Rusty's collection sale on exchange

I just got that 20" Chainpuri in picture #4. I really like the look of it, even if it is not HI. It has a beautiful handle on it, and the blade has a nice shape. It will be a great khuk to remember Rusty with. It looks kick-arse. :D

I just found out from Gin that that Chainpuri IS old shop HI! Even cooler! :D :cool:
 
Azis said:
Rustys’ small bayonet arrived to day. I normally don’t collect these but wanted to help out. But this knife turned out to be pretty good. The 9” dagger blade is sharp well cared for, the metal scabbard has no dents or scratches and the handle is great condition. This is a very rugged piece so I will polish it up.
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Azis if I'm not mistaken that bayonet is the one Rusty had long dreamed of making into a real Scottish Dirk.
I haven't ever seen any of Rusty's woodwork up close but I think he was quite good with the woodwork and handle replacement in spite of his saying he wasn't skilled, but then Rusty could've been completely honest and had no skill at all.:rolleyes:

However I have learned that great care and a lot of patience makes up a great deal for skill and knowledge.
May be that Rusty took me up on that belief, but may be not as well.
I'd like to know from some of the guys who got some stuff Rusty modified.
I do know that a lot of the khuk handles were too large for Rusty.
 
I have my very first AK Bowie and I must confess I'm wondering what in heck you do with it. I'm thinking a game of HI Lawn Darts could be played with these.

I'll always keep mine- it was Rusty's. As for modifications- it has the handle rounded, which was a fairly standard mod for an AK Bowie.



munk
 
If there were more than a couple of HI Hasiya around, I'd let you know if this one was modified...

Wait...with one exception(I think), they are all different...all 4 or 5 that I know of anyway.

I'd guess these things are as rare as a Falcatta.

BTW, my wood/silver scabbard Falcatta, the Hasiya and the fancy carved and engraved WWII Bill liked so well are all Sanu. Did Sanu specialize in the offbeat ones?

.
 
YVSA....that's not a bad idea at all I like dirks and the blade would work right. Now if only there were a knife maker on the forum......
 
Dont know about off beat but at one time Bill called Sanu heir apparent to the Royal Kami.



munk
 
munk said:
Dont know about off beat but at one time Bill called Sanu heir apparent to the Royal Kami.
munk
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These are all masterpieces...there is *no* doubt of that.

I think the recent batch of Combat Follies is going to be considered the same in our future though...it's nice that we don't have to deal with "well, they used to..." when it comes to HI.
 
Rusty's 30" sirupati seems to be quite a unique one. That it was owned by Rusty is probably the least of factors.

First the specs. The siru is right at 30" OAL with a blade that is 22 7/16" x a hair under 2" x 5/8". That's not a typo, the blade is 5/8" THICK. :eek: My kitchen scale put the siru at just under 5lbs. Its heavy enough to realign a back alright; it could also misalign one if you swing it the wrong way. The blade is marked with the Star of David, and considering the age and thickness of the khuk I'd bet this is an example of Sher's earlier work for HI. I'd also bet that Gin is glad she didn't have to heft this one back with her. ;) The blade feels like its sharp enough to shave hair. I say "feels" because I'm not brave enough to test something this heavy on my bare arms.

The blade is unique for a siru. It has a closed cho and the sword of Shiva is composed of a straight line with several half circles below it; in turn there are smaller half circles between the larger ones.

The handle is horn, which IMHO would seem to be a rarity for khuks in this length. The main ring has some superglue on it, apparently to prevent cracking from when it was filed down. The handle appears to have been roughened for extra grip. I'd call this a neccesity as proper control of a khuk this size is critical. The handle is a nice diameter for me and is just big enough for two hands.

The scabbard places the siru as an older model in its own right. It has no sarki tooling and most telling, a presuperfrog. By Birghorka standards, its thin and flimsy. Nonetheless, the scabbard has held up well save for a slight tear a few inches from the chape.

The karda and chakma are impressive, the karda being about 7 1/4" OA, the chakma 7 3/4". The chakma's blade is noticeably narrower than the kardas, making it seem longer than it really is. The karda has a good sized crack in its handle.

