old Nepalese hand was not necessarily the size of your hand. Replacing handles was a fact of life so most khukuris didn't have full tangs peened over a butplate. Not one issued to a common soldier out of the armory.

We are indeed fortunate that HI is bringing forward the very best of the old traditional skills and craftsmanship to a new set of western customers in today's world. HI's kamis are part of a living tradition. You have a respected ancestor of that tradition in your knife.
 
I am pretty sure that is the life we all feel in the blades, and what makes us so fanatical about supporting this company .
 
Officers & anyone else for that matter could buy a kukri if they wanted. The more you paid the better you could get.

Issue bangers were not always of the highest finesse. {Some notables excepted.} Same as the cloth on thier uniforms....

Rank or wealth could have its privlidges.

Spiral
 
The privileges of rank are readily apparent in this Nepalese Army photo from the approximate time period of the longleaf kukris:
29cb3md.jpg
 
Jens,
I have noticed some minor differences in our Khuks. Not sure but looks like yours may have a shorter handle than mine and also a bit more drop. Your handle appears to be turned down more than mine. Also the spine on yours has a pronounced "knee" at the bend where mine is smooth rounded through the full length.
51fe2ae5a7f6a614c97efef5291ae41b


9859081976_9a550dcf6b_z.jpg

I got mine through IMA and yours was from AC. Maybe source makes a difference but I doubt it. They probably just "grab from a pile". I plan to get another before long in hope to get one like yours. Bhojpure also wish list.
 
In Kathmandu in 05 I handled about 40 or so of these longleaves, {saw dozens moe in KH museam to. Nearly every one is different in some way, Shape, weight,, quality, handle length or shape. I picked up a few of them.

There great historical pieces, representative of late 19th early 20th century Nepal.

This was my favourite, I belive IMA & Atanta picked up 100 to 150 like this out of the 14.000 kukri they scored, It was the only one amongst the 40 or so longleaves I saw in Nepal.

Blades 16 inches...

spiral

masterkukri.jpg


masterkukri1.jpg
 
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