Putting a handle on a vintage bhojpure

[blue lander]

I can think of a few possibilities.

1: I got a bum blade that just wasn't made properly. I don't think this is the case because lots of people have commented on how soft the steel is on these things.

2: My technique is bad, and a Gurkha who used his carefully wouldn't have damaged the edge.

3: These were made specifically for war use, and the kukris they used for day to day village use were tempered differently. Maybe a soft edge that can be quickly sharpened in the trenches was preferred. You can sharpen this thing on virtually any hard surface in a few swipes. I wonder if any farm or village kukris from that era survived, and how they compare to this one.

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.

That's possible too. This blade was definitely used at some point, maybe the previous owner found it to be poorly made and tossed it in the junk pile.

EDIT: Another possibility I just thought of is maybe it's because the G10 handle is too stiff. Maybe a wooden handle would have absorbed more of the shock. I'm also thinking that batoning aged firewood with this thing is just asking too much. It is 100 year old steel after all.

 

[ndoghouse]

From the looks of the AC and IMA samples were getting back at least most of them are repairable. If they were too hard with missing chunks etc. I suppose they would have already been trashed. I would say they served their purpose and then some. They aint dead yet!

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]

I can think of a few possibilities.

1: I got a bum blade that just wasn't made properly. I don't think this is the case because lots of people have commented on how soft the steel is on these things.

2: My technique is bad, and a Gurkha who used his carefully wouldn't have damaged the edge.

3: These were made specifically for war use, and the kukris they used for day to day village use were tempered differently. Maybe a soft edge that can be quickly sharpened in the trenches was preferred. You can sharpen this thing on virtually any hard surface in a few swipes. I wonder if any farm or village kukris from that era survived, and how they compare to this one.




That's possible too. This blade was definitely used at some point, maybe the previous owner found it to be poorly made and tossed it in the junk pile.

EDIT: Another possibility I just thought of is maybe it's because the G10 handle is too stiff. Maybe a wooden handle would have absorbed more of the shock. I'm also thinking that batoning aged firewood with this thing is just asking too much. It is 100 year old steel after all.

I doubt Junk Pile since the ones with handles are soft too.
I dont know how the age could play a role? Does steel lose its hardness after a while?
Handle material sounds plausible but then soft hand tissue and all your joints absorb way more force during a strike than the blades handle.
War use could be but I don't see the advantage of having to sharpen the blade often. That Gurkhas had 2 Kukris one for real hard use and one for war sounds like a waste of metal and probably not typical for that era.

My theory is that the Kamis either didn't care, or were not capable of hardening this steel properly.
In a village with multiple Kamis villagers can always go to the better one and thus create some kind of competition for quality and price.
In the army however if the weapon looks good the Kami will get his payment. I doubt there was much quality control. Unless some officer got a junk blade and complained nothing would change. A normal recruit had no means to complain and even if, which one of the 10 Kamis in his battalion was the culprit? Lack of competition and too many blades to make...
Its probably the same issue as with Katanas. Samurais had really good pieces if they could afford one. If not then they were also junk. Later in history at the point were lots of soldiers in the Japanese Army in WW2 needed Katanas made, they were made out of bad steel and in huge numbers. No folded steel, no differential hardening all happened. Some generals could probably still get a good one but the average blade was junk. Good enough for decoration or mutilating prisoners once or twice but nothing close to the really expensive samurai blades.

 

[blue lander]

Jeesh, it took about 5 minutes with the lansky puck to grind out those chips in the blade. It would have taken at least an hour with a file to do the same with 1095 steel.

I wonder why the steel is so soft. Is it the temper or the lack of carbon? Would case hardening the edge be effective?

 

[bargs]

I am ordering one of those bare blades today,gonna try my hand at a rehandle. been on the fence a year or two,you just made up my mind. handle looks good. keep pics coming.

 

[blue lander]

Good luck! I'm still filing away at that handle to get it to a shape I like. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.