Putting a handle on a vintage bhojpure

If G10 fails it usually splits between the laminations. If you have to drill holes in it for pins it is best to drill through the layers instead of between the layers if that makes sense? Sometimes it is unavoidable depending on you design. It would be best to orient the the layers in the same plane as the knife blade. Before you glue the tang it may help to round the top and bottom edges slightly. This helps distribute the stress across a few layers instead of through a single layer. You already saw this happen with your hickory handle where it split it two places.

Love that Kerala Blade! Handle looks similar to falcata but smaller of course. You should pick Bawannas' brain on how he made the handle for his Barong. I bet that would look cool on your blade. Had to educate myself on that blade. I have seen them before but didnt know what they were called.
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The nice thing about picking Bawanna's brain is it usually doesn't take very long. Not much material to sort through.

Apparently the Parang is very similar to the Barong as they have very similar handles, some quite ornate such as the one you posted.
 
There's quite a few Kerala knives on ebay, but they're usually listed as "safety dagger" or as a Khanjar. The handle-less ones usually go for $25-$30 shipped depending on the quality, and ones with a handle go for $50 up depending on how fancy they are. I looked at a few different Kerala blades for auction and most were full tang looking with rivet holes, but the tang was only a few inches long. I think the handle you'd put on that would be full tang for the first half of the handle, no tang for the second hooked half if that makes any sense. I also saw some with rat tangs with a hook at the end like in the picture above. I was worried if I bought one with a hooked tang, it might be too short for my hand with no way to extend it. I chose the one I did because it had minimal rust and the simple tang gives me more options for putting a handle on it. I prefer the ones with much more exaggerated curves in the blade like the one ndoghouse posted, but I couldn't find one for the right price in decent condition. Another interesting feature is the "T" shaped spine on the blade although you can't really see it well in any of these pictures. I wonder if it's purpose is to strengthen the blade or if it's just aesthetic.

Back to the Bhojpure, I just finished shaping the hole for the tang. I filed the edges of the tang a little so they wouldn't punch through the laminations as ndoghouse suggested, hopefully that will help. Now I'm just waiting for the acraglas to set, once it does I'll roughly shape the handle. Assuming it holds up better than the last handle after chopping/batoning, I'll take more time to shape it nicely and polish it and whatnot.

I'd appreciate any insight you gained putting a handle on your barong, Bawanna.
 
Sounds like you got all the bases covered. I can't think of anything I did that you aren't addressing. I think the very front of the handle is the weak link if there is one, you want it strong as can be there. Even a wire wrap which is quite common on Barongs add tremendous strength.
I suspect good epoxy and your G10 will hold up fine on it's own but I don't have a whole lot to back that up with.

We'll all know soon.
 
following your guys posts is better n reading a book,and I read a lot of books. liking where this is going.i have a blade made out of a lawn mower blade im gonna try to rehandle.
 
Do you have to retemper and harden the lawn mower blade? Seems like a fun project.

Back to the bhojpure... so far the hardest part of the entire project has been NOT messing with it while the epoxy fully dries. I'm going to wait a few more days until I try it out. I think my previous handle failed primarily because the epoxy gave out. Had the epoxy held I believe the wood wouldn't have cracked.
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I'm going to do some basic shaping of the handle next. So far so good!
 
The handle's rectangular and not barrel shaped so I can't do a traditional khuk handle. I think I'll just go with your standard American knife handle shape.

I usually don't become attached to inanimate objects, but after all the work I've done on this thing I decided to name this khuk. I dub thee AWATH, which is short for Accident WAiting To Happen.
 
AWATH. Ha! Love it! Let hope it dont tho:thumbup: looks like you got plenty of meat around the bolster area so shouldnt crack there. You get that much work into something and it makes for interesting testing! How thick is that piece of G10? Looks like about half inch?
blue lander said:
The handle's rectangular and not barrel shaped so I can't do a traditional khuk handle. I think I'll just go with your standard American knife handle shape.

