Testing BAS, YCS and kothimoda

S

SvenW

Joined
Oct 4, 2001
Messages
68
I did start searching for a kukri and bought a CS one.
When I admired it´s form I started to search for it´s origins and eventually I found HI.
I ordered my first khukuri BAS...I can´t stand waiting and the YCS I saw from Blue in a post did not leave my dreams. So I ordered it as I ordered a kothimoda a few days later, some sort of virus with infection of the brain, I guess :O :rolleyes: ;)
After ordering the third one I did feel much better so, hope I have build enough antibody.
Onkel, I would like to thank your for your great efforts and help, this is great service you and your team offer the suffering.

Today was the day to take my three babies is into the wild and see if traveling did harm their instincts.
I drove to a friends house because he has seasoned wood for his fireplace.
I have no knowledge of wood but it´s bark looked like birch. It was about 10 inch in diameter and 12 inches long and really dry.
You can all imagine the next scenes of real brutal force so let us not go into too much details. I tried all grips and also slammed the blades with the side onto the wood to test the tang I did bending and hacking. It did take me several minutes when I had the kothimoda in my hand and thought "No, this one is for the wall only" but then I thought if it looks like a killer let it proof it´s abilities.
Onkel, I do not understand how they can possibly take that beating I gave them but they did.
Please thank your staff for this great knifes and tell them that they honor their traditions.
Dheri dhanyabad Onkel

The block birch is just small pieces now and except for some small dents and some scratches, by the way the YCS did not even have a scratch in the blade you can not see anything and that wood was hard but the buttcap loosend a bit, nothing serious and I will fix it in a minute.

I would like to offer you pics but please be patient for a few days that it will take to heal my sore arm and shoulder.
I guess I was taken away ;) :)
Nepal ho
 
I have a problem, could someone tell me how to get rid of a small dink in the blade? I tried to use the chakma but did not manage to straighten the blades deformation with it. :(
How do I use it correctly??
 
Originally posted by SvenW
I have a problem, could someone tell me how to get rid of a small dink in the blade? I tried to use the chakma but did not manage to straighten the blades deformation with it. :(
How do I use it correctly??
Click to expand...

Lots of fun aren't they Sven?!?!?!?!?:)
I'm really pleased the YCS held up to your test. There was a lot of thought that went into the YCS's design even though I borrowed heavily from the designs of the old masters.
I like to think they would be proud of what it turned out to be.:)

Seasoned Birch can be pretty dayumed hard, even the knots on a growing Birch tree can be pretty dayumed hard as well. Seems like another German friend dinged his Sirupati up by chopping some almost frozen or frozen Birch in the woods one day.
Using the chakma can be sort of an art until one gets more used to using one as most people aren't used to using such a device to maintain their knive's.
Most people start out by not using enough force to move the metal and using a chakma can be very dangerous if not done carefully and with an eye to safety.
And sometimes enough pressure to take a ding out can't be generated by hand with such a short fulcrum point.

Sven if you can't generate enough force by hand you may have to resort to using a smooth faced hammer and something like an anvil, the top of a steel vice for instance.
Don't try to pound the ding out if you have to use a hammer, but just tap it a bit harder each time until you can see the steel starting to move.
Also many times if the ding isn't to deep I just stone it out if it's in the sweet spot or file it out if it's at the point or near the cho.

When you become more accustomed to using a khukuri you will learn better techniques and the khukuri will also teach you how to use it so that the dings will be at a minumum unless a rock or something hard happens to accidently get in the way.
The scratches and scars and the patina a blade takes on from multiple uses just makes the khukuri or other knife become more beautiful to me.
You can always tell how a person feels about their tools by the way they look and are treated.:)
 
YES, I never thought I would be able to swing my arm for 2 hours and wear a BIIIIIIGGG smile doing it.

I sitting an polishing the blades trying to make them look new again because I want to have them shining for the fotos I want to get from them. Sicne I will do a lot more chopping with both YCS and BAS I will have to get used to scratches and small dings :( don´t know if I really like it.

The ding in my BAS is really small and it is at the tip thanks for the tip I will try your advice and see if I can get it out of the blade. If it does not work out I will use my file.

