repair question

[nagod]

got my cak with shrunken horn handle from 6/1 dotd today.love it,but wondered if the loose bolster and gaps between tang and handle should be fixed before using or what.really want to whack wood but dont want to make problems worse or trash handle..thanks

 

[Return of the J.D.]

If it were mine, I'd probably get some masking tape, epoxy, and a zip-lock bag. FIRST, TAPE THE EDGE OF THE BLADE!! Cover one corner of the bag with tape, to stiffen it. Cut a tiny hole in the very corner. Put slow-drying epoxy, already mixed, in bag. Close bag. Use taped bag corner like a baker's frosting applicator to squeeze epoxy into every crevice you can around the bolster, and in the spaces between the handle scales and tang. Cover securely with plenty of tape. Once the epoxy is thoroughly dry, buff with a Dremel tool, finishing with green chromium dioxide buffing compound or maybe jeweler's rouge. After that, soak overnight in your favorite horn-preserving oil, like olive oil. Remove from oil, lay it somewhere where leaking oil won't cause a mess, and let it drain for a couple of days, turning it over now and then and rubbing off the excess oil. Meanwhile, be treating the easily-dries-out leather on the scabbard with some appropriate leather conditioner like mink oil and/or "Leather New", leaving it in a warm place and letting the warm oil soak in throughout the leather, applying more as the earlier applications soak in. You may need to re-epoxy in the little leather patches that keep the nails from scratching the handles of the karda and chakma.

 

[Yvsa]

Na are the handle slabs secure and tight? If so then it's usable or should be. How is the bolster loose and is the butt cap loose as well?
Shrunken horn is the biggest problem with Chiruwa handles and one of the reasons I don't care for them. Depending on how wide the gap is between the slabs and the handle depends on how you can fix it. If it's not very wide at all you may be able to get away with using some of the superglue in gel form.
If it's wider then you will want to get some epoxy in the cracks.
I don't know how old you are or how much experience you've had with cars but there are a couple of ways to get epoxy into the cracks.

One is to use the Devron 2 ton 30 minute setup glue and mix some charcoal dust in it after you have it mixed up and then drizzle the glue into the cracks using a toothpick or similar.


Two is to use the solid epoxy that you have to mix together like kid's clay until it's a solid color with no streaks and then putting some on your palm press it in like you would wheel bearing grease into a clean wheel bearing.

You can also buy yourself a *good* flat bastard file either 8" or 10" long and be sure to get a file handle for whichever one you buy.
After putting the file handle on the file you can then file the tang that's sticking out beyond the horn down until it's flat and no longer sharp.
Actually if it were me I would do that first and then epoxy the gaps between the slabs and the tang.

Some of the other folks here may have easier and better suggestions than I do.
I strongly dislike Chiruwa tangs.

 

[Wolf_1989]

How much shrinkage should be expected from horn?

 

[seaice]

When a "chitlangi" type of domed end cap is loose (that is, not sitting tight onto the wood on a rat-tail tang handle) but the handle itself is still secure, what's the best way to deal with the problem?

 

[nagod]

thanks..clamping handles seems to be taking care of very minor gaps between handle and tang..will epoxy bolster tighter and file tang..such minor shrinkage is almost not worth worrying about(fotunately pommel is tight)..will try to soak handle in hooflex to see if that swells handle any..thanks again

 

[Wolf_1989]

When a "chitlangi" type of domed end cap is loose (that is, not sitting tight onto the wood on a rat-tail tang handle) but the handle itself is still secure, what's the best way to deal with the problem?

I believe I read somewhere on the H.I. site that you hold the end cap over a candle until the laha inside the handle melts and flows back to the end cap, then let it cool & set.

 

[Dave Rishar]

I've used the flame-under-the-buttcap trick successfully on kages katnes in the past but I'm not sure that I'd trust it for a real chopper. For those, I'll clamp the blade firmly in a vise and give the tang a couple of good shots with a 3-lb. sledge to reset the pein. The generally solves the problem permanently.

As for the rest of the handle, glue what you can and don't worry too much about it. It will probably hold together. If it doesn't, you'll have an excellent excuse to rehandle it.