Progress report on shop 2 and funny story.

We called Kami over the weekend and got a progress report on shop 2.

Kami now has six kamis working. They have spent quite a bit of time getting the shop up and running and are still in this process. Kami has gone "high tech" in shop 2. No leather bellows. He is firing the forges with heavy duty hair dryers and has a few power hand tools which he is teaching the kamis to use. (Nara will go nuts when he sees this!) He figures it will take him a month or two to get things organized as he wants. However, they are presently pounding steel which leads us into a funny story.

Remember the kami who said he had forgotten how to make a decent khukuri? Well, this fellow pounded on a spring for three days getting it into a form of a 20 inch Sirupati, taking his time, inspecting as he went, doing the job right. It looked good and he was very proud of his effort. Then came time for heat treat. He poured the water too fast and the edge popped in three places leaving small hairline cracks. He kicked over his water pitcher, threw the blade onto the floor, went outside and swore for ten minutes non-stop. Then went back into the shop and started heating the blade so he could rework the edge again.

One of the other old kamis commented, "Well, at least he is honest. He said he had forgotten how to make a khukuri."

Everybody had a good laugh except the guy doing the rework.

Uncle Bill
 
C

Coronach

Joined
Feb 24, 1999
Messages
368
I think we've all had days like that...
wink.gif


Mike


------------------
Hey! Uncle Sam!

(_!_) Nyah nyah nyah!

Refund! You lose! :)


 
Bill, if that had been made to be a "meat-cutter" would the blade edge have been reworked after the slip-up during the edge hardening?

Glad to see the shop is up and running.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, if that had been a meat cutter I don't think it would have popped in the first place. The steel is usually not hard enough.
At any rate if would not have been reworked if it had popped.

I am wondering how the kamis are faring with the "high tech" additions. I'll get another progress report next weekend and will post it. I wish I was there to see it all because I know it would be highly entertaining.

My first trip to Nepal I carried with me a cigarette rolling machine and tobacco. At the airport my first ten minutes in Nepal I pulled out my roller and started rolling a cigarette.

By the time I finished rolling the cigarette a crowd of perhaps 30 Nepalis had gathered to see what I was doing. When the cigarette came out of the machine, nicely rolled, ready to smoke everybody "ohed and ahed" and shook their heads in amazement. What will the village kami do when he sees a forge with no bellows and a hand drill?

Uncle Bill


 
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