I usually don't become attached to inanimate objects, but after all the work I've done on this thing I decided to name this khuk. I dub thee AWATH, which is short for Accident WAiting To Happen.
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It's 3/4th of an inch, which should hopefully be sufficient. I've been using her to chop at an old broomstick, and any where I feel the handle digging into my hand I'm grinding down with the dremel and a file. I think this should fit it exactly to my hand, but I have no idea what shape it'll end up taking.
 
blue lander said:
The handle's rectangular and not barrel shaped so I can't do a traditional khuk handle. I think I'll just go with your standard American knife handle shape.
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There is a way you could shape the handle so it looks something like a traditional khuk handle.

Think of the G10 as if it were a super-thick tang and add a couple of slabs on both sides. This will provide enough thickness to shape the handle more like a traditional Khukuri by filing down the surface. You could make the slabs from any material that looks good (or more G10) and attach them to the G10 with epoxy.

A khuk handle should be somewhat oval shaped, not really barrel shaped, to the slabs need not be very thick.

Of course this would add to the work and perhaps you don't want to spend the rest of your life on this one project. It's just a thought.
 
Actually, I was thinking of soaking some strips of cotton fabric in epoxy and wrapping it around the handle until it's more ovalish. Then I'd have a micarta handle with a G10 center.
 
I bet that would work if you think you need to build it up. May even try paracord wrap for a test.
blue lander said:
Actually, I was thinking of soaking some strips of cotton fabric in epoxy and wrapping it around the handle until it's more ovalish. Then I'd have a micarta handle with a G10 center.
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I took Awath out for a little test drive today. The handle's still really uncomfortable, so I was only able to get through half the log this time.
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Other than being uncomfortable, the handle held up just fine. No signs of distress or cracking. So on to "the widowmaker", batoning fire wood
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I've never had such a hard time batoning firewood, the edge geometry on this blade is really not suited for it. But the handle's still rock solid. In fact, looking at the thing I felt stupid for even thinking I could break this handle even if I wanted to. So next step is making the handle more comfortable.
 
I think id call that a total success! The rest is details! Nice job BL. Hows the blade edge holding up?
 
I was about to say "the edge held up fine" but then I took a closer look and noticed two new divots in the edge around the sweet spot. I assume they're from batoning through knots in that firewood. I'm going to try to grind them mostly out, but I think this steel is just too soft for general purpose use. It's good enough for around the yard work, but I'd never put myself in a situation where I'd have to rely on the steel to stand up to any abuse.

On a happier note, my Kerala blade just showed up!
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It's a bit smaller than I expected, but I like it. It's dull as hell but I don't see any chips, dings, or flaws in the steel. I think this looks like an extremely useful general purpose blade shape. The tip is a little upswept for stabbing, the front of the blade has a little belly to it for slicing, the middle is a little concaved like a khukri so you could use it like a draw knife, and then there's another belly towards the tang for doing whittling and whatnot. It also has a "T" shaped spine that I'm sure gives it a little extra strength without adding much extra weight. I don't know if any company in India still makes these, but I bet if Cold Steel or somebody made a cheapo version for 30 bucks or so they'd be very popular.
 
blue lander said:
I was about to say "the edge held up fine" but then I took a closer look and noticed two new divots in the edge around the sweet spot. I assume they're from batoning through knots in that firewood. I'm going to try to grind them mostly out, but I think this steel is just too soft for general purpose use. It's good enough for around the yard work, but I'd never put myself in a situation where I'd have to rely on the steel to stand up to any abuse.
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Makes you wonder what they were actually used for back then.
If the Gurkhas really build huts with the soft blades and chopped firewood they must have replaced their blades every year or so.
 
Jens Schuetz said:
Makes you wonder what they were actually used for back then.
If the Gurkhas really build huts with the soft blades and chopped firewood they must have replaced their blades every year or so.
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I'm wondering if this is the reason these are being offered as blades and not complete kukris. Maybe they are well used or rejected blades that they kept for recycling or emergency use.
 
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