Question and mini review about the BDC

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
8,250
Sorry I suck...no pics. :o

Got my first Kuk, a 15" bdc, yesterday and I like it. The blade came sharp in the sweet spot and near the recurve but the rest of the blade is sharp-ish. There's a little blem on one of the fullers but not bad. Looks like he missed a hammer stroke on the end of the middle one. Doesn't bother me so no biggy. I was shocked at how thin the edge bevel is on these. It's on par with my GB mini. Tested it out a little on some fire wood from the store, cheap softwood, and was able to do really nice fuzzies with it. About as good as my Farmer and better or equal to my other knives. Main difference is that I had to use the sweet spot so my arm fatigued faster but otherwise it did good. If the bevel holds up to chopping hardwood and pitchwood this bevel will be a winner. The handle has a couple of issues but as far as I can tell neither will impact use though I haven't really done much chopping with it. The solder around the bolster seems like an afterthought. It's smeared in some places which is fine but non-existent for most of it leaving a gap between the bolster and the blade which is not so fine. Also, every metal part is raised higher then the horn scales. That means when running my finger along the horn and into either the tang or the pins, there's a noticeable "ledge." Again sorry for no pics. Overall I'm pleased with it. I need to go out and do some real chopping next camping trip to really see if it'll suit my needs but I have high hopes for it.

So my question is, what does the tang look like under the bolster and scales? I can see a few "steps" in the tang. One goes in where the blade meets the bolster and one goes out with the horn so I'm not sure what's going on under the surface. Can this be re-handled easily and what would that entail?

I do have the pic from the for sale thread. I believe I got the one second from right.
12-29-11%20001.jpg
 
I believe there is a step down under the bolster. Most of the blades I've seen don't have the bolster soldered to the blade, but soldered around it like a collar. The end of the bolster toward the blade will have some gaps or dried laha (Himalayan epoxy) seeping out. This area could be sealed with superglue if needed, I would believe. I would saturate the horn with hooflex, or some use mineral oil. Once it's expanded to where it should be, you could file/sand the metal to where it's comfortable for you. The horn tends to shrink up a little between Nepal and Reno. The good thing is superglue seems the perfect repair tool for horn handled khuks. Good luck with it and let us know how it performs.
 
jdk1 said:
I believe there is a step down under the bolster. Most of the blades I've seen don't have the bolster soldered to the blade, but soldered around it like a collar. The end of the bolster toward the blade will have some gaps or dried laha (Himalayan epoxy) seeping out. This area could be sealed with superglue if needed, I would believe. I would saturate the horn with hooflex, or some use mineral oil. Once it's expanded to where it should be, you could file/sand the metal to where it's comfortable for you. The horn tends to shrink up a little between Nepal and Reno. The good thing is superglue seems the perfect repair tool for horn handled khuks. Good luck with it and let us know how it performs.
Click to expand...

I was thinking it was shrinkage. It's too uniform to be a mistake. I'm not sure solder is the right word. It's a gold color and is probably the epoxy. I just know I can stick my fingernail down between the bolster and the blade. Is this a non-issue? I think I may just put a drop of oil down there and use it. Thanks for the tips.:thumbup:
 
I don't really think it's much of an issue. Honestly, I see little practical use for a bolster other than covering the unsightly juncture of a hidden tang and handle. On a chiruwa (full size) tang, I can't imagine it does much of anything. Jay once mentioned the non-bolster chiruwa khuks were theoretically stronger. This makes sense to me, as there are no ledges or shelves to create weak/stress points. From my limited knowledge, it seems the first chiruwa handled khuk designed for widespread use was the British issue Mk. II (I could be totally wrong on this and would love to hear from Spiral/Berk/others). The Mk. II had a welded steel bolster, which is much stronger than the decorative sheet metal bolsters usually seen. Again, other than offering a little ding protection to the handle material, it might not affect the khuk if the bolster fell off. From what I’ve read, underneath you’ll likely only find laha and a few wads of Nepali newspaper:). Of course, this is all just in my limited knowledge. Take care.
 
Same shrinkage has happened to a few of my horn handles. I sealed the bolster gaps with clear 2 ton epoxy. I sanded down the pins. The tang was gonna be too much filing for me, so I put a small bead of the clear 2 ton epoxy on each side of the tang, top and bottom of the handle. After it dried, I sanded the beads smooth with the tang and the horn. I ended up sanding the whole handle to give it the same look. Two of my Bura BDCs I've had for over 4 years. Extreme users, chopping, batonning, digging, food prep. They are my favorite camp knives.
 
Gteetings,

If the shrinkage gets worse then send the knife back to HI and I will send the replacement.
We want our HI cusotmer to be 100% happy with their purchase.
 
Yangdu said:
Gteetings,

If the shrinkage gets worse then send the knife back to HI and I will send the replacement.
We want our HI cusotmer to be 100% happy with their purchase.
Click to expand...

Thanks but I like it too much for you to take it from me. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top