Shop 2 Khurkris

Jaeger

Jaeger

Joined
Feb 27, 1999
Messages
543

Uncle Bill,

I received my shop 2 BAS some time ago. It is a beautiful blade and seems to be just as well made as my shop 1 AK. I do have one question. The H.I. logo and the kami's signature appeared to have been applied with an electric pencil. This does not look good. Is this going to be SOP? I hope not! It really does detract from the otherwise exquisite workmanship.

Will the sheath shrink if I soak it in water and let it air dry? It doesn't hold the blade firmly in place. If you tip it upside down it will fall out. It's not a big deal as I am going to have some leather sheaths made up for my khurkris. (probably patterned after Cold Steel's sheaths)

I still haven't had the chance to put it to hard use yet. I've done some light brush cutting with it and it shears through light brush much better than my 15" AK. This is probably because it still has the orignal edge on it as opposed to my poor interpretation of an edge that the AK currently wears. Still can't raise that shaving edge, Cliff!

Mike
 
Mike, it should not be much of a problem to put a decent edge on the khukuri. I have handled 8 so far and they all behaved much the same. The extreme angles compared to most blades do require a different technique though.

Mine are usually of a fairly high polish, 600 DMT + 800 ceramic rod. Some of them have the occasional dent where it smacked off of a rock or something similar but otherwise they will shave or do other similar things like slice paper easily.

-Cliff
 
Hi Mike:

One of the problems with having electricity available -- too much of a good thing. One guy in the shop does all this marking and I think it may be because he is the only one who can write. You will be happy to learn that we have already complained about this and are trying to get it changed. We have also complained about the scabbards and are trying to get the new sarkis to do a better job. I think it will take six months to get everything running exactly as we want it.

Not helping matters is the fact that Kami is trapped in the Solu due to monsoon weather. Flights to and from Paphlu are being cancelled on a daily basis. If the weather doesn't break soon Kami will have to walk and bus it back to Kathmandu. Gelbu, his son, is running the shop but he is a young man and does not have the horsepower with the kamis that his Dad does.

If you get the edge to razor sharp please do not try to shave with the khukuri!

And many thanks for feedback on shop 2. Your evaluation agrees with the general concensus of all the feedback I have received which is: Quality good, tough, excellent blade, but not as sophisticated as shop 1.

I forgot. You might try an overnight soak of the scabbard in water, let it air dry, and see what happens. You'll have to weight the scabbard to keep it submerged.

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 23 June 1999).]
 
Thanks for the replies Cliff and Uncle Bill.

Don't worry, when I am finally able to get my AK properly sharpened I will have it nowhere near my head and neck!!!

I want to know how Cobalt twirls a 15" AK. I think I would probably either pierce or remove multiple body parts if I even attempted such a feat! Perhaps this is why we haven't heard from him in a while?

I just picked up "The Gurkhas" by Byron Farwell. It looks like an excellant read!

Mike
 
In some post I can't recall somebody was telling of seeing a Gurkha "twirl" his khukuri. Knowing Cobalt maybe he saw this and thought, "if he can do it I can do it."

Cobalt emailed me and told me he would be "away" for about six months. He did not say where he was going or what he would be doing but I got the impression he might be on his way to Kosovo with his Ang Khola. He was a very lively character in the forums and I miss his posts.

Uncle Bill
 
Well, if my 20 inch AK is less sophisticated than some others they much be just exquisite because I love mine and think it is very well done and beautiful. I can't imagine it being any better.

As far as the sheaths go mine is top notch and was actually pretty darn tight when i got it. It took a while for it to loosen up but even still the blade is nowhere near close to being able to just fall out if held upside down.

thanks and take care
collin
 


Hi Mike.
I have a couple of suggestions if you don't mind trying them.

1st. I bought a cheap EZE Lap at the local Wal-mart. Cliff says the DMT hones are much better,I agree and I am going to get me a couple of them later along with the Ceramic steel.
Anyway,this thing was cheap and handy. I broke it in on an old knife first because they cut really fast and rough when new.

I layed it on the edge and raised it up just so it wouldn't scratch the whole edge. I then rubbed it along the blade,careful to watch the fingers. It gradually cut into where it was about 1/16th to 3/32nds wide along that side and there was a burr all along the opposite side the whole length of the blade.

I then layed it on the other side and did it the same way. It didn't get quite as wide on this side before the burr came up all along the other side.

I then used the hone on one side and then the other with very light strokes to remove the burr. When I could no longer feel a burr on each side I put it on my fine ceramic sticks and "viola" I had that scary edge everyone talks about. It sliced paper easily and I finally got enough courage to try shaving with it along my arm. ( My skin is very thin from one of the meds I take.
smile.gif
) It literally popped the hair off.
I find it also chops a lot better now than it did when new for some reason.

2nd. If the soak doesn't work to tighten your scabbard you can do this. I did it to the 15" AK scabbard because it was a little loose here in Oklahoma where there is usually a lot of humidity.
I have a bunch of scrap leather left from old projects. I cut a piece of thin leather about 1/2" wide and 2" long and very carefully with some of the gel type super glue already on it used a pair of tweezers to place it exactly where I wanted it.
I then took a pencil and pressed it down and it was there. I had to trim it a little with a sharp wood chisel because it was a tad too thick. It worked well.I also put another piece on the other side. I tried the regular super glue and it didn't work and used some Weldbond ® I had. It took a little longer to dry.
If you should do this make sure that you haven't oiled the scabbard inside and give it ample drying time. I had to dig the 2nd. piece out of the bottom because I got in a hurry and that wasn't much fun!

I hope this helps you out. I used to be able to get a knife sharp,but it always took me a while. Since I have been reading here there is no longer
any problem with getting a nice sharp edge quickly. I have found paying attention to the angle was the key for me.

------------------


>>>>---¥vsa---->®
 
Concerning chopping with razor sharp edges. I have never had someone go back to duller ones after using one that was razor sharp. Most people think axes (or anything that chops) should not be made that sharp as it will become fragile. This is true for the junk stuff that is so common but it is not for a well tempered piece of steel. A good large knife, or axe or hatchet or whatever you want to use, will far outlast you on soft woods. You will get tired and want to take a break long before the tool gives out. Now is the perfect time to sit down take a rest and inspect the edge.

There are exceptions of course. If you are hacking on Ironwood or similar then yes the edge is going to blunt rather quickly but that will happen no matter what way you finish it as some of the hardwoods are really difficult to cut. They are very heavy and will sink in water. Then again on most of the small diameter stuff you can actually break them off faster/easier than you can chop them up. And if the tree is that large that you can't I would suggest finding softer wood. It will take far less time to find a suitable tree than hack through something like that.

One of the advantages of a really sharp edge is that it allows much better control and is much more efficient. The blade will not slip or roll upon contact and there is almost no chance of a glancing blow as you are assured of a secure bite. The latter is about the most dangerous thing that can happen and can result in a serious injury especially as you start to get fatigued and your reaction time is low.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 23 June 1999).]
 
Thanks for astute observations and good advice, Cliff. But I am still one of the renegades -- I don't keep my khukuris razor sharp unless I happen to get it there accidentally.

Uncle Bill
 
I just received my beautiful slender 20” Sirupati about a week a go. It’s just a great knife. The shape, the weight, the length ~ just very practical either for a tool, a weapon or for a decoration piece. However I think I saw the "H.I." logo in Devanagari is slightly different ~ so, I compared the "H.I." logo on my 20” Sirupati blade against the "H.I." logo on my 15” AK and 15” BAS blades ~ then only I realized that the character "H." is written differently ~ the portion at the right side of the character "H." which looks like a "q" was stamped on the left side of the character and looks like a "p" ! It is an equivalence to "kq" but written as "pk". I think that characters doesn't represent "H.I." anymore but "somethingelse. I.". Hope you can understand my explanation, Pakcik Bil.

Anyhow it is a small matter ~ I just wondering whether that "H.I." logo is stamped on the blade or is it engraved to the blade by one of the literate Kamis ? How actually the Kamis put that "H.I." logo on the blade ? I believe that my 20” Sirupati is from Shop # 1.


[This message has been edited by mohd (edited 24 June 1999).]
 
