O'Katz Parang Lading Sabit WIP

[mohd]

It started about 2 years ago whereby six of us (i.e. Jay, KJ, Kenny, Nadir, O'Katz and me) were discussing (i.e. through emails) about the best blade to be used for bamboo cutting.
Along the discussion we came across the idea of a kind of local Malaysian parang with a hook at the tip part of the blade.
It is called as Parang Lading Sabit (i.e. I abbreviated it as a PLS).
At some places the parang is referred as Parang Sabit and at other places it is referred as Lading Sabit.
Anyhow it still the same thing.

At about the same time I also discussed such knife with my friends in ForPis (i.e. Indonesia Blade knife forums).
Anton, Kozac, Aki and few other forum members involved in the discussion done in several threads about traditional and agricultural cutting tools.
And I found out that in Indonesia there's such a knife which is called as Bendo Arit.

Anyhow PLS is not a Bendo Arit.
And both are having two different shapes of blade design.
PLS looks more like a version of Parang Lading while Bendo Arit looks more like a Bendo.

Here is the picture of a couple of PLS which I could find in the internet (i.e. not so many pictures of them)

And here is the picture of a Bendo Arit.

Times passed and the discussion either among us in Malaysia or among forum members in ForPis Indonesia proceeded on and on covering various type of topics.
But, I just couldn't erase off the idea of having a PLS made as a new addition for my own collection.
Actually what I need is a shorter version of PLS which is about 18" OAL.
Middle of October, 2013 I talked O'Katz into building it for me.
I felt so happy when O'Katz agreed to accept the commissioning of the 18" OAL PLS.
And I went to his house bringing along the template of it early last month Nov, 2013.

Will continue in the next posting

mohd

 

[naturalist]

Awesome Pak Mohd, a very nice project.
Does it a blessing in disguise? Seems that difficulties to "import" knives from overseas evolving your collection on traditional blades from very talented knifemaker.
I saw in an old German Eyes Catalog pictures of blades that at the moment considered as traditional blades.
I am still wondering the origin of "bendo arit".

 

[parfums95]

Yes nice project Mohd

 

[mohd]

.. And I went to his house bringing along the template of it early last month Nov, 2013 ..

In the following picture the template was seen lying on the yellow plastic basket just beside another template of another large knife.

And at the same time I collected my newly built SOD

.. a very nice project ..

.. Yes nice project ..

Lots of thanks Anton and Allain

.. Does it a blessing in disguise? Seems that difficulties to "import" knives from overseas evolving your collection on traditional blades from very talented knifemaker ..

In a way yes, anyhow surely I miss all the damascus bladed and the high end finish knives which I love so much for my collections
Anyhow allow me to quote what Burt Foster says about a good handmade knife.

.. The real beauty of a good handmade knife is that below the surface of the hand rubbed finish, the intricately folded Damascus steel, the exotic handle materials and all the attention to detail, you still have a knife that has performance at its heart. Non-functional knives are not really knives at all. They are just shiny chunks of metal. A knife is a cutting tool first and a thing of beauty second ..

.. I am still wondering the origin of "bendo arit" ..

Maybe we have to further discuss it in ForPis Anton!

Back to the PLS, I got a surprise in the middle of November, 2013 whereby Jay send me a picture of the PLS blank!
It was cut from a piece of long chainsaw bar steel.

.. Its an old American "senso" bar and my guess is, it could be an O1 because, I read somewhere in Bladeforums that the early American (Oregon) they use O1. This piece is the broadest of the six pieces and it fits your cut-out profile exactly ..

Sure I like the PLS simply because it was tested and proven since a long time as a great cutter and chopper especially in coconut and oil palm plantation fields.

.. you and I grew up in the rural environment will know, what cuts best because we had to chop firewood for daily cooking purposes. Handle position in relation to cutting edge is of vital importance. In this particular design, the positioning is just about perfect. There can be so many usage with this tool e.g chopping wood and bamboo, cracking nuts (i.e. big or small nuts), harvesting cocoa, clearing undergrowth and chopping game meat and fish placed on blocks of wood etc etc. I am proud to make this for you ..

Will continue in the next posting

mohd

 

[JayGoliath]

in the following picture the template was seen lying on the yellow plastic basket just beside another template of another large knife.

yikes!

 

[mohd]

yikes!