I guess they already teached me a lot.
When I took out the BAS the first time I did not know how to hold it, after the test it just fits in my hand without any thought.
By the way the handle of the YCS I reported too big for my hand also seems ok and very comfortable. I did chop with it for close to an hour and I never had the feeling it could slip out of my hand.

It is a beauty and I love the way it comes down and slides into the wood. I hope that one day I am able to design a blade as good as yours.
 
Sven you chopped for 2 hours?!?!?!?:eek:
That's a good workout for anyone who isn't familiar with a khukuri!!!!!:D

Sven I don't know if you have a product called 'Cold Blue' in Germany. It's a product that the average person can 'blue' their guns and knives or anything else they want a little better protection
on.
Cold blue does help the prevention of rust on guns and knives even if it's just a little. There are several different brands such as Brownells and Birchwood Casey.
The Brownells can be ordered over the internet, don't know about the other.
And it helps hide scratches and dings a bit as well.
I have a Cold Steel Trailmaster that I blued and it has held up well over the years.
The finish is still shiny and can still reflect sunlight well unless the finish is dulled before the blue is put
on.
The CST had a dull finish before I blued it and the blue was put on to keep it from reflcting so much both day and night, the same reason as many so called 'tactical knives' have a black finish
now.
Anyway if you can get it there it's an option to use to hide the scratches and dings a bit.
On the knives I use, except my YCS so far, I always use a Scotch-Brite pad on them to take the scratces out, leaveing a nice satin finish.
Saves a lot of work trying to keep them polished and I have a power buffer than I can do that with.:)

Sven you may be designing blades before you know it.:)
Bob designed his Bolo and there's been a few others special made.
Just hang in there and keep playing with sharp pointy things and one of these days you will start thinking about something you would like in a knife and then go through the steps to get it made.:)
 
Yes, 2 hours, I guess it is even better for someone who is not used to any hard work at all ;) I´m so stupid.
Now try to imagine someone sitting and typing with his left hand only :D

The blueing is a great idea, thanks I will try to find a product here or try and order via the internet and try it with the BAS. It really hurts me to see this scratches I did not manage to polish them out manually and since I do not have a power buffer I will try to get some stuff for my Dremel too, just in case...
The friend of mine, where I chopped, heard the story and also wants to try the knifes, so I have many scratches to learn on.

I´m aready starting to think of the BAS as the little one. This little one is about double to the biggest knife I ever carried with me when doing (shooting?) bow and arrow.

Oh, could you please see if the chemical contents of the blueing liquid are mentioned on the product you have? If I can not buy it I can try and have it mixed here, thanks in advance.
 
Sven -

I've been reading the thread with interest, and never gave a thought to chemical restrictions in Europe. The main active ingredient in the bluing products is selenium dioxide. The warning says "May be fatal if swallowed", so it is probably the one your laws would object to. Before I retired, my company opened a clothing plant in Ireland, and our production VP went over to help them set up an operation to bleach raw cotton stock. We use chlorine bleach here, and he went over totally ignorant of their requirements. He 'phoned a day into his visit, and said "Don, they are telling me I'll go to jail for war crimes if I set up a @X$%*! bleach plant". Different strokes for different folks.
 
Many thanks for report from the field, Neffe. Always the best kind. There are people who would not have it in them to test the kothimoda because of its beauty but I'm very glad you did. And, your testing of it reminded me again of the day I was teasing and tormenting Bura about the kothimoda he was working on.

I told him that it was a great waste of time to make the kothimoda as strong as a regular field khukuri, that nobody would ever use a kothimoda. And he said, "but the MIGHT NEED to use it and if they do I do not want it to fail."

And this is the reason the kothimoda did the job on the birch.
 
Hi Walosi, thanks for the recipe sometimes our laws are really strange, I´m sure that one day they will place the label "May be fatal if swallowed" to whiskey ;)
If I can not get it from the internet I have a friend that is chemist :D

Onkel, I read about this story and l had it in mind on the first carefull swing. You can tell Bura that some stupid German proofed that he did good in makeing the knifes very solid.
Anyway the knife is so beautiful that I will never do this again.

