Let me be the first to give you the bad news.
First, you're going to want to get them sharper eventually. You'll do some experimenting with stones and such; then, you'll become entranced by the mysteries of the convex edge. The resident Convex Mafia will answer your questions, you'll play around with sandpaper and mousepads, and with diligence you'll become a Made Man, complete with a belt grinder, strops, twenty different polishing compounds and a trashcan full of hair and paper strips from "sharpness testing." (Not to mention thirty different belts hanging up around your grinder.)
After that, you may become interested in etching - after all, you want to see that hardened area, not just feel it. You'll be well stocked with PCB etchant before the vinegar fumes have left the house and you'll be discussing etch times, temperatures, and whether to heat with hot water or a heat gun, and what kind of polish to use. (And you'll know which polish to use because you'll have all of them on hand.)
Then comes the woodchucking. Handles will be modified, adapted, beautified, and preserved. You'll be able to discuss the finer points between boiled and raw linseed oil, tung oil, spar urethane, how much solvent to cut each with, and you'll speculate on whether Walosi's Special, Watco Danish Oil, or Tru-Oil is the best choice.
And those scabbards? Probably a bit too loose, or too tight; if not, they'll be one or the other six months from now and you'll be modifiying the fit with soaking, shims, and wedging. The chape will be rounded or removed. The leather will be treated by ten different products. (And you'll know which product is the best for any given situation.) Eventually you'll be making your own, and you'll have rolls of leather, drawers of leatherworking (and possibly woodworking) tools, and multiple packs of needles...even if you don't break any. (You'll have lots of needles because you know that they break, but they won't, so you'll just have lots of needles.)
You'll do some homework on the best oil to use. You'll experiment with CLP, Break-Free, and probably some others; then you'll become concerned about what's food safe and you'll buy some Ballistol. (Thereby making many of your other products, for everything from leather preservation to woodworking, obsolete. But you'll use those anyway because you have them.) You'll grow used to the smell of Ballistol. No one else will. Eventually you'll just stop bothering with oil and will instead focus on achieving the perfect patina so that oil isn't necessary. (When you figure this out, let me know.)
At about this point you'll realize that while your khuk is very good, you have a certain task that another model would be
perfect for. You'll buy it. Then you'll find another task and another khuk, then another. At that point your fate is sealed.
Welcome, Waturz. My name is Dave and I have HIKV. Since I've found this place I have far too many sharp objects in my home, I can make my splitting maul shave, I can construct sheaths, I can cut, shape, stain, and seal wood, I can etch metal, and I own a belt sander (and some leatherworking tools, including a bunch of needles)...all on account of the very fine and knowledgeable folks here.
Not that I'm complaining or anything, but still, you ought to know up front.
Edit: forgot to mention two things: first, someone here ought to be able to answer any conceivable question that you have, and second, whether horn or wood is better depends on who you ask. (They're both good.)
