Pictures of earned patinas

Howard Wallace

Howard Wallace

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Bookie’s recent post on naturally developed patinas got me thinking that some here might not know what their knives would look like in a decade or two if simply used and allowed to develop a patina. With that in mind, I offer this thread as an opportunity for some long-time owners of HI blades to show how their blades have aged over time.

I’ll start with a picture of the first knife I bought from Bill Martino in the early 90’s. This 15" Ang Khola is now pushing a quarter century of hard use and still going strong. In 2009 it spent several weeks in its (former) sheath underwater. The story of that torture test is in this old thread. The pictures in that thread long ago went wherever old internet pictures go, but here is a recent picture of the knife from today.

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7/1/2015 edit - I found this old pic of this khukuri immediately after its underwater adventure.

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This knife has rarely if ever had its blade oiled. It is just used, and if it gets too dirty it is cleaned with water and a scotch-brite pad.

If you have an older HI knife that has developed a natural patina, please consider sharing pictures of the knife and stories of how it earned its patina in this thread.
 
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That's one of the Kami Medical Fund sheaths that Yangdu was selling. She may still have some left. They were closed out by another manufacturer and acquired and modified by a forumite to accommodate many of the HI blades. This was a special project to help out some of the HI blacksmiths who had run into medical issues. I was fortunate that Yangdu had them at a low price as the original sheath did not survive its stint underwater.
 
That looks very much as my first from Bill but think mine more a 97-99 knife (would have to think way back on where and when i was, exactly) of same length and model...cannot recall if it sold as a 15 or 16 inch model...as mentioned elsewhere it was given to a kid deployed and probably still over there somewhere...mine was brighter under pepper from burnishing daily in tropics against daily or hourly rust...horn was still shiny black with white high points....

Latest is only weeks old and not much stained but will add here tomorrow if it shows enough for photos for new shopper info on what happens...

The sheath appears original Cold Steel leather for their rubber handled wonder...

(Remainder redacted despite personal experience, as impolitic bashing of another product by name, but will NEVER do amphibious landings again with a Kraton handle)

PS-Days later i check mine and out front belly surely blueing and browning but too subtle for camera or stranger to knife to distinguish from shadow or reflection...will update as needed...
 
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Wow....where are all the used khukuri photos?....i KNOW this outfit is not as a collectible knife forum of name unmentioned where knives taken out of safe and only are posed in light boxes or carried in a portable padded safe on vacation for photo ops slicing pepperoni and cheese to go with wine while "roughing it" and a hard day on knife is water splashing on sheath while canoeing....
 
:jerkit {please do not use this emoticon in the discussion forums. It is only suitable for useage in W&C.}
 
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Ok....i am just trying to get all the real users who post here and have posted used knives in other threads to put them up for view in a single thread...as many or most folk here actually use the knives rather than only collect...i know this for a fact...the thread should be worth more than a banned cartoon figure....there have been near 500 hits on this thread from others hoping for better than that, too....
 
The obvious question comes to mind when every new query here as to "what first khukuri to buy for such and such" thread is packed with suggestions...any staining is "patina" and worthy of showing for information purposes, especially to folk new to carbon steel knives, much less, dear Yangdu's imports...most times mine do not stay stained as it polishes right off with ease only using red rouge and an oiled cloth....but will let my WWII ride for a bit just for show and tell....will not take long....
 
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Tirtha Siru 25" Day 1:

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Tirtha Siru 25" Day 100 (approx): Temper line very visible (Blade in back).

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Tirtha Siru 25" Day 1000 (at least): (will add new pic later when I get home).

No Patina like some but genuine wear. Plent of dings have been peened out and I think I even had to sharpen it a few times.
 
We have a lot of acidic vegetation here which they should harvest for gun blue and browning....i will try to clear some stuff today or tomorrow and show before/after/then after repolish...
 
Here is a tale of a patina earned and lost. Perhaps a consolation to those who think if they don't oil their carbon steel knives continually they will quickly rust in half.

In 1999 I bought a villager udhaipur khukuri from HI. I was able to find the thread I bought it on, and thus fix the date.

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This udhaipur was the inspiration for the Gelbu Special, but the GS is much heftier. The udhaipur quickly became one of my favorite knives and was used extensively through the years. It served a lot of time in the garden, whacked its share of rocks, went traveling with me on numerous occasions. I reviewed it on this old FAQ page.

It soon developed a patina from use, and never being oiled. It got the regular water and scotch brite pad treatment if it got too dirty or gummy, but nothing beyond that. Through the years the handle got chipped and repaired with sawdust mixed with epoxy. The thin butcap came loose and was secured with JB Weld, with an extra dollop on top of the keeper.

Being one of my favorite knives, and one of rare design, I used the blade shape for the khukuri in my custom liberty series project. The beat-up old udhaipur was sent back to HI in Nepal to be used as a model for the blade shape of the guarded Liberty Series khukuri.

I just recently received my old knife back from its journey to Nepal. I hardly recognised it. The blade looked shiny and new, as if it had just come from the shop. There were a few fine pits that one had to look hard to see, but other than that the blade was in as-new shape despite the years of minimal care. It still had the JB Weld on the buttcap, and the old epoxy handle repair to give it character, but the old fellow looked very spiffy after he cleaned up at the shop. Unfortunately I did not think to photograph the knife with patina before it left, but here is a photo of the knife as it returned to me.

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I figure there's still a century or more of hard use left in this blade. If I didn't know it had served over 15 years of hard use and minimal care, it would be hard to tell. At least, if you didn't look at the handle.
 
"second from top -- A village Gelbu Special model -- excellent knife. 17 inches, blade about 5/16 thick at back, about 1.5 wide, and weight 14 oz. Very nicely hardened. Finish good. My personal favorite of this bunch."

Impressive specs! Id sure like to see that blade in a 21" version myself. My dream knife:thumbup: HI could offer a 17" and 21" and I bet they would sell like little pecan pies!

BTW: After many attempts at forced patina I decided to scotch brite this one clean again and let it develop a natural patina. Sure didnt take long because my wife loves pizza. Here it is now au naturale. I know ...it aint HI but it was inspired by HI.

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Nice knife, Howard. Old, well used, been around the horn, and still lookin' spiffy. Just like me!
 
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