Paging Dan Koster: BGRS Villager Meets PCB Etchant (Dialup Warning: Four Pics)

Dave Rishar

Dave Rishar

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
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This BGRS is a wood handled (don't know what kind) villager that I picked up at the MWKK '05. Bura made it. Besides the usual jazz about what a handy size and shape the 15" BGRS is, this one's got a magic edge* and was firmly locked as My Favorite Khukuri until that goldurned FF came along.

* For our new arrivals, what I mean by "magic edge" is not that the edge is glowing with magical energy or anything like that; I'm commenting on just how great of an edge it has. Unless I've done something stupid, like chopping rocks or chainlink fences (and sometimes even then), I can chop wood and brush literally all morning, give the edge a few swipes with the chakmak, and it will literally shave hair again...maybe not hair-popping sharp, but definitely hair-shaving sharp. This is not soft clear wood that we're talking about, either; these are fallen trees that have been dead for years and I don't normally avoid knots. Out of my twenty-something-odd khuks and swords, this is the only one to date with a magic edge. (I have to admit, though, that some of the others are improving with repeated sharpenings and may just get there. The BGRS was magic after the first sharpening and has remained so.)

I'm sure that there's a logical explaination for this - grinding through the decarburized outer shell, subtlely reprofiling the edge, work hardening the edge with the chakmak, etc...but there's a certain magic involved all the same. Hence, magic edge.

Dan asked and I shall obey. I broke out the PCB etchant and had at it. My normal procedure is to degrease the blade by washing it with Windex, then engine degreaser, then some denatured alcohol on top of that; afterwards, it gets a long rinse in the hottest water that my tap can produce. When it's good and hot it goes into the etchant. After thirty seconds or so, when everything is good and dark, I rinse, neutralize with Windex, rinse again, and polish. After polishing I repeat the process. Typically I see acceptable results on the first cycle, with three cycles being preferred.

The BGRS didn't want to etch. I had that sucker in the etchant for over three minutes with minimal results the first time. Polishing didn't bring much out. The second etch went only a bit better. After polishing with Never Dull I switched to Mother's and saw an improvement. The third etch did the trick, although I'm half tempted to go another three just to see what happens. I noticed that even a light polishing removed quite a bit of detail so I took a set of pictures after the third etch, but before polishing, and another set of pictures aftwards.

And it took quite a bit of polishing to remove those oxides once I finally got them to form, might I add. The surface of the blade is noticably smoother and wonderful patina (including the "blood patina") is now gone. Sounds like a good excuse to take it out in the woods and put it back on.

Photo note: each pic got two clicks of "Sharpen" in Irfanview to bring out the detail, something that I normally don't do. I was pushing my camera's limits with regards to focal distance and there was a bit of blur...not that my pics are all that good in the first place. ;) So while I have technically edited them, I didn't actually add anything and the sharpened images are very close to how it appears in person.

Here we go. After the third etch, but before polishing:

bgrs1.jpg


bgrs2.jpg


After final polish:

bgrs3.jpg


bgrs4.jpg


That's what a magic edge looks like. Although the hardened zone extends right to the tip, I'd reckon that the tip is a bit softer than the sweet spot. The tip will roll with effort; the sweet spot doesn't seem to do much of anything. I suppose that the edge may be thinner up there but it doesn't look like it to me.

Note the varying lines in the hardened zone. I recall a thread about this (KM?) recently. I don't know what it means but it looks kind of cool and I have no doubts about the edge's performance.

The blade didn't pick up any flash rust between the final hot water rinse and the polish - a first. (Also note that while it developed a patina, it took a long time to do so and it never really rusted.) The hamon is also unusual, although I've seen a few other unusual hamons from Bura...just not like this one. This isn't the first villager that I've etched but I've only done a few so I'm still not sure what to expect.

But, if I had to guess? I'd bet that this steel is different from what's normally used. Someone else may know more.

Dan, if you're interested in doing some nondestructive testing, shoot me an email and we'll work something out. The Camp's more or less decommed, camping season's just about over and I have a Foxy Folly hanging on the nail beside the BGRS...I could live without it for a few weeks if need be. Your comments have me curious now.
 
Satori, So that's what that baby looks like huh. Kind of lost a little in taking off the blood marks. One heck of a hamon. Had a really good feel in the hand. If you're itching to etch some kuks, I've got a few we could play with. ;) Let me know what you think.


mike
 
Great pics Satori :thumbup:

Magic edge? Not far from it. Uncle Bill once described to me that when Bura tempers a blade, he observes a very strict, almost ritualized process. As he's quenching with the tea kettle, he turns each blade three times. When Uncle Bill asked him about the oxidation color changes in the steel, Bura remarked that to temper a khukuri blade properly, your eyes must be able to discern something like twelve different colors in the steel. :eek:

A friend and fellow forumite, Pappy, had a Bura made khuk that he swore up and down actually got sharper the more he used it to chop wood. I've handled that khuk, and it was indeed quite sharp. Seems illogical to me that a blade could get sharper with use, but Pappy wasn't the kind of guy to make something like that up.

All the kamis are masters of their craft, but Bura's long been a sentimental favorite of mine.

Sarge
 
:thumbup: Great pics Dave! I got one of those Bura villagers as well, and man are you right, the edges on those are amazing! They just refuse to get dull. After seeing that hamon I'm beginning to understand why.
 
Man, I'm just amazed at what the kami's can do with a hot fire, a hammer, and a tea kettle. I have a villager that has one of those magic edges. It was my very first HI khuk. Made by Kumar and just kind of came to me. I wanted a villager, e-mailed Uncle Bill, and he had just put a run of the ever covetted birgorka villagers up. Luck or Fate? Anyway, just like Sat's 15" GRS, my villager has multiple temper lines all the way to the tip. It wasn't very sharp when i got it, but now it's razor sharp and only needs minimal work to stay that way. It's a wonderful khuk that sings when you run a steel down it. It's been beat to death, chopped 8" logs in half, splashed and pitted by the waters of a rough canoe trip, picked up in fear as imagined noises creeped out of my psyche in the blackest of night. It's earned its stripes. A beautifully mundane little khuk so heavily contaminated with HIKV.

Jake
 
interesting indeed....


perhaps it took so long to etch because of the rough finish? that would be my guess. If you hand sanded it up to 600-800 it would etch easier. But no matter, because it looks great as-is.

The quench line is very nice to see. That's how it should be done - perfect example.

The multiple lines come from the edge being quenched more than once...but not necessarily two (or more) quench sessions. Let's say Bura is pouring the water over the edge and grabs the first 1/4" or so of the edge first...then works his way up the blade on the next pass. The first pass with the water hardens the steel more than the second pass does. That is reflected by the different lines, ie. differentially hardened zones.

Essentially, what Bura is doing is called "interrupted quench" by Westerners. That is, the edge is not being quenched "all at once", but parts at a time. Most folks who do an interrupted quench dunk the edge, pull it out, dunk it again. I bet nobody on this side of the pond is doing it like the kamis...even water quenchers. Partly, because it does require excellent timing...as noted above...and a good eye.


Wonder what would happen if we sent a bunch of these etch pictures home with Pala?
 
That's an excellent hardening job, etch job, and photo job. :thumbup:

Makes me wonder if I'm etching mine enough. Also, I only etch once. Hmmm.

Satori, at what strength are you using the ferric chloride?

Thanks!

Steve
 
I suppose that some of the difficulty might have been due to the finish but the other villagers that I've done weren't this difficult. I've noticed that while there's a baseline of etching difficulty, some are notoriously easier or more difficult than the norm...i.e. the kages katne that refused to etch, and the hasiya. (Which very nearly etched itself.) There are too many variables that simply can't be pinned down and I'll probably never know why this is. My best guess is that different steels are sometimes used for oddball items.

Mike, email me or give me a call if you want to do some etching. I ought to be free Sunday. I'm curious to see what the hamons on your collection look like.

Steve, I cut the etchant 1:4 with tapwater. The experts say that distilled water is preferable but I didn't have any laying around and got lazy. :) It works well enough. Interestingly enough, I'm still using the only bottle of etchant that I ever purchased. I keep the mixture in an old laundry detergeant container and pour it into a pitcher for use; afterwards, I just pour it back in. It doesn't seem to be losing its potency.

One cycle is almost always sufficient to show the hamon but I prefer two or three cycles to bring out the full depth of the steel's character. Some (like the hasiya) really only needed one cycle to show everything, and a few (like this BGRS) will show more, I suspect, if I keep going - but three's a good round number.

I could imagine the responses of the kamis if we sent some etch pics back...;)
 
That is an excellent temper line!!!!

Satori,

You do some of the best and most informative posts here :thumbup:

If I haven't said it before you rock! Now if you can post the mosin fireball vid you will be god ;)
 
hollowdweller said:
If I haven't said it before you rock! Now if you can post the mosin fireball vid you will be god ;)
Click to expand...

If all goes according to plan I'll be producing some Russian fireballs tomorrow. I won't be god, but I'll certainly be a saint of some sort.

Do you want M38, M44, or both? I'll try to do both, just in case. :)
 
Satori said:
If all goes according to plan I'll be producing some Russian fireballs tomorrow. I won't be god, but I'll certainly be a saint of some sort.

Do you want M38, M44, or both? I'll try to do both, just in case. :)
Click to expand...

M38. I have been wanting one of those so I'd like to see it in action! :thumbup:
 
Pretty good looking etch job, great looking knife too.

Next time try hot vinegar. I boil a pot of vinegar and place the blade in a clean cookie sheet (I only use it for etching). I've noticed that if there are any residual oils in the pot or the pan it becomes suspended in the vinegar and spots the blade. The spots are removable but it takes a little extra time.

Leave the blade in the vinegar until it stops reacting, read no more bubbles. Clamp the blade and remove the oxides with Simichrome on a leather pad.

I usually do two or three etches, removing the oxides in between.

The vinegar reveals all the subtle activity in the blade. For whatever reason the ferric seems too strong and washes out much of the activity.

My avatar is a small section of a comp bowie I am working on. I clay coated the blade and etched as I described. There are some more pictures in the "makers gallery" forum.

Hope that helps.

Matt
 
Some of the villagers could be made out of different steels. I am not sure if I read this at the Hi site, but I recall reading that the villagers can be made out of spring steel or railroad track steel.

Some of the GK khukuris were made from railroad track steel - a steel that is supposedly of higher carbon content.
 
next time I get a villager through here I'll pay more attention to the sparks while I'm grinding. If it's high carbon steel (10xx), the spark will be short, very branched, and bright yellow. If it medium carbon steel (5160) the spark is more orange, still "branched" but just a little longer.
 
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