Sharpening a Kurki blade?

LECTER

LECTER

Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Messages
1,146
Howdy all, first post and I'm sure it's a repost but since the "Search" function isn't working for me I need to ask the question.

Just bought myself this style of knife for the garden and camping but it's really not that sharp.

If anyone has an idea, I thank you in advance! :)
 
Fastest way: get yourself a 1" x 30" sander w/ 120 grit belts and a leather strop w/ polish.
 
If I remember correctly a Kurki have 2 different edge angles – but I do not know the angles – or if you are interested to have the correct angles on the knife. If you are, try to find this angles. This because that the knife probably work best in this angles – they are there for a reason.

Email the Ghurkha regiment in England and ask, I think you will get an answer. They still use them at a daily basis.

The edge is not straight so they are a little more difficult to sharpen then a normal knife are, + the part close to the handle is slightly recurved. Use sharpeners who is not so wide and sharpen the Kurki by freehand if you do not have a beltsandler.

Thomas
 
EdgePal said:
If I remember correctly a Kurki have 2 different edge angles – but I do not know the angles – or if you are interested to have the correct angles on the knife. If you are, try to find this angles. This because that the knife probably work best in this angles – they are there for a reason.

Email the Ghurkha regiment in England and ask, I think you will get an answer. They still use them at a daily basis.

The edge is not straight so they are a little more difficult to sharpen then a normal knife are, + the part close to the handle is slightly recurved. Use sharpeners who is not so wide and sharpen the Kurki by freehand if you do not have a beltsandler.

Thomas
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That's a great idea, I'll try to get in touch with them! :)
 
Hey there Lecter! Welcome to the forum.

What brand of khukri do you have? More importantly is it a traditional khuk or one of the ones by Cold Steel or Ka Bar?

Most of the traditional khuks that I've seen have a convex edge. I don't really know about the modern versions, but they should work well with a convex edge too if you wanted to re-profile one.

Okay, down to business. . . This is my preferred method of sharpening my 2 khuks, and just about anything else with a convex edge. Find yourself an old foam rubber mouse pad or go to the store and pick up a cheap new one. Next get yourself a variety of grits of sand paper starting at about 400 and up to 1000. Now attach the sand paper to the mouse pad - I use little loops of tape so I can pull it off and attach a new piece easily but spray glue works too. Now you can lay the mouse pad with the sand paper on your leg and use a stropping motion - blade edge trailing - with the khuk to sharpen it. The mouse pad has just about the right amount of "give" to it to round the edge into a nice convex shape, and by laying it on your leg you get a good curve to sharpen the recurved portion of the blade. You'll probably need to experiment a bit with the angle that you hold the blade and the amount of pressure you use to get ti just right. Too high of an angle and/or too much pressure will round off the cutting edge too much while too low of an angle or not enough pressure will just sand the sides of the blade without actually touching the cutting edge. Work your way up through the various grits of sand paper 'till you get the kind of edge you want. For a utility edge mainly for chopping you may be fine just using the 400 grit. For a finer edge just keep on going up. You can take it to a mirror polish if you want to be able to split hairs with it. You can put a convex edge on just about anything with this method. I'd just leave the mouse pad on a table or board though if you don't have a re-curve to sharpen like on a khukri.

Hope this helps out. You might want to take a look at the Himalayan Imports forum in the manufacturer's forums section on the main page of Bladeforums. That's where I first read about this sharpening technique.
 
Salamander, what a great and informative post. I have a Cold Steel Khukri that is a pain in my @#$ to sharpen. Gonna give your method a try, Thanks for the info.
 
An axe used to cut trees has a convex edge.
If the edge it to much convex, the axe do not go in to the wood, it just bounce on the tree. If the edge is to little convex the axe go in to the tree and stays there and sometimes it is a hell to get it out. If the axe have the correct convex edge a tree felling axe shall have, the axe go in to the wood and then it bounce out again so that you can keep working with felling this tree.

Why did I write this?

A new guy, Lecter, seeks advice about his Khurki knife. Everybody seams to tell him what tools he shall use to sharpen it – and it was many different tools, what shall a new guy think about us all?

Is it something wrong with me?
Shall we not try to give advice about sharpening angles, how to use this very special type of knife in the correct way with the correct sharpening angle so he can use it in the correct way as it was designed?

Now he knows the tools he can use to sharpen it, sanders, files, sharpeners and mouse pads – did he really get something out of those advices? Or did he get more confused?

Thomas
 
In my experience, it is somewhat difficult to strop a large khuk.

If the blade is quite dull, I do use a belt sander first. Then I use a big butcher's steel to bring up a sharp edge.

Khuk steel is usually fairly soft, so easily sharpened. You don't want a real thin edge as khuks are choppers and need steel behind the edge for support, so a super sharp, thin edge isn't necessary or desired.

It's kinda like sharpening an axe or a hatchet. It needs to chop, not split hairs.

Andy
 
Beroya said:
Salamander, what a great and informative post. I have a Cold Steel Khukri that is a pain in my @#$ to sharpen. Gonna give your method a try, Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...


Glad to be able to help out. It's really not my method though. . . as I said I read about it here on bladeforums myself but I don't remember the member's name to give proper credit.

EdgePal, if Lecter lets us know exactly what kind of khuk he has we may be able to give him some more specific information. Sharpening a 1/2 inch thick CAK from Himalayan Imports is going to require a bit different technique and angle than a 1/8 inch thick Cold Steel kukri machete.
 
while both of these sharpeners will get the knife sharp it will also destroy the edge angles and remove lots of metal. If a simple one step sharpener is what your looking for I would suggest a diamond oval rod, less metal removed, better edge applied.
 
That is how machetes are sharpened. A file is harder to take with you than a Sharpmaker, mouse pad, tape, sandpaper, etc?
Come on! You guys constantly amaze me!
"Not practical." Interesting.
 
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