The success of failures. Another WHY?

Uncle Bill,
In 15 years about how many HI Khuks HAVE you distributed???
or about how many are "out there"? :D
 
Orders for 3 more today. I now have a wait list of about 6.

Where's that marketing analyst?

Prag, I don't keep records more than 5 years so I'm not sure. Rough guess would be maybe 20 thousand.
 
That's alot of Khuks!!:eek:
Statisticaly, sounds like you're doing REAL well with the number of blade failures.

Thanks
 
I said in a previous thread that my favorite K was my 16.5" Bura Chiruwa with finger grooves. Just feels right. Not too heavy, not too long or short. Just right. If I got rid of the rest, I would keep this one for sure.

Semp --
 
Just got an order about 10 minutes ago -- you guessed it. Another Chiruwa AK. I wish a few other models would fail. Sales would go thru the roof.
 
I think 20,000 is a conservative estimate.

3 knives a day, 300 days a year, for 15 years is over 13000

Granted, numbers would be lower in the first several years, but I'm sure far more than 900 khuks have moved in the last year.
 
The chiruwa AK is the only blade that gives you a chance to own 2 khuks on your initial investment. Therefore logic dictates that more failures in the Chiruwa AK spark more demand :)

By the way, I wonder if the quarantee extends recursively. I see a nice mathematical model here.

-Emile
 
Originally posted by eraaij
By the way, I wonder if the quarantee extends recursively. I see a nice mathematical model here.
-Emile
Click to expand...

I'll tell you when I break the next one. Of course, you'll have to wait 5 or 10 years for me to weight-train until I look like the incredible hulk, then another 10 or 20 years of continuous chopping (provided I can buy a few dozen surplus tanks to hack apart - maybe Ebay) before that happens. :rolleyes:
 
I don't think people are buying chiruwas in hopes of getting two of them per failure.

It is reported to be the toughest, and is in a length many find more acceptable for carry than longer blades. This is not only practical but social, the 16" or so AK being just another "HONKIN KILLER KNIFE" on the hiking trail, but an 18" WWll looking more like DELIVERANCE to Sierra Club eyes.

Perhaps the blade failures drew attention to the knife. Perhaps the big Wheel turned in the sky and those who hadn't yet grabbed a chiruwa wanted one at the same time.

Also, the last few months have seen thinner, lighter blades in general. Maybe many just wanted more metal to the floor.

munk
 
Got both knives back the same day. Amost identical failures right at the cho. Same type of failure we see when a tang fails. Steel temp was probably not right when cho was cut and they also got the cho area too hard. One was by Bura who should know better but maybe he was crazy with his brain clot and the other was the new kami who perhaps has not made a lot of chiruwa style khukuris. They don't like to make them in Nepal. I'm not ready to give up on the model yet.
 
So, with this type of failure a convex edge would not have made any difference.

Is it possible the steel they are getting now is not what they prefer and has different properties? ( when hardening and watching color changes, does the steel type matter, ie; mercedes truck springs vs Dodge?)

munk
 
Or just a very bright or very dark day, inducing errors in the heat treat like on the old Springfield 1903 receivers.
 
Can't we return to the Convex edge please? It allows a wider margin of error in manufacture and use.

munk
 
Convex edge wouldn't help here. I doubt that they are using anything other than the standard MB springs. The kamis don't like the chiruwa handle because they say it destroys balance and transmits too much shock. And, they make a lot of chiruwa handles in India and for that reason alone Nepali kamis are not especially fond of the design.
 
Hi All,
See if you can locate my posts on "Heat treat" in the Archives. These smiths are not very advanced technically, primative actually, and they do very well only within rather narrow parameters. After that it's a hit-or-miss proposition. Under normal conditions they usually manage quite well, BUT there are a large number of stress factors at play now that really, really disrupts the flow.:(
Dan
 
It actually makes perfect sense to me why a full-tang would break before a wood/horn-covered partial tang...

There's a reason that all khukuris don't come with a full tang - if it was a better design, it would have stood the test of time and had been in use today. Something tells me the kamis (though simplistic people) know exactly what they're doing.
 
I realize no one means disrespect, but words like 'primitive' and 'simplistic' are leaving the wrong impression. I don't expect anyone to change their speech because I say this. Oh Well. I'll live through the tears. By definition, or intrinsically, isn't forging, 'primitive'?

I believe Bill when he states the Kamis dislike the chiruwa tang because it changes the balance and transmits shock to the hand. Yvsa has stated as much. And from my own meager collection, I've cut down enough pines to agree.

It is interesting in India this tang is more popular. I don't know what that means. Shock is not permitted to be transferred to the wrist there? If the forging is less skilled, and the metal poorer, perhaps the knife is stronger overall with the chiruwa tang. Just a guess. Or maybe British officers influenced what/how things are made and they wanted the 'full' tang.

munk
 
Maybe the Chiruwa style is popular in India because of the difference in procedure for making and fitting the handle. I would think drilling a full handle would be slightly harder than fitting slabs, but I have no practical experience doing either.
 
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