Restoration project: petite old pattern welded khuk

J W Bensinger

J W Bensinger

Joined
Mar 26, 2009
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This arrived in the mail a few days ago:
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Didn't look like much, but cost me about the same as two pints of good ale, and that cho is fascinating.
After some elbow grease: peened the ding out of the edge, stabilized the horn and got the grinder marks out of the edge, and reetched it:
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I find the way the kami peened that failed lamination shut with the punch to be particularly cool. This thing has seen some use and that hasn't let go.
The whole knife is 15" OAL, 1/4" thick with some distal taper to it.
It's a little soft, but very sharp and with a grind profile like a barong.
Merry christmas y'all.
 
very nice kukri,wonder how old it is.it really cleaned up nice.the stories it could tell if that blade could talk..
 
Thanks y'all. The cho is what really caught my eye. I put together a clone blade(since i don't think this would stand up to much cutting) and the thin, high grind really bites deep. It's only ten ounces but this configuration hits HARD.
Ndog-i've been told it's twentieth century but I agree- it looks victorian to me too.
Like somebody left a longleaf in the dryer for too long.
 
J W Bensinger said:
I find the way the kami peened that failed lamination shut with the punch to be particularly cool. This thing has seen some use and that hasn't let go.
Click to expand...
I wonder if the peening was a secondary addition? It looks to regular to be punched by hand. Almost like electro engraver or vibro pen somehow? That would explain why one would think twentieth century. 1/4" is sweet! Think ill put my longleaf in the dryer!:D
 
Up close the punch marks are more irregular- my pics were taken with my phone so it doesnt show up well.
The pattern on the flaw is the same punch- I think he was trying to keep it from opening up more with use.
Seems to have worked- this khuk is too lean to be prying on anything with anyway.
The testdrive copy I forged is finished, and bites ridiculously deep into a 2x4...the little khuks are no joke...
 
My antique bhojpure has the same flaw yours does but the kami made no attempt to fix it. I wasn't sure if it was damage from use or just a flaw in the blade, but I guess it's a failed lamination too.
 
Just shows what you can get away with if you know your materials- I had two talwar-one plain laminated and one wootz- with big lap forgewelds smack in the middle of the blade. Not only had they seen use, but I cut with them too and they were rock solid. It was a little disconcerting visually though.
Been using the clone blade for a couple days now- the partial tang kicks the weight forward (since it's thin for a khuk) and gives it a lot more authority than you'd expect.image.jpg
 
Yeah, the bhojpure looked like it saw a lot of use too, I guess it was good enough for the task. I beat on that bhojpure pretty hard when I tested it after put a new handle on it, and it did bend at the delamination very slightly. I think it might eventually fail if you really stressed it.

That's incredible you have a wootz talwar. I won an auction for a talwar myself recently but it's a cheapo touristy one. I should have taken a closer look at the pics before I bid, but the price was right and my enthusiasm got the best of me. It should arrive today actually.
 
Blue- I HAD a wootz talwar... One of those "I don't need this and I need $$$ decisions... Oh well.
Both of them had really well executed arsenal edges, ground on by some unit armorer... I can't grind that evenly over 32"! Lol
Philllll- thanks! That's the first traditional bolster I've made-makes me appreciate the HI kamis even more. Those bolsters are tricky. I make knives for a living, but the only time I make traditional khuks is to relax-and to understand how old blades perform without breaking anything.
 
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