Oops .. Jay gave a yikes because the other template of another large knife is actually his

.. Along the discussion we came across the idea of a kind of local Malaysian parang with a hook at the tip part of the blade.
It is called as Parang Lading Sabit (i.e. I abbreviated it as a PLS).
At some places the parang is referred as Parang Sabit and at other places it is referred as Lading Sabit.
Anyhow it still the same thing ..

And yesterday, my friend Nadir sent me a better picture of the PLS.

In his email Nadir gave me an additional info.

.. parang kepala burung ( top one ) and parang kikut kecil ( bottom one ) ..

Okay, let's continue with the progress of the making of the PLS.
Actually just a few days before O'katz cut the blank of the PLS I emailed him and I talk about the type of blade grind that I want for my PLS.

.. I think you haven't started the making of the PLS (i.e. Parang Lading Sabit).
That day while talking with Jay, he brought up an idea of making it with a chisel grind.
Came back to KL I keep on thinking about it.
And then I remember that you said something about making it from a slightly thin steel.
So IMVHO the chisel grind will strengthened the blade as well as the cutting edge.
This also will minimize your work bcoz you have to work on one side of the blade only.

So O'Katz, would you please build the PLS with a chisel grind for a right handed person.
That means the left side of the blade is flat.
While the right side the blade is the one that has a bevel ..

And then he contacted me via telephone and we thoroughly discussed it until we came to an agreed decision.
O'Katz liked the idea of a chisel grind PLS.
After all we have never seen nor heard any chisel grind PLS before.
So this very PLS is going to be the very first chisel grind PLS so far and it's a history by itself
And on Nov 29, 2013 O'Katz showed me the picture of the right side of the PLS blade.

Here is the picture of the flat side of the blade.

And I told him that I might want something to be written on the flat side of the chisel grind PLS.

.. How about writing this quotation from Jalaluddin Rumi on the flat side of the PLS O'Katz

“Love comes with a knife, not some shy question, and not with fears for its reputation!” ~ Rumi

It is excerpted from his poem "Love Comes With A Knife".

[Youtube]qRb96PRQ5Os[/Youtube]

Will continue in the next posting

mohd

 

[cicak_cobing]

I saw in an old German Eyes Catalog pictures of blades that at the moment considered as traditional blades.
I am still wondering the origin of "bendo arit".

i think i might have seen it too bro.. not sure if there was a cultural exchange that took place long time ago..

it is indeed a beauty, Pak..
what's the specs?

it also reminded me of a not-so-recent news where a teenage girl fought off a robber with the same parang..

i can imagine if somebody were to mess around with you, all you need to do is to bring this beast out and say, "PLS.... (no pun intended)"

 

[catros]

wow..... mantaf pak mohd....:thumbup:
can't wait to see the progress .....
pls remind me if you have the newest progress report of your PLS..

 

[mohd]

Hi Zach, Aki and forum members who follow this thread, thanks for your interest on this PLS WIP.

.. not sure if there was a cultural exchange that took place long time ago ..

Not very sure about it as well Zach.
AFAIK SEA blades got so many influences from Chinese, Indian, Persian and Arabian cultures.
Take for example the same basic shape of PLS is also can be found out in South India by the name of Aruval.

The European (i.e. Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and English) and American cultural influence came with them colonizing SEA countries starting from 14th century.

.. what's the specs? ..

It's not finished yet Zach, anyhow my template has 12 3/4" blade, 5 1/4" handle, 1 1/8" width at the ricasso and 2" width at the widest part of the blade.

.. a teenage girl fought off a robber with the same parang ..

The PLS used as self defence by Nurul Sahira of Teluk Intan (i.e. same as O'Katz home town) was much longer (i.e. ~ 30" OAL).

.. pls remind me if you have the newest progress report of your PLS ..

No prob at all Aki.
In fact I communicate with O'Katz on daily basis so most probably I'll update this thread daily as well.

Actually the template which I gave to O'Katz was just a blank template.
So things has to be discussed from time to time.
Take for example the positioning of the pins and the lanyard tube was not properly marked at the template.
So O'Katz had to send me the following picture of the handle marked with the position of pins and lanyard holes.

Anyhow finally we agreed on a different pins and lanyard holes setting.
And here is the picture of the full tang with holes drilled for the pins and the lanyard tube.

