Thickness of Handles

J

JAY H

Joined
Mar 10, 1999
Messages
397
From the photo I like the way Kumar made the Kobra handle. Seems to be not to thick and easy to manage. --- "Question" --- Is it possible to make a heavy thick and massive Sher style Khukuri with a thin style handle? For me a heavy weight blade is great if the handle is less thick; i.e. 15" AK or BAS or Sirupati thickness style handle girth.
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How thin is thin???
To you its one way to the Kami it's another.It may be easier to get ask for a wood handle then sand it down to where you think thin is(I say wood because it is easy to polish and work with).
I like them short/thick with a wide bell,so I remove them and carefully make adjustments.

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Ray
 
For me the girth on my AK 15"ers fits perfect. So do my sons shop 1 BAS and my 15" Sirupati. I have quite a few 15" AKs and they all fit great, given an average rating of 8 out of 10. I don't want to modify a hand made and blessed piece of art. I can, but don't think it's critical. Of course I do have 2 favorite Khuks but don't have the option of picking from the bin to fit my needs. P.S.--- Thanks for the respectful input gentlemen.
 
It all depends on the size of your hands... For example, I've got small hands, and the BirGhorka handles are way too wide for me (but I can't quite bring myself to take a rasp to that beautifully contoured & finished timber...)

The handle on my village 20" sirupati, on the other hand, is just right; maybe because it was made for the domestic market rather than export.
 
Thanks uncle, --- I just might do that because I have many khukuris so I guess I can experiment a bit and leave others untouched. If my 20" AK was a tad slimmer handle wise it would be a real slammer. The handle is wood; -----maybe,--- just maybe. We'll see.
 
:
A word of advice for those that may modify handles.

Please oil the handle with all the oil it will hold.
I had the handle crack on my Salyan when I was taking it down in size.
I worked on it 2 days out on my front porch (my wife lets me sweep the shavings into the mulch
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) in wet rainy weather.
The wood was very dry and I knew better, but didn't oil it down. I actually had it crack twice and fixed it both times with super glue and a clamp. The chaintype vicegrips® work wonders for clamping by the way.
Just be careful the chain doesn't score the wood by putting somethng under the chain.
I still don't have it where it's pretty, but it is sooooo usable!!

There has been talk of orienting the handles on the Everest Katana.
You can do the same with your khukuri's by putting an oval shape to the handle.
You don't want to much, but a nice oval with the bottom part a bit thinner makes for a Real Comfortable grip!!

Since I modified the handle on the H.I. Bird and Trout knife and leaving it at about 220 grit find it that much more grippable.
I kinda am thinkin that by leaveing the horn handles a little rougher that they may actually be better users.
I am kinda like the rest of you about taking the high polish off the horn, but since doing the AK bowie that way it has became more appealing to me.
As summer advances and I get out more (hopefully) I will take one of my favorites down to 220 grit. Probably the 18" AK and the Milleinnium
Special. Perhaps the 18th Century as well.
I am really beginning to appreciate the way that khukuri works!!



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

The hardy adventurer just drank from a stream he thought was pure glacier fed water not knowing that upstream was being used by a herd of yaks as a giant bidet.

I said he was hardy, not smart.:-)

Khukuri FAQ
 
My 15" Sirupati was a blem rehandled by Pala in oak when he was here the time before last. It wasn't uncomfortable, but he left extra wood past the bolster and buttcap to fit the larger american hand. ( Tom H, Sandi, Mohd - all you 5'4" or thereabouts people, Pala and I see eye to eye with you. Hands same size too. So all us little people need to do to get a perfect fit is have Pala pick out the right khuk for him ). Anyway, I finally did it and took the handle down to the right size for me and it made the khuk into something altogether different. If a handle's too big, take it down and it'll delight you.

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Some people are alive simply because it is illegal to kill them.
 
Ray.
... I like them short/thick with a wide bell,so I remove them and carefully make adjustments ...
Click to expand...
It seems I have a different taste because I like them long & thick ... and ... I just carefully make adjustments on the thickness ... and ... the longer the better because I can hold them with my both hand!