Overall this is a very impressive khuk. If I can bring just one khuk to the next Khonvention, this will be it. Besides once belonging to Rusty, this one is valuable in that its an older style HI that is a prime example of the kami philosphy of thick blades lasting forever and not breaking. Tear it up, Nasty? Sorry, I'm not up to that challenge. Now tearing something up WITH it I can do... :D

Boy, this one sure got me talking.

Bob
 
hehehe...typo...I meant to say tear stuff up up with it.

Nice report...it's good to see folks' impressions on these. That thing will be serious competition for my Falcatta and old GRS in our next chop-off!

.
 
Star is Kumar.

I'm having trouble placing my AK Bowie. The scabbard is the old tooled one, but that's assuming this AK bowie originally went with it. I think Rusty had two AK bowies. The sign is the rising (or setting sun) Pre 2000 that's supposed to be Kesar. Well, this could be a Kesar, but the lines sure are defined and very very well done.

A great example of the old AK Bowie- deep fullers, and weight at 27 0z or so.

Sill think we could have a good round of lawn darts with these things.

munk
 
I take it that the star was originally Kumar's then. I first thought that the star was Kesar's mark for some reason but my memory on the kami marks is rusty (no pun intended). Kumar tended to make light weighted longer khuks (the kobra) but if he wanted to prove something to his brother Sher at the time... ;)

Bob
 
I think Kesar had the rising sun first, after 2002, Kumar took it over and added his initials.

Old hands, please weigh in.

We really *do* need to do an updated and correct marks table. I know Brian was looking at doing it at one point...

.
 
Noah Zark said:
. . . The 12" Villager Siru is a user, and that's what I was looking for. Although the description of this knife made no mention of a serious split in the horn handle, no matter. It could have happened in transit, looks somewhat fresh. I first thought it may have been the 12" Siru by Amtrak with the cracked handle, but it's got Bura's marks. Anyhow, that what black epoxy is for, and she'll be good as new, maybe better by this time next week. It will become my "car khuk" as it fits between seat and console quite unobtrusively . . .
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UPDATE: Rusty's 12" Bura Siru all better now.

I bought some black Devcon and went to work Friday night. IMO, the handle cracked in shipping. Looking at it under magnification using an NHM (Noah-Held Magnifier) the split is brand-new. No dust, dirt, critters, etc. I forced the Devcon into the split using toothpicks, dental tools, and a small screwdriver, built up a nice ridge of the epoxy on top of the split and let it cure until last night. Went to work with a Dremel sanding drum and some small rifflers and the repair is quite unobtrusive. There's a whitish line somewhat adjacent to the split, maybe 3/8" away and the eye is drawn to that. You have to look for the epoxy line, and it is the same matte finish as the horn. The repair is just to the right of centerline:

200561284210_12Siru.jpg


I smoothed up the sanding with some 220 and 320 Si Carbide paper wet with some 90% lanolin leather care product and it came out a matte charcoal black, keeping the Villager look and the non-slip feel that I was going for.

This Devcon product is the schitz. Cat no. S6/62345 "Plastic Steel Epoxy"

The leather care product is "Leather CPR" by Farnham Horse Products, product #3005364. I've used it on both leather goods and bone/horn handles with good success.

The Outback is now armed. ;)

Noah
 
Nasty said:
I think Kesar had the rising sun first, after 2002, Kumar took it over and added his initials.

Old hands, please weigh in.

We really *do* need to do an updated and correct marks table. I know Brian was looking at doing it at one point...

.
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It may have been at one time that Kumar had another symbol than the Star of David, but if so I don't recall when that may have been, and my understanding was that Kumar had it from the beginning unlike some of the other kamis...Kumar has had the Star of David as long as I can recall but then everyone knows how my memory is.;) :grumpy: :) I do know that Kumar has had the Star of David for a long, long, time now.:rolleyes: :p ;)

Just happened to think I had what I think was the last kami mark thread saved.
HERE it is although the marks have disappeared. But if y'all will notice it's Raggie that's pretty much the expert on them.:D ;) :D

Maybe we need a new thread on the Kami Marks to bring it up to date? :confused:
 
I think Nasty meant to say Sher had the rising sun after 2002. Kesar got the flag. Then Kesar went away.


munk
 
I remember it clearly because James Mattis had Kumar specifically making the first set of Kumar Kardas for Chai Cutlery. Being Jewish, Mr. Mattis thought it would be appropriate to have Kumar as the maker.
 
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