• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Tora Tora Tora ???

By the by, the blade illustrated in AC catalog for "WWII Vintage" doesn't look like any blade I've seen ID'd as WWII, including the illusttration of compelte Khuks in same catalog. It looks like the blade of the (complete) "D - WWI Vintage."
 
Thomas, the thinner blades aren't necessarily more difficult to make as they are more difficult to harden. The thinner blades are less tolerant of any mistakes made during the heat treating process. That's why the YCS is no longer in production. It was a fairly thin bladed and especially a thin-edged khuk. Due to harndening errors there were a lot of edge failures, so it was discontinued. There was a thread describing the problem in more detail a year or two ago, it may be in the archives now but I don't think so. A search for YCS or Cherokee special should turn it up.
 
I have seen several khuks, and unfortuneatly bought one on EBay, