Partial success.

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395

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I finished up the new karda yesterday made from the pruning shears. I hardened it a little differently than the first one.If I would have immediately upon hardening it put it back over the flame for a bit I think it would have been fine.

I had just got it done and was looking at it and the spine was still pretty hot. I heard that familiar "tink" again.
I went ahead and checked it with a file for hardness and it was perfect again. The file slid right off with no bite. I went ahead and put it in the oven at almost 400* for a hour.

I wanted to see if it would continue to crack like the last one did,it did not. Amazingly it had only cracked about 1/16" straight up towards the spine again. I was able to grind the crack out and resharpen it. The new karda is a little narrower than I wanted it,but will outlast me.
It hadn't cracked anymore over night and the first one is still slowly cracking.

I am gonna try again and again though 'till I get it right.I have a suspicion that if I harden the whole blade it won't crack like it has the first two times. Full hard would be alright anyway if a person was gonna use it for a chakma too. I may have to get some steel from my bro though. I imagine Barb will get upset if I use her good set of pruning shears.
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I have hardened with oil before and generally alwyas had good luck,at least nothing cracked,just didn't get hard enough.This hardening with water is an art in itself. I would sure love to see the Kamis do it several times and talk with them about it.
I have always found making do with what a person had fascinating. The fact that they do something this well with water that many people can't do with oil speaks volumns!! I love peoples and cultures that never give up!!

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.


[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 29 July 1999).]
 
I'll see if I can get some pix of the kamis doing this job on the karda and chakma. They do not waste a lot of time on these little ones and I am surprised they come out as well as they do.

Practice, Yvsa, practice.

Uncle Bill
 
Yvsa,maybe the cracking problem is due to it being the wrong type of steel. If the shears were 1095 or something similar it would be expected to crack. 5160 seems pretty resistant to cracking. It`s pretty easy to come by in the form of leafsprings,any car junkyard should be happy to torch some leaves off for a few bucks. Marcus
 
Yvsa, I don't know where you are, but leaf springs are pretty easy to get - free. I have about 500 pounds of leaf springs just sitting around in my scrap pile.

Hmmmm, maybe it's time to make knives!?

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Good luck and try some leaf spring steel. You'll probably find that the shears were tempered when made and you may be working against yourself to try hardening over again.

 
What makes a good karda?

Practice, practice, practice.

Would the kamis love to have that scrap pile!

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 30 July 1999).]
 
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One of these days the scrap pile and leaf springs will be next,at least it is something I hope to be able to do.
I had the three carpal bones in my right wrist removed due to the abuse of many years and I would like to make it last a few more.
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I just have to use a lighter hammer and hit the steel more times and use a wrist brace.
Not quite the way I am used to doing things. I have a BMFH at work.Things moved when I had to get it out.Even people sometimes.
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I used to go from layed back to P/Oed in - .0001 sec.
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Must have been the angry young Indin.
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Day-um I was stupid sometimes. (big evil grin)
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I am kinda leaning towards the thought that the Kukuri's being as wide as they are the heat from the spine may kinda keep the edge hotter after the water is removed and therefore tends to keep the cracking at a minimum. Maybe almost like putting it back in the fire. I don't think too much of the edge is subjected to the water from what few pix I have seen. There is no substitute for watching in person!!

Uncle Bill has said that this is a critical time and that the Kamis pay close attenton to what they are doing.The Kamis has a blade to crack once in a while and it has to go back for rework.

All the kardas I have are about the same hardness on both sides which I am taking to mean that they are hardened all over.I really think if I had of dunked the whole thing it would have been fine. I will do the next on that way seeing as how it can be substituted for the chakma.
I will also put it into the oven and draw it back some too. The pruning shear material gets really hard and I think it would be smart to draw it.
I would rather have it a little soft than breaking,but I don't think it will be soft at all. The karda I just finished I would bet my life on.

When I get everything done to my satisfaction I will take some pix and send them to Uncle Bill and maybe he will post them. The handle is especially unique due to the part of the antler I used. Makes a fair sized handle and has a pretty piece of turquise in it. The other one will have a piece of coral if I can find my supply in my messy room.
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Thanks for all the suggestions!!


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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
Yvsa, I tried a quick quench on a khukuri blade a couple of times -- just stick it in a pail of water. I warped the blade one time and the next time popped the edge. I quit trying to do it that way but you might get away with it with the karda.

I can tell you for sure, bother, with that turquoise and coral that karda would be a big hit in Nepal, especially among the Tibetans.

Uncle Bill
 
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