Hi Mohd:

Shop 1 has been putting the logo on for so long I hear they actually made a stamp and most of the time stamp the logo into the blade when it is hot.

At shop 2 they started marking the blades by using a scribe and then tried to use an electric pencil. I have asked them to go back to the scribe. Everybody likes this better.

My guess about the difference in the logo is that a kami who cannot read or write may have used a scribe to mark the blade. Most cannot read or write and sometimes what they put on the blades is not quite what we want.

In Nepali the letters HI are pronounced as "Hee" "EEE".

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 24 June 1999).]
 
Hi! I seem to have missed this when it was initially posted, and found it today thanks to Cliff linking to it in the "Sharpening" post. Mohd had asked about the differences in the HI logo initials between shop 1 and shop 2 khukuris, and since I can read Hindi and Nepali, I thought I might add to Uncle Bill's explanation.

As Uncle explained, the HI in Devnagri script (which is the same for Hindi and Nepali) reads as "HEE, EEE". I'll start with the second alphabet "EEE" - this is the squigly S-shaped initial with a curl above it. When it stands on its own, or when it's the first alphabet in the word, this is how it is written.

Now, when you combine it with another alphabet, the squigly-S is written as a straight line with a curl attaching it to its companion alphabet. In our case here, the "HEE" is actually a combination of two alphabets - "HUH" - the K or E shaped initial, and "EEE" - making the sound "HEE".

Now, when the "EEE" is placed before the "HUH" (as mohd explains, it looks like Pk - check your shop 1 khukuri), the word is spoken in a higher, sharper, quicker pitch than if the "EEE" is placed after "HUH" (kq - shop 2 khukuri), which is spoken in a lower, slower pitch. So, it is just a slight difference in spelling (frankly, I don't know which one is the correct one!), either way HEE is for Himalayan and EEE for Imports.

Hope I made sense there
smile.gif


- Sonam
 
Thanks, nephew. I did not explain that sentence structure in Hindi and Nepali is much different than English with the verb generally going last.

Example: I'm going to Kathmandu.

In Nepali: Kathmandu I'm going.

Things do get mixed up in translation. Just look at some of the orders I ask for and watch what I get!

Uncle Bill
 

Verbs up at end of sentance are piling?

I am told that not that long ago, word order didn't matter in English at all: "There I go" "I go there" "There go I" "Go I there" or even "Go there I" all meant the same thing. Every language has something wierd about it and they keep changing. People are much smarter than they get credit for, having to learn even ONE language, let alone two very different ones.

------------------
Jeff Paulsen


 
:
LOLOL.
Yep and then there is Cherokee with the same sentence structure.
To the store I am going
instead of.
I am going to the store.

I don't know about other languages,but the Cherokee divides this up into whethe you are speaking to one,or to two or tree,or to more than that.
It also gets complicated in genders to as well as posseives.

Edudu is grandfather.
Agidudo is "my" grandfather.

Like all languages I am told it is easier to learn if you live around it all the time.
Inflection also has a lot to do with it.
ama' is water.
a'ma is salt.
I hope I got those right.
smile.gif

When I was a baby I asked for water by saying "mah" It was close for sumeone jist learnin ta talk.
smile.gif
smile.gif


------------------


>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
Yvsa, I was shocked to see "mah" because that was my nickname for my Cherokee side grandmother. Called her that when I was a baby probably because it was all I could say and the nickname stuck. All my childhood pals called her "mah," too.

Ama in Nepali is mother.

Uncle Bill
 
Sonam - thank you for your additional and very clear explanation on how "H. I." written in Devanagari script and how it should be pronounce in Nepali @ Hindi - now I understand it.

Pakcik Bill & Jeff - I think mix up of words order happened every where around the globe - In Malaysia we have Indian (Urdu and Tamel) grammer, Chinese grammer, Arabic grammer and English grammer that all mixed up and blended in our Malaysian Langguage.

Yvsa and Pakcik Bill - ama' is water in Cherokee - but ma' also means water in Arabic. Ama means mother in Nepali - ama also means mother in Tamel - and mak means mother in Malay!

I guess babies from different races @ nationalities easier to communicate with each other using their "International Baby Langguage"!



[This message has been edited by mohd (edited 11 August 1999).]
 
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