Some questions.

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395

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Uncle Bill do you know what holds the handles on the Chakma and Karda? Is there anything besides the tang and buttcap holding on the handle of the Kuhkurie ?
Is the Buffalo horn filed down to fit the brass bolster and buttcap of the Kuhkurie or is each one made for its individual blade ?


I also wanted to let y'all know about something I have. Years ago I aquired a solid piece of "Carbide" about 1/4" X 8". I drilled a hole in a fancied up brass bar about 3/4" dia and 6" long. This makes an excellent Hard
smooth steel. It makes an excellent Karda. This material can be purchased at almost any machine tool supply house for those of you who might want to make one. I just had the time and material and machinery to fancy mine up at the time.


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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
 
Yvsa, it is Himalayan Epoxy that holds handle on -- karda, chakma, and khukuri. This is a concoction of tree gum, beeswax, and I don't know what else. The kamis bring it to a boil (about 250 degrees F, I'd guess) and it is poured into hole for tang and then the blade is put in place. The stuff sets up in seconds who the kamis have to move fast when doing this job. This is also used to set the bolster and buttcap and this is an especially tough job trying to set these with the boiling epoxy. One mistake and you have a very nasty burn on your hand and fingers.

Each bolster and buttcap are unique to the blade but the handle is filed down to fit them.

Remember, karda is the little knife, and chakma is the burnisher.

Uncle Bill
 
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Thanks Uncle Bill.
I am kinda like my old German G'G'grandfather who it is said that when he was learning english.Said.
"Damn,I chust learned to say yam (jam) and they changed it to yelly (jelly).
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Maybe if I can remember that knife and karda both begin with "K".
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I wondered if it wasn't the famous Himalayan Epoxy that held things together. I have a forge and an anvil over at my cousins.Now if I can ever get to where I can heat metal up again I mught have a go at another old car spring.
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I have to tell my cuz about the water temper too.He makes some great looking 'hawks out of truck frame material.I have two of them.One is a double edged beauty that is almost the size of a full axe.
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Excellent thrower !!

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
 
Hi Yvsa:

I remember because katne means cut and karda sounds a little like katne. Yangdu tells me that a decent translation for karda is simply miniature knife.

On his last visit here Kami rehandled a few khukuris and used standard US factory epoxy which he liked very much. The main advantage he found was it was much easier than handling the boiling stuff -- no burned hands or fingers. The main disadvantage was set up time. He felt the US epoxy held better than Himalayan so took back a supply with him.

Got a picture of the 'hawks?

Uncle Bill

 
Yvsa,

Does your cousin still make hawks? Does he sell them? If you have any pictures I'd be interested in seeing them. I'm in the market for a good throwing hawk for the Rendevous.

Uncle Bill, do you think the kamis could be persuaded to make some zone hardened tomahawk heads?

Mike
 
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Uncle Bill I will see what is available for a pic of the 'Hawks.If I can't find one we will take some more and I will send them with one of my orders. :


Hi Jaeger.
I haven't been able to talk him into selling any.His reasoning is that he does it for fun and if he made them to sell it wouldn't be fun anymore. Sorry.
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I hope he does some of these things later on.He could be famous at least locally in a very short time.
However,I do know of a place that sells good handforged 'Hawks and all kinds or Rendevous Regalia and accouterments (sp).
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I will send thier addy to you.I am not sure if it would be ok to post it as I am still rather new to this forum.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
 
OK, Yvsa. I think the pix would be interesting.

Mike, I am not sure if Kami and the kamis would tackle a hawk or not but I think they might. The kamis do make a hatchet which is called a bancharo as I recall (Sonam -- help! Is this the right word?) and it was a good one. I know nothing about tomahawks but to me that bancharo in the smaller size looked close enough -- might be able to modify the design leaning more toward a hawk and come up with something pretty good.

Uncle Bill
 
That sounds very interesting Uncle Bill.
I'd like to see a picture or two. Perhaps I could draw up a hawk head for you and snail mail it to you and you could check on the feasability/cost effectiveness of making some.

Thanks for the info Yvsa. I emailed them for a catalog. The web site is off line.

Mike
 
Can somebody clarify something for me? I have seen the chakma spelled "chakma" and "chakmak." I always thought chakma was the proper spelling? Any reason other than error for the extra 'K' in the latter spelling?
 
Is the bancharo thrown at all?

It seems odd to have hatchets in Nepal. I am trying to get rid of most of my hatchets. There are very few jobs, such as chopping roots in a confined space, that the hatchet can do better than the khukuri.

Will
 
Hi Will:

I agree with you. With a variety of khukuris always around I thought the bancharo was a duplication but I still saw them being used. The bancharos were village models -- ugly but tough.

Uncle Bill
 
Hatchets can do some things better than khukuris but they are fairly narrowly confined. Its mainly when you want a long cut/chop that is not very deep. Its rare that I want to do this. Some types of woodworking (making stuff, not cutting it down) is better suited for hatchets but I don't do much of that. I would be curious as to what they are doing in Nepal with hatchets instead of khukuris. They might just be a lot simpler to make that a decent khukuri and thus are more likely to be used for jobs that put excessive wear on the blade like chopping roots and such as Will mentioned.

-Cliff
 
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