Safety first for Tourists?

Nasty

Nasty

Chief Cook & Bottle Wash
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
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Only had a few minutes tonight, but took the tourist model out back and gave it a few whacks for the safety test...the handle immediately loosened...got about 1/8" of rotation on it just from that. :eek:

Tried a few chops with it with pitiful results (you can barely see the cuts on the wood in the pics)...I guess they don't want the tourists cutting themselves. :yawn:

I think the most material moved was not wood, but rather black crud off the handle onto my hands... :barf:

More tomorrow...gonna put an edge on it and see what happens. :footinmou


poor pics dumped in a directory, click on each image name to view
 
Nasty said:
More tomorrow...gonna put an edge on it and see what happens. :footinmou
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Scared me there for a moment Uwinv!:eek:
Not surprising at all but imagine what it would do to a human being just as it is! A knife doesn't have to be super sharp nor super good to really hurt or kill someone with it.
 
Whoa!!
The Tourist model tested is *not* HI, right? I've never seen an HI K that ornate. :eek:
 
I'll be careful Edutsi...I promise!

Semp...got it from Uncle for the cost of postage. Don't know how he got it, but agreed to cover postage in exchange for the honor of destroying it. We were curious to see just what such a beastie would do and what it looks like when it comes apart.

Interestingly so far, while it didn't cut (it came as dull as a worn out rock), it also didn't deform, bend or break. I'm pretty sure the handle will soon part company from the blade...but the blade may hold a surprise or two for us. Who knows? It may be a decent enough blade that just needs a proper handle???
 
Wow, Nasty, you've got a lot more ummm... thingies than I do to try chopping with something like that. Be careful.
 
I was just thinking about that kuk and was going to post asking if you did a detruction test yet... that sheath looks worth at least the $10 bucks, actually I think it apears sorta cool...
 
:-) Coincidentally, the ornate scabbard is a pretty good fit for that antique bone handled Khuk I got in the deal with Ferrous a couple of weeks ago. :-)

I certainly won't be testing the scabbard to destruction!

Added link to directory with bone pics
 
Nasty said:
:-) Coincidentally, the ornate scabbard is a pretty good fit for that antique bone handled Khuk I got in the deal with Ferrous a couple of weeks ago. :-)
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Now if that ain't a kick in the ass in a good way I don't know what is.:)
And that scabbard at least looks decent enough. How well made is it Uwinv?
 
Serviceable at least Edutsi...wood on the inside, buff on the outside.

Looks like only the button heads or whatever they are, the star and the crossed Khuks are glued on while the rest are brads. The brass wrap at the top is nailed in place and the frog is about the same as the old style ones but also nailed in place (also has the nail hanging loop). Standard brass chape. The karda and chakma loops are thin black plastic instead of leather, but what the heck? I've already replaced the seriously POS joke K&C anyway with decent cast off polished horn ones. It's tightly sewn up the back.

I think with a bit of TLC, brass polish and shoe polish it'll look pretty good. The best thing is the fit for this mismatched Khuk!
 
Okay...as promised, more today.

I first took the beauty (ahem) to the garage and dug out my little files. Ferrous, you'd love this...dead soft. It took *no* pressure to make the file hang and start cutting. If anything, I'd say it had been annealed as even straight up spring steel is harder than this. :barf:

I then put an edge on it (for what that was going to be worth). It took no effort to get paper slicing sharp, but I think slicing paper dulled it! When I sharpen a good differentially hardened (HI) knife, I actually walk the wire down the hard areas...soft steel goes to burr quickly, the hardened areas take more effort. This thing went full wire on the first pass on my Delta (I think I heard the Delta grumbling as I did this). :mad:

I then took it out back to defend myself and build a cabin out of some of the scraps that were left over from MWKK04. No one had any trouble making kindling out of this stuff after Dan showed us how to properly sharpen our Khuks (control measure?) :rolleyes:

I took a couple of gentle (as in drop the blade) swipes at the wood and sure enough, chips flew...so it *was* sharp.I felt a bit more looseness than that reported yesterday and looked to see than I now had not only rotational looseness, but the grip would slip back and forth about 3/16". :grumpy:

Three more whacks, and felt the blade skid in the cut (by the way, it was getting harder each cut to make any progress) and saw that the little diamond keeper had taken off to return to Nepal (or wherever this one came from) as it was nowhere in sight (yes Roadrunner, I had my safety goggles on!). :cool:

Turning away to a safer angle, I took a couple of more tentative chops and felt it go (away). There I was with nothing but the heavy metal (?) handle. It felt like getting into a gunfight, reaching for your piece and coming back with nothing but your d*** in your hand. :eek:

No harm, no foul...took a look into the end of the handle and saw nothing but a vast chasm...the only stuff holding this POS together was the whimpy diamond keeper :rolleyes: and a pencil point thin line of something around the top that only served to conceal the junction. :confused:

Being done "chopping" at this point, I looked at the edge I had taken to paper slicing perfection... :D

It was rolled, dented, collapsed, dull and...um...I've run out of words to describe it, but you get the idea! At this point, all I can think to do with it is to fill the chasm with some JB Weld, peening off the tang to eliminate and sharp spots ;) and then carefully rounding off the place formerly known as an edge so that when the grandkids want to "play" with one of the ole man's shiney knives, it will be safe for them to handle.

So there you have my field test folks...what'cha think?
 
I'd say the next step is to clean it up, mount that decorative handle, and put it on the shelf, it's d-o-n-e!

Until I heard it was meant for a destructive test, I was like "whadja do dat fer? Ye got a bucket o' khuks!"

Jsut don't whap anything with the old retired bone handled one, although it and its dark-handled counterpart still look up to the task after all these (150?) years!

Keith
 
Nasty said:
So there you have my field test folks...what'cha think?
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There was never any doubt in my mind that it would wind up any other way.:D
 
I've never seen an HI K that ornate.

During the early years of shop 1, HI use to make khukuries that were every bit as ornate as Nasty's K. Only their stuff featured real workmanship and materials and a blade that was every bit as functional as the present line (if not more so since they had fully convex edges). Perhaps Bill can volunteer a few photos of those earlier knives.

On the negative side, those knives were relatively expensive. There was a 15 AK around 1996 with a beautifully carved finger grooved bone handle, engraved blade, and decorated leather scabbard (looked a little like Nasty's K) that was going for around $500.00. I don't have one; but, if I did you would have to cut a deal with my widow to get it.:D

n2s
 
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