Shop #2 20" Sirupati, s/n 21

B

Bruce E

Joined
Dec 15, 1998
Messages
173
The Sirupati suffering from tight-scabbard syndrome arrived last Friday (2-day transit time between Reno and Seattle). The scabbard is loosening up since I put the blade to the position of max. tightness and let it sit for a day or two. I'm hoping it's the humidity, although there are two minor tears in the leather near the mouth of the scabbard.

Initial impressions (compared to a shop #1 15" AK):

Flats of blade nicely polished; the bevels forming the cutting edge have a patina of grind marks.

The "Sword Of Shiva" engraving along the spine has additional scrollwork, and some inlaid brass. In contrast, the AK engraving is a simple outine.

The serial number and (maker's?) initials are engraved on the blade with the dreaded "electric pencil" and looks, well, sorta cheesy. Hopefully Bill has been successful in getting the kami's to cease and desist in this practice.

The buttcap is not as well centered on the handle as on the AK. The tang seems to be fastened slightly differently as well. The diamond-shaped plate looks like it's been soldered to the tang instead of being peened ala AK. The "solder" fillet appears to be brass, so perhaps it was brazed.

These are all cosmetic differences, and I hope to try it out on some wood in the back yard in the next few days.
 
Many thanks for initial report, Bruce. I told Kami to throw the electric pencil away. My guess is the kamis thought it a wonderful new toy. They need to go back to the old fashioned way as you suggested.

Shop 2 is not quite up to the cosmetic perfection of shop 1 but they continue to improve each shipment. However, the plus side is I think you will find the blade to be of a bit better quality than your AK.

Keep us posted on performance and thanks once again.

Uncle Bill
 
We have a flowering plum tree that's trying to take over our back yard. A few minutes work with a pruning saw yielded up some media to try with the Sirupati. It effortlessly stripped off dozens of twigs with each stroke. 1-inch branches popped off with just a little bit of wrist-snap. 2-inch branches were nearly severed by one easy swing. I didn't try any hard swings because a) it wasn't necessary, and b) I don't have a chopping block to properly support the target.

It came as no surprise that the blade showed no damage, and held up at least as well as my AK. Admittedly, green fruitwood is not an extreme test medium, but it's what I hand on hand.

BTW- the temple bells I ordered sound great!
 
Hi Bruce:

The 20 inch Sirupati is probably one of the best brush knives there is and often overlooked in this area. It is light, quick, easy to hanldle and has good reach.

The bells are pure and so is the sound. Glad you like them.

Uncle Bill
 
While comparing the shop #1 AK with the shop #2 Sirupati, I noticed that the "HI" logos were different. I probably wouldn't have noticed if they weren't side by side, but the first character appears to be reversed. The first character on the AK looks sorta like an upside-down capital "U" with a squiggle on the lower-right; on the Sirupati the squiggle is on the lower-left. The second characters on both blades are aligned facing the same way.

[This message has been edited by Bruce E (edited 09 July 1999).]
 
The kamis in shop 2 are semi literate at the very best. I think there is only one who can read and write -- a little. And, I believe this is the reason for the variation.

Uncle Bill
 
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