Refinishing Karda & Chakma

[Outdoors]

I've been wanting to see how the karda and chakma that came with my horn handle WWII would look if finished.

The horn and steel are roughly finished, with a slight flaw in the karda handle - sort of a long, low area with a slightly lighter color.

Here's where the refinishing stands to date:

Handle:
filled the low area with black 2 part epoxy.
sanded the area flush with 200 grit paper.
did a second coat of epoxy to fill the small areas.
progessive sanding with 200 grit, 400 grit and 00000 steel wool.
Still need to put the final polish on the handle.
total time - maybe an hour, not including drying time.

Blade:
started with 200 grit paper and sanded for about 15 to 20 minutes per side. this removed the deep scratches. I'm planning on finishing with progressively higher grit papers to get a finish similar to the Khuk itself.

That's about as far as I've gotten, but the karda already looks much better. Any ideas are welcome!

Patrick

 

[Lt. Dan]

Hello Patrick

Running the grits is one way to do it. Another is to use a cloth wheel and buffing compounds. A little muslin wheel on the Dremel and the red jeweller's rouge works wonders, but do take special care NOT TO LET IT GET TOO HOT, 'cuz the horn will burn.

In case you haven't heard, applying Hooflex before and during the dry seasons will keep horn from cracking. I'd hate that to happen after the work you put into it.

Keep us updated, and hope it comes out to suit you....Dan

 

[Craig Gottlieb]

I've just used my polishing wheel for most re-finishing tasks. I find I can take a khukuri that has hit a bunch of rocks (and thus has scratches on the blade) and polish it right out with a scotch brite wheel. I finish it off with the soft wheel, and it's as good as new. The "hand" approach is good, though, if you don't have a wheel, or want to go the traditional route (even though they use a wheel for polishing, albeit a hand-made one!

).

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor

 

[Outdoors]

Thanks guys,
unfortunately a grinding wheel is far down on the "tools to be acquired" list. My wife has this crazy idea that I should buy tools to fix the house first, and hobby tools second. Go figure! I do have a dremel though, so I'll be looking for some rouge this weekend.

And welcome back, Craig!
Patrick

 

[Outdoors]

Here's an update.

I haven't had time to do any more work on the blades, but here's what I did to the horn handles on my blem Cheetlang and it's karda. After "working the grits" up to 600, I finished up with some 5 ought (00000) steel wool and crocus cloth (I have no idea what the grit is). The Dremel and rouge didn't produce the sort of blindingly bright finish I was trying for

, so I thought I'd try something different.

I buffed the handles by hand, using flitz metal polish and a rag. ACE hardware didn't have the paste, so I used the liquid. Now it was pretty late when I finished up, but I think the repaired areas match the original buffed finish quite well.

The only negative is that the metal polish smells surprisingly like car wax..... Hmmm. I wonder if I still have that bottle of turtle wax from when my ford was new ...

Anyway, as I have a few other Karda/Chakmas to refinish, I'll update this thread as I try other combinations.

Patrick T.