Spiral.......help

A

aliloff

Joined
Jul 10, 2006
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Or anybody else for that matter….I would like your opinion on an AC Kukri, how old is it and and should I turn it into a user or keep it as is? It appears to be well used. But it looks like the handle is out of line but it feels good to me since I'm a southpaw.



Notice how the handle is out of line with the spine.



Here you can see the tang poking through the handle.

 
Nice looking kukri, it looks like the style Atlanta bracket as "Bhojpure" thats counts as a "perfect" scabbard as well, still with its original buttons & loops.

Intresting if that is the tang , its a very poor shape, i would hope its a bit of old shrapnel or some other damage though. If it is the tang it would explain the crack though.

Of all the Atlanta kukris these are the ones I am least sure about. If Nepali army, They could be c.1870 they could be WW1.

I have a suspician they may have been for Brit. Gurkhas rather than the Nepali army though, if that turned out to be correct I would say they are more likley c.1870- c.1900. {Victorian}Thats my personal opinion , but theres not much evidence about these ones.

What did you do bring the rosewood up like that? I assume it turned up black with dirt,cosmoline ,blood,sweat & tears? ;)

The crack it its handle would make me say I wouldnt rely on it for chopping trees,{particularily if that is the tang.} I am sure it would still manage a few more humans though or spliiting thin pine board kindling or other light duties..

I wouldnt do any heavy chores with it unless your happy to re handle it if & when neccasary?

It probably has a longer temper zone compared to modern kukris but will be tempered just shy of file hardness, to enable the soldiers of yesteryear to sharpen it in the Field.


Spiral
 
the handle i soaked and scrubbed with mineral spirits and steel wool, letting it dry overnight and repeating the process until i could see the wood grain again. It's a long process took about two weeks. then sanded smooth and refinished with tung oil. it told me it wanted to look good again.
 
If it were me and I wanted to use it I would pin the handle to the tang first or make a new handle for it.
If you don't have the skill to make an original handle and want to keep it traditional I'm pretty sure that A.C. is still selling the spare kukri handles for pretty cheap.
Whether they are pre-inletted or not I don't know but if they aren't it might be somewhat of a chore to fit a new handle to the tang, but not any more so than making and fitting a new handle.
As Spiral has said, some of the older kukris aren't as hard as modern or later model kukris but that doesn't make them bad.
They may go dull a bit quicker in the field but they are easier to sharpen in the field as well. A six inch file makes a nice light portable sharpener that's fairly easy to carry.
 
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