By the way I did more chopping today with the mentioned friend of mine.
We ended up chopping through knots in the wood because splitting was just too easy and no real contest.
The YCS again did not take any dents and only two very small scratches.
The BAS seems to be softer since it took some dents in the sweet spot from doing this giving me the chance to try and get rid of them again with the chakma.
I used it as a small hammer carefully hammering the dents back to straight with the big side of the chakma and where this would not be enough with the small side. No problem the result is so good that I do not even have to do any filing there.
I love those knifes
 
Sven -

I have no idea what other ingredients might be in the Birchwood Casey bluing products - They are only required to list the dangerous contents of their formula. I have three variations - a liquid, a paste (in a tube) and a liquid formulated for use on brass. All bear the same warning, and all have the same instructions for use. Your chemist friend may know what additional ingredients would be necessary to control the reaction between the selenium dioxde and the steel, but the strengths and proportions of the individual ingredients could only be found by analysis. The uncontrolled reaction might result in etching or staining the blade to the extent that the results wouldbe the opposite of what is intended. I'd hate to give you information intended as help, only to cause a ruined blade.
 
SvenW, if you do decide to cold blue your blades I recomend a product from Brownells called Oxpho-Blue cream,it's about as good a cold blue that I've tried and it dosen't have the bad smell that most cold blues have :barf:. I've been refinishing firearms for about 15 years and have tried a bunch of different brands :confused:.
You can find them at www.brownells.com and the product #082-124-008 for a 8oz. bottle. They also carry everything you need for polishing if you have trouble finding it where your at. They can also answer any questions you may have about shipping chemicals to your location :confused: :confused: :).
Good luck:cool:
 
Walosi that is a good point, interestingly the bluing products are not to be shipped from the US and I have not found a source in the internet except from the US till now.
Looks like a challenge.

Thanks for the warning, I will try with a cheap kitchen knife first until I´m sure. I will take no chances with my babies ;)
 
Thanks mgnew

I did not see your post until I posted my answer I´m a slow writer. Unfortunately Brownells also does not sell the bluing products outside the US :mad:
 
Looks like we've got another fellow not afraid to use a knife. Good going, Sven.

I know that when I'm testing a knife that I'm probably going to do some damage. The thing that is of most interest and concern is can you recover from the damage?
 
Has anyone got any kinfolk in the service shipping out to Germany?
Maybe we could bootleg SvenW some cold blue:eek: :eek: ;).
 
Originally posted by SvenW

Onkel, I read about this story and l had it in mind on the first carefull swing. You can tell Bura that some stupid German proofed that he did good in makeing the knifes very solid.
Anyway the knife is so beautiful that I will never do this again.

I love those knifes
Click to expand...

Sven you didn't do it before this 'dumb' ndn did.;):eek: :rolleyes: :D

The Kothimoda blade is similar to the Chitlangi in that it's a dui chiarra or double fullered blade. And the Kothimoda is a good workhorse as well!!!! I don't know that it would perform as well as the Chitlangi as although I did some chopping as well as whacking all parts of the blade against a piece of hardwood firewood I didn't give it the workout I gave the Chitlangi.
I am still in awe at just how well the Chitlangi chops at 1 pound 9 1/2 ounces!!!!:D
 
Blueing is a pretty standard and traditional form of metal finish. It is also something which can be done using household chemicals. I am sure that there are sources for these kinds of metaerials within Germany. Check with anyone involved in antique restoration, the manufacture of antique reproductuions, and yes gun and knife smiths. I am sure one of these operations would be happy to give the knives a professional blue coat which would be much richer thn what you can probably do at home.

I would avoid cooking up your own formula. It would work but since there is no way to ensure the results you would have to do some testing before you could determine the appropriate way to apply it.

n2s
 
Sven,

In another post here somewhere, Yvsa made me rethink the idea of using and maybe putting some signs of honest wear on my nicer looking khukuris.

His point, as I remember, was that, especially in the old days, a man would just get that much more enjoyment using a tool or weapon that was nicely ornamented.

I think he's right. It brings honor and thoughtfulness to the task when we use them. And who are we saving these for? I know I was prouder of some of the old hand tools I inherited from my grandpop because they had some of his sweat dried on them, and maybe some of his spirit.

I'm sure that unless you really abuse them, whenever you really want to restore their original finish, you can get a buffer and some compounds (or send them to Terri?) and go to work on them.

In the meantime, I would enjoy them, cause life is short.

And thanks for the report!
 
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