In fact the drilling of the holes can be done after the heat treat but O'Katz normally prefers to do that beforehand.

Will continue in the next posting

mohd

 

[mohd]

Few days ago I watched "Snow White and the Huntsman".
Somehow I was fascinated by this particular dialog spoken by Snow White in one of the scene.

.. We have rested long enough. Frost to fire and fire to frost. Iron will melt. But it will writhe inside of itself! All these years, all I've known is darkness. But I have never seen a brighter light than when my eyes just opened. And I know that light burns in all of you! Those embers must turn to flame. Iron into sword. I will become your weapon! Forged by the fierce fire that I know is in your hearts! For I have seen what she sees. I know what she knows. I can kill her. And I'd rather die today than live another day of this death! Who will ride with me? Who will be my brother? ..

There and then that dialog reminded me that my PLS was going to be heat treated by O'Katz at any time soon.
And two days ago I received a batch of pictures from O'Katz!
Those are the blade HT step by step pictures!

At first I was wondering why the very first picture shows Rusty?
I asked O'Katz about it and O'Kaz told me that it was Rusty who loyally watched the whole HT processes done by him!

I noticed that O'Katz normally does HT processes at night.
Meaning it's always after 8:00 pm Malaysian time.
It's after dinner time locally.
With a pack of cigarettes, a cup of hot black coffee, a bottle of plain water and a long hours of the night then the HT session started!

Once we in IB ForPis were discussing the myth and mystery done by those Empu (i.e. Javanese Keris Makers) during the olden days when they want to sepuh (i.e. HT) their Kerises.
It was done in the full moon night!
Huh .. surely it sounds so spiritual to me!

I remember the late Fred aka Uwaklah of IB ForPis flipped open the mystery by telling us that the reason why they did that is just because they wanted to see the changes in the different colors of the forged Keris blades!
They had to do the correct thing at the correct color of it!
And it seems the centuries old practices among the Empu are still very much carried out by their predecessors in their current knife making practices!

And the quenching of the cutting edge has to be done at the bright cherry red color!
O'Katz jokingly referred it as the Chinese New Year red color!

'Tis the critical moment!
One small mistake might means disastrous result to the blade!
Sincerely I'm not the right person to explain all these pictures because I never done HT myself .. not even once!
No doubt I'd watched it before but watching is not the same as doing it yourself.
And this whole process was repeated again one more time!

.. O1 would not far off than L6. So, you dont have to worry. For L6, its always a double quench ..

After the second quenching O'Katz just did a sufficient blade cleaning, simple hardness testing and visual checking for any flaw.

.. File skids on harden edge ..

.. Over 60 and it brittle at this stage ..

And then the blade was tempered in the oven for ~ 1 hour at ~ 400f.

Next pictures shows the blade after coming out of the oven.

It sure looks beautiful to me .. right?

.. Notice a light straw colour has come out ..

Then O'Katz sent the blade to "North Pole" for a deep freezing treatment for ~ 12 hours!
After the cryogenic chill-out the blade will be tempered again in the oven one more time for another hour!

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Will continue in the next posting

mohd

 

[nepki]

Enjoying your post so far...Thanks for sharing Pak... :thumbup:

 

[mohd]

.. Enjoying your post so far ..

Hi Nik! I'm happy that you enjoy reading this thread pal
Does this sort parang are in used for field works in oil palm plantation fields in Sabah, Nik?

Back to the progress in the making of the PLS, I was informed that the second tempering was already done.
Now this is the last picture send to me as of yesterday.

.. PLS, after the second tempering. Showing a distinctive bronze color ..

IIRC there are lots of small things done or taken care during the HT processes which I just couldn't remember all.
Things like warming up the quenching oil, bathing the blade in ashes, air cooling, soaking technique, when to blow the burner etc etc are things that means a lot to ensure that the HT processes went through successfully.
O'Katz did explain that sort of things to me many times already .. thank you very much O'Katz .. anyhow it just failed to register in my weakened memory

What say you all about the last picture?
IMVHO it just looks like the head of a King Cobra with the big expanded neck ready to strike a bite attack

mohd

 

[JayGoliath]

I miss Rusty- that's a very playful dog. Sneaky as hell.

 

[mohd]

.. Rusty- that's a very playful dog. Sneaky as hell ..

