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- May 18, 1999
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I got too thinking about the sharpening questions that we periodically get and that we generally refer the new & newer forumites too the search feature which has a wealth of information.
On reflection about all the sharpening methods and such I tend to forget the khukuri is
not just a knife style that is odd to the world _outside_ of it's borders of use,But is also _odd_ in it's manner of hardening.
We are used to knives that even though they may be differentially hardened have a hard edge the full length of the blade and point.
The khukuri with it's blade starting out dead soft from the bolster to a progressively harder edge gradually becoming very hard at about 58 to 62 Rockwell C long the "sweet spot" and back to a bit softer about 52 Rc at the point.
This makes for a unique blade that is incredibly tough and hard that can maintain an exceptional edge all along the length of it's blade under very _hard_ use under conditions from the field to hardwood forest!!
The people that use the khukuri tend to be very poor and need a knife that is going to do just what the khukuri does so well.They are not going to be fileing and stoneing thier bkades away!
I know that most,if not all of us has read Cliff Stamps Reviews on different blades and the torture he puts the knives through.Most of us wouldn't even consider doing our pretty knives that way.
I imagine that the use the people who are so familiar with the khukuri,being raised up with one in thier hands is even beyond what Cliff puts the knives through sometimes.
With all that said think about it for a moment and realize what you would have to do under the conditions the Nepali people live under or in some of the survival threads we have here.
Yes you need to keep your khukuri very sharp in order for it to do it's work,but you also have to make it last.
I think I can safely bet that under those conditions that we are going to learn to use the khukuri in such a way as to maintain that edge with the Least Amount Of Steel Removal!!
Long ago and in places not so far away our ancestors used all sorts of iron implements with steel edges forged onto them.
Good Steel was precious and sometimes hard to come by!
Take a scythe for instance.
The edge was maintained much the same way the khukuri is.One difference is that the steel along the edge was not filed or honed off if it became dinged or nicked up badly.The scythe was layed on an anvil or rock if need be and the steel was carefully pounded back into shape.Sometimes a scythe was even sharpened in this manner.
By laying it's edge on an anvil anyone that had experience with using the blade could take a hammer and tap tap an edge onto it.This edge could shave you!
I imagine that at one time the original edge may have been put on this way to save the precious steel.
One of the reasons I got to thinking about all this is what Uncle Bill has stated at different times.
Qoute,paraphrase:"It isn't usually to far back to the house where a file and stone for sharpening are kept and if a khukuri becomes dull enough that it can't be sharpened in the field,it is taken back to the house and fixed."Unquote.
Using the scythe as an example shows that steel doesn'thave to be that hard to perform exceptionally well.However it has to be tough.
Cutting harder and harder materials means that the steel must be harder in order not to deform
Another good modern day example is the Ontario version of the Bagwell Bowie Knives.
It is stated in the information about these knives that they are unusually soft for a knife of it's size.The reason being is that they are very nice "Fighting" knives and they are designed to cut clothing and flesh.
Hitting a bone hard with one would probably ding it pretty good.The important thing is that the knife Is Not Going to Break!!
The article or other information I read about them states that they are Not good knives for people who are wanting a "combat" knife as they are too soft to stand up to that kind of abuse.
I have learned to use steels,the chakma,hones And sandpaper in different ways to keep my knives as sharp as I need or want them without fileing or honing thier lives away.
I have learned a lot of it right here in this forum,some of it over the last 50 some years of having a very profound Love of knives and other edged tools.
I know that it would take some time to use up a khukuri's good ege,but remember those 150 year old khukuris still in use have had thier edges reshaped as needed and rehardened over that time span.
The knives are "Used" up Not "Honed" up.
It does take some time and a lot of practice to get where you can "steel" an edge on the khkuri due in part to the hard "sweet spot." Once you have that part sharp with a hone or whatever then it becomes a matter of maintaing that edge.
Sometimes using the steel or chakma it makes the edge "feel rough" in difference to the smooth,slick feel a hone brings.
That "rough" edge can slice paper like it wasn't there.
Watch a butcher sometime and you will see them "steeling" a blade fairly often.
They can go quite some time between sharpening on a hone just by keeping the edge aligned properly.
I used too hone for the pure joy of running something along that already sharp edge.I have quit that now and use a steel or chakma instead.
Sometimes a chakma may not be as hard as it needs to be and in that case the smooth spine of a hard knife can be used in it's place.I can see a Huge difference when I do this sometimes!
Use different pressures and techniques until you figure out what's best and what works for you.
All your knives will thank you by lasting a lot longer.:O
------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®
If you mix milk of magnesia with vodka and orange juice do you get a phillips screwdriver?
