Both blades arrived today. Hooray for using USPS again!
First off, the Chainpuri. This blade is absolutely amazing. 18.5" long and right at 15 ounces on my postage scale. Despite the light weight and the fully 3/16" thick brass plate Sgt. Khadka used for a pommel, it has a very aggressive balance 3.5" ahead of the bolster. Some people refer to a forward balance as "aggressive," but this one has an actually, willfully, aggressive balance. Everyone who's held this knife has had one thing to say; "WOW!" It literally feels like it wants to cut something.
And despite the incredibly light weight, the thickness at the spine lets you know it's a real khukuri. 0.333" at the bolster, slight taper down to .303" at the bend, then a very slow curving taper, almost like a looooong appleseed, to the tip. It's very close to 1/4" thick halfway between the tip and the "corner" of the spine. The edge profile is amazingly thin, about 0.167" thick at the sweet spot, just before the slight fuller. Slightly convex, basically a perfect appleseed shape plus the fuller.
This is also my first HI blade which would easily push-cut paper right out of the scabbard. The tip is amazingly acute and dirklike, compared to the slightly rounded tips on many of the woodcutting-oriented Khuks. It's obvious that the Sergeant made this blade for one purpose, and one purpose only; making a person or animal (even a yeti!) stop what they're doing immediately.
I forget who scored the second Sgt. Khadka Chainpuri, but you're in for a real treat! I can guarantee that yours will make you want to raise it over your head and scream "AYO GHORKALI!!!!!"
I wish I had one of the original Kumar Kobras that was forged out of a file, to compare to. That would be a very interesting comparison, considering how highly Kumar was spoken of when he still worked at HI.
Edit: I just chopped the triangle-tube it came in. Just a flick-of-the-wrist sort of chop. It went 3/4 of the way through! Wow! The same force of blow with my 15" Siru only cuts about 1" in...
Second, my special ordered Dukti sword, which looks to have been made by Bura. Initials La Ba, crescent moon mark, I don't know who else it could be.
Interestingly, the balance is much farther forward than I would have thought, an entire 6" ahead of the guard, compared to my short Tibetan (with a more Uddha-like blade) that balances 4.5" ahead, and my Giant Chitlangi which balances 3.5" ahead. Despite that, the fact that it weighs only 28.5 ounces means that it's not slow or unweildy by any standards. The central fuller also makes it make a rather loud noise, nearly a whistle, when swung properly.
One unusual thing I notice is that this blade actually has a reverse distal taper! It starts out at 0.204" thick at the ricasso, then very uniformly thickens to 0.255" just before the fuller ends. I've never seen a sword do that. I think that actually makes some sense for a primarily stabbing blade, though; having the thickest part first means there may be less resistance when pulling the blade out after a thrust. It definitely works that way with cardboard boxes, anyway. It stabs in very easily, and glides back out, while the short Tibetan, despite having a more acute tip, drags a lot both ways.
And the carving of the dragon is perfect, as can be expected.
The only imperfection on the blade at all is that one of the edges was ground a little wonky right above where the fuller ends, on one side. The good news is, it wasn't ground enough, so it should be very easy to correct with a file (it's easy to take metal away, not so easy to put it back). It also doesn't affect function of the blade in any way at all, purely cosmetic, and an easy fix.
Pics on both are forthcoming!
Well, poop. This was the best pic I could get, with sun having set, and the lighting in here.
And the tip of the Dukti, which is just the tiniest bit off, you can see how the "line" goes off to the left.
Might not be as easy a fix as I'd thought, as I remembered "oh yeah, this is a Bura heat treat" while I was trying to knock the burrs off with sandpaper. The steel on this sword is hard.
First off, the Chainpuri. This blade is absolutely amazing. 18.5" long and right at 15 ounces on my postage scale. Despite the light weight and the fully 3/16" thick brass plate Sgt. Khadka used for a pommel, it has a very aggressive balance 3.5" ahead of the bolster. Some people refer to a forward balance as "aggressive," but this one has an actually, willfully, aggressive balance. Everyone who's held this knife has had one thing to say; "WOW!" It literally feels like it wants to cut something.
And despite the incredibly light weight, the thickness at the spine lets you know it's a real khukuri. 0.333" at the bolster, slight taper down to .303" at the bend, then a very slow curving taper, almost like a looooong appleseed, to the tip. It's very close to 1/4" thick halfway between the tip and the "corner" of the spine. The edge profile is amazingly thin, about 0.167" thick at the sweet spot, just before the slight fuller. Slightly convex, basically a perfect appleseed shape plus the fuller.
This is also my first HI blade which would easily push-cut paper right out of the scabbard. The tip is amazingly acute and dirklike, compared to the slightly rounded tips on many of the woodcutting-oriented Khuks. It's obvious that the Sergeant made this blade for one purpose, and one purpose only; making a person or animal (even a yeti!) stop what they're doing immediately.
I forget who scored the second Sgt. Khadka Chainpuri, but you're in for a real treat! I can guarantee that yours will make you want to raise it over your head and scream "AYO GHORKALI!!!!!"
I wish I had one of the original Kumar Kobras that was forged out of a file, to compare to. That would be a very interesting comparison, considering how highly Kumar was spoken of when he still worked at HI.
Edit: I just chopped the triangle-tube it came in. Just a flick-of-the-wrist sort of chop. It went 3/4 of the way through! Wow! The same force of blow with my 15" Siru only cuts about 1" in...
Second, my special ordered Dukti sword, which looks to have been made by Bura. Initials La Ba, crescent moon mark, I don't know who else it could be.
Interestingly, the balance is much farther forward than I would have thought, an entire 6" ahead of the guard, compared to my short Tibetan (with a more Uddha-like blade) that balances 4.5" ahead, and my Giant Chitlangi which balances 3.5" ahead. Despite that, the fact that it weighs only 28.5 ounces means that it's not slow or unweildy by any standards. The central fuller also makes it make a rather loud noise, nearly a whistle, when swung properly.
One unusual thing I notice is that this blade actually has a reverse distal taper! It starts out at 0.204" thick at the ricasso, then very uniformly thickens to 0.255" just before the fuller ends. I've never seen a sword do that. I think that actually makes some sense for a primarily stabbing blade, though; having the thickest part first means there may be less resistance when pulling the blade out after a thrust. It definitely works that way with cardboard boxes, anyway. It stabs in very easily, and glides back out, while the short Tibetan, despite having a more acute tip, drags a lot both ways.
And the carving of the dragon is perfect, as can be expected.
The only imperfection on the blade at all is that one of the edges was ground a little wonky right above where the fuller ends, on one side. The good news is, it wasn't ground enough, so it should be very easy to correct with a file (it's easy to take metal away, not so easy to put it back). It also doesn't affect function of the blade in any way at all, purely cosmetic, and an easy fix.
Pics on both are forthcoming!
Well, poop. This was the best pic I could get, with sun having set, and the lighting in here.
And the tip of the Dukti, which is just the tiniest bit off, you can see how the "line" goes off to the left.
Might not be as easy a fix as I'd thought, as I remembered "oh yeah, this is a Bura heat treat" while I was trying to knock the burrs off with sandpaper. The steel on this sword is hard.
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