IMVHO Rusty is at the playful phase of age .. sort of a teenager in human .. right Jay?

Progress of the PLS now has to slow down for the time being while waiting for the wooden scales.
A local exotic wood collector friend, Amiruddin is said as going to personally send scales of Serian wood to O'Katz today (i.e. locally today is Sunday).
Anyhow O'Katz said that he'll only make use of that Serian wood sacles if it's well seasoned already otherwise it might shrink and crack.
Here is the sample of Serian wood as a hilt of a large knife.

Notes: This is Jay's NMAOK as was shown in thread The cleaver discussion thread

So O'Katz said that in the mean time he's going to put some light polish to the blade.
Meanwhile I was looking for additional info and pictures of PLS in the internet.
And I found this.

It seems PLS also called with some other names in some other times and some other places such as Parang Cengkok, Parang Cokok and Parang Kikuk.

mohd

 

[naturalist]

Does serian similar to Suren/surian (Toona sureni) or it is relatives of Toona sureni?
Good choice Pak. I would stabilized it or at least treated with linseed oil.

 

[mohd]

.. Does serian similar to Suren/surian (Toona sureni) or it is relatives of Toona sureni? Good choice Pak ..

Thanks Anton
Yes, you're right Anton, Serian wood is also called as Surian, Suren, Soren or Kerantai as well.
Anyhow there are many types of Serian such as Serian Batu, Serian Bawang, Serian Belang, Serian Kuning, Serian Merah and Serian Putih.
Locally it's very popular for a knife handle because it looks nice with a sort of soft brown color finish and showing chatoyance.

Here is the picture of a raw Serian wood.

And here is the picture of a finished Serian wood as a handle and a sheath.

.. I would stabilized it or at least treated with linseed oil ..

O'Katz doesn't do wood stabilization so he'll just apply beeswax to the wood.
Maybe I'll treat it with linseed oil myself later on.

mohd

 

[cicak_cobing]

O'Katz doesn't do wood stabilization so he'll just apply beeswax to the wood.
Maybe I'll treat it with linseed oil myself later on.

oh if i recall correctly, VT knives (nearest to you) does wood stabilizing with vacuum pump..
maybe you can check out with him if he can help out..
look forward to more updates..

 

[mohd]

.. VT knives (nearest to you) does wood stabilizing with vacuum pump ..

You're right Zach, VT Knives does it!
Kumar did tell us about it and I should have ask him about it earlier!
Never mind .. not to worry much .. IMVHO a well season Serian wood is good enough for us in Peninsular Malaysia.
More or less we just have about the same temperature and humidity all over the year.

.. look forward to more updates ..

The latest good news is that O'Katz found a couple of large Serian wood scales in his keeping.

.. Just when you thought you have used them all up. Suddenly these two pieces of beauty turned up from the bottom of the barrel.
I love this sort of surprises ..

Oh .. how I love this sort of surprises as well
So IMO the Serian wood handle will be glued, fixed and shaped before end of this week

Another good news is that O'Katz just received an electroplater for etching the maker's mark on the blade.
It's a gift from Kumar of VT Knives.

It's just the right time so most probably my PLS will be having a better look of a maker's mark on the blade.
Still I've to discuss it first with O'Katz

mohd

 

[naturalist]

So, this PLS will be the first blade of O'Katz that etched?
A history then.

 

[mohd]

.. PLS will be the first blade of O'Katz that etched?
A history then ..

Anton, I think it's not exactly the very first blade but it's among the first batch of blades that will be etched with maker's mark on them
Will let you know about it once it was done!

In one of our telephone conversation O'Katz and I talked about the testing of the finished blade before the fixing of the handle.
And as I requested for pictures of his test, he promised me that he'll do that with his wife as the photographer.
She's a very nice and kindhearted lady who loyally supported and shared O'Katz hobby in making knives.

And this afternoon I received batches of pictures from O'Katz.
Here is the batch of pictures which show whittling test on a Cengal wood.

And here's the batch of pictures which show chopping test also on a Cengal wood.

And the PLS was passed with flying colors both Cengal wood whittling and chopping tests!
In fact O'Katz told me that he managed to chopped off the Cengal wood in just three chops!
And the cutting edge got no rolling, no denting and no chipping at all and it maintained it's sharpness till test completed.

mohd