Nutty Uncle Bill Especiale?

J

John T

Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
159
I picked this up recently on the secondary market. The gentleman I purchased it from said called it an Uncle Bill Especiale. It is quite a bit larger than any others I can find referenced and has a nut on the pommel which I've never seen before on HI blades. It is made by Bura and is a gorgeous blade. The handle has a crack and took a chip in shipping, but it is an amazing work. Can anyone help me out with more info on this one?

Please forgive the terrible IPad pics.
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The blade looks right, everything looks right until you get to the nut. I'd gamble that it didn't leave Nepal like that. Had to be rehandled at some point in it's life. I'm sure Karda or Auntie could clarify that.

If that was mine, I'd try to find a cap nut, the ones that are rounded on the back, kind of an acorn look and leave it at that. Might be hard to find one with the right thread pattern.

It's a beautiful blade for sure. Very nice!
 
i don't believe HI ever used a pommel nut (like that monstrosity), i think it was a third party modification to shorten the handle or repair a broken tang. the peen may have been ground off to gain access to the tang, requiring shortening the grip and a quick fix to finish it off would be to thread the stump of the tang for this nut in lieu of re-peening it. maybe to allow re-repairing the tang if it broke again. it may even have been a conversion to a real rat-tail tang by welding a locarb threaded rod to the stump of a broken blade, said rod now hidden by the grip.

pics of the blade markings would be useful too. does the grip now come off? pics of the exposed blade tang would also help. maybe there is an spattered arc weld repair or threaded rod to further scar this knife.
 
I saw that one posted on the auction site.
It is actually an UBE, with the keeper replaced with that ugly nut. To fix is relatively easy.
Take ugly nut off. If buttcap is still secure, leave as is. If not secure, glue back on with epoxy.
Make simple keeper to fit tang. Re-peen tang end using hammer and punch.

Or as bawanna suggested, you could just replace ugly nut with cap/acorn nut of suitable size and thread config.
 
I have not tried to remove the nut. I wanted to find out more about it if possible before doing that.
The gentleman I got it from said he bought it from Yangdu like that.

Blade markings.

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Definitely HI markings, I'm not familiar with Bura's mark but can't argue that it isn't. His blades are much sought after, excellent reputation and a fine Kami.

Perhaps Auntie remembers it if she sent it out like that. I can't see it myself but it's possible I guess. He probably got a heck of a good deal on it originally.

Still a gorgeous knife, nut or no nut. I'd love to call it my own regardless.
 
It's Bura's mark. The "U.B." makes it post Uncle's passing I think.

Someone would recall that nut if it was a DOTD.
 
Somebody's improvised a repair with apparently western materials...what look to be a conventional hex nut (obviously), split washer, and flat washer. Done Stateside presumably. Done with tools and materials to hand and with skills the person was comfortable with. Peening may not have been such a skill. I for one am not sure how you would peen the tang while supporting the blade properly to get good stikes. The person may have had a die handy and viola! Perfectly servicable repair...if not attractive. Those Afghan Kuhkuri's have square nuts on the tang. The Maza-e-sherif ones...perhaps those are technically KLOs actually. Also the old German and English hunting knives were attached with nuts that were sanded down flush.
 
That is Bura's mark I believe, manufactured post Uncle Bill's passing, and it looks like a UBE, I have one, and I LOVE it. The nut?! I don't know about that, Auntie sent it out like that? Doubt it, unless it was a blem, in which case, I am sure one of the veterans on this board would recognize it.
 
The following link to a 2007 posting has a photo of a large (3 lb) Ultimate Fighter with a nut on the end of the tang similar to the above UBE. The kami marking on the photo indicate that it was made by Bura. Maybe he was experimenting with the nut-type keeper. Maybe just for very large blades.

http://www.ramanon.com/forum/showthread.php?48767-H.I.-Ultimate-Fighter-review-pix

This was also an aftermarket purchase, so it too might have been a user modification, but I doubt it. The handle in the 2007 photo does not look like it's been shortened or modified.
 
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