Khukuri FAQ
I got too thinking about the sharpening questions that we periodically get and that we generally refer the new & newer forumites too the search feature which has a wealth of information.
On reflection about all the sharpening methods and such I tend to forget the khukuri is
not just a knife style that is odd to the world _outside_ of it's borders of use,But is also _odd_ in it's manner of hardening.
We are used to knives that even though they may be differentially hardened have a hard edge the full length of the blade and point.
The khukuri with it's blade starting out dead soft from the bolster to a progressively harder edge gradually becoming very hard at about 58 to 62 Rockwell C long the "sweet spot" and back to a bit softer about 52 Rc at the point.
This makes for a unique blade that is incredibly tough and hard that can maintain an exceptional edge all along the length of it's blade under very _hard_ use under conditions from the field to hardwood forest!!
The people that use the khukuri tend to be very poor and need a knife that is going to do just what the khukuri does so well.They are not going to be fileing and stoneing thier bkades away!
I know that most,if not all of us has read Cliff Stamps Reviews on different blades and the torture he puts the knives through.Most of us wouldn't even consider doing our pretty knives that way.
I imagine that the use the people who are so familiar with the khukuri,being raised up with one in thier hands is even beyond what Cliff puts the knives through sometimes.
With all that said think about it for a moment and realize what you would have to do under the conditions the Nepali people live under or in some of the survival threads we have here.
Yes you need to keep your khukuri very sharp in order for it to do it's work,but you also have to make it last.
I think I can safely bet that under those conditions that we are going to learn to use the khukuri in such a way as to maintain that edge with the Least Amount Of Steel Removal!!
Long ago and in places not so far away our ancestors used all sorts of iron implements with steel edges forged onto them.
Good Steel was precious and sometimes hard to come by!
Take a scythe for instance.
The edge was maintained much the same way the khukuri is.One difference is that the steel along the edge was not filed or honed off if it became dinged or nicked up badly.The scythe was layed on an anvil or rock if need be and the steel was carefully pounded back into shape.Sometimes a scythe was even sharpened in this manner.
By laying it's edge on an anvil anyone that had experience with using the blade could take a hammer and tap tap an edge onto it.This edge could shave you!
I imagine that at one time the original edge may have been put on this way to save the precious steel.
One of the reasons I got to thinking about all this is what Uncle Bill has stated at different times.
Qoute,paraphrase:"It isn't usually to far back to the house where a file and stone for sharpening are kept and if a khukuri becomes dull enough that it can't be sharpened in the field,it is taken back to the house and fixed."Unquote.
Using the scythe as an example shows that steel doesn'thave to be that hard to perform exceptionally well.However it has to be tough.
Cutting harder and harder materials means that the steel must be harder in order not to deform
Another good modern day example is the Ontario version of the Bagwell Bowie Knives.
It is stated in the information about these knives that they are unusually soft for a knife of it's size.The reason being is that they are very nice "Fighting" knives and they are designed to cut clothing and flesh.
Hitting a bone hard with one would probably ding it pretty good.The important thing is that the knife Is Not Going to Break!!
The article or other information I read about them states that they are Not good knives for people who are wanting a "combat" knife as they are too soft to stand up to that kind of abuse.
I have learned to use steels,the chakma,hones And sandpaper in different ways to keep my knives as sharp as I need or want them without fileing or honing thier lives away.
I have learned a lot of it right here in this forum,some of it over the last 50 some years of having a very profound Love of knives and other edged tools.
I know that it would take some time to use up a khukuri's good ege,but remember those 150 year old khukuris still in use have had thier edges reshaped as needed and rehardened over that time span.
The knives are "Used" up Not "Honed" up.
It does take some time and a lot of practice to get where you can "steel" an edge on the khkuri due in part to the hard "sweet spot." Once you have that part sharp with a hone or whatever then it becomes a matter of maintaing that edge.
Sometimes using the steel or chakma it makes the edge "feel rough" in difference to the smooth,slick feel a hone brings.
That "rough" edge can slice paper like it wasn't there.
Watch a butcher sometime and you will see them "steeling" a blade fairly often.
They can go quite some time between sharpening on a hone just by keeping the edge aligned properly.
I used too hone for the pure joy of running something along that already sharp edge.I have quit that now and use a steel or chakma instead.
Sometimes a chakma may not be as hard as it needs to be and in that case the smooth spine of a hard knife can be used in it's place.I can see a Huge difference when I do this sometimes!
Use different pressures and techniques until you figure out what's best and what works for you.
All your knives will thank you by lasting a lot longer.:O
------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®
If you mix milk of magnesia with vodka and orange juice do you get a phillips screwdriver?
Khukuri FAQ