NEPAL HO!
 
mohd

I like the distance from the raised ridge in the center of the handle to the flare(or bell)to be close enough to lock my last two fingers firmly in place this part of the handle I like slim.My middle finger is in front of the ridge and completes the locking pressure between all the fingers,the palm heal and the web of the thumb(the center of my palm never makes contact to the handle).The part above the ridge I like thicker(the whole grip has the feel of holding a hook).I cut sections out of the handle and piece it back together.If the handle is around 5" I don't touch it.4.5" to 5" is OK with me,any more than that and I feel that my hand is too far from the weight of the blade.Its all in the feel.

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Ray

[This message has been edited by RayC (edited 05-05-2000).]
 
Ray.

Being away for 2 days so I just read your email - thanks! It is an honour for me to receive an email from a Khukuri old timer like you.

I guess the way I hold the Khukuri handle would be just the same like yours - the only different is the size of my hold due to the size of my small hand - Am I correct ... Rusty, Sandy & those of 5' 4" class?

Basically Khukuri handle is designed into three distinct part which is a thick part at the front, bell shape at the end and a ridge in between.

So, the way I hold the Khukuri handle is just natural. Normaly I will lock both my last two fingers at the bell part just behind the ridge. While the other fingers are at the thick part in front of the ridge. My first three fingers are always tuching those rings engraved at the thick frontal part of the handle. The ridge itself is right at the centre of my palm. This holding technique will prevent any far sliding of my palm & fingers either forward or backward. The edge of the buttcap is not touching any part of my palm - so that if I swing up & down the Khukuri then the pointed edge will never hurt any part of my palm. The end part of the bell shape will only slide up & down at the heel of my palm.

IMHO I guess that is the way Gorkha hold their Khukuri because my Asian hold size is about the same with theirs - further more I believe the standard shape of Khukuri handle was finalised via a long evolutionary process & proven to be the most effective shape for those Gorkha either in the woods or battle fields.

FYI, I have a Hanuman Special which I reshaped it's handle to look alike the head of a bird with a small neck - now it has the near shape of the standard Khukuri handle except the bell shape is a bird's head shape.
I gives the equavalent hold feeling to my hand as like as a standard Khukuri handle hold feeling.

I also have few Kagas Katne - I hold it with my four fingers. The bottom pointed edge of the bell shape is just place in between of my forth & fifth fingers & it is locked there. It is a very strong hold grip - just like the way Malays hold Kerambit (a 4 - 5" very curve shaped traditional SEA close range weapon).

I am fully agree with Will, Cliff and others when they mentioned that the standard Khukuri handle is very well argonomically designed.

Pakcik Bill.

Please advice ... !

NEPAL HO!
 
The edge of the buttcap is not touching any part of my palm - so that if I swing up & down the Khukuri then the pointed edge will never hurt any part of my palm. The end part of the bell shape will only slide up & down at the heel of my palm.

IMHO I guess that is the way Gorkha hold their Khukuri because my Asian hold size is about the same with theirs - further more I believe the standard shape of Khukuri handle was finalised via a long evolutionary process & proven to be the most effective shape for those Gorkha either in the woods or battle fields.

FYI, I have a Hanuman Special which I reshaped it's handle to look alike the head of a bird with a small neck - now it has the near shape of the standard Khukuri handle except the bell shape is a bird's head shape.
I gives the equavalent hold feeling to my hand as like as a standard Khukuri handle hold feeling.

I also have few Kagas Katne - I hold it with my four fingers. The bottom pointed edge of the bell shape is just place in between of my forth & fifth fingers & it is locked there. It is a very strong hold grip - just like the way Malays hold Kerambit (a 4 - 5" very curve shaped traditional SEA close range weapon).

I am fully agree with Will, Cliff and others when they mentioned that the standard Khukuri handle is very well argonomically designed.

Pakcik Bill.

Please advice ... !

NEPAL HO![/B][/QUOTE]

Hello mohd
Thanks for coming back with this info .I was interested in how you hold the khukuri because where you come from also has a long and legendary history of edged weapon use.
Thanks again.


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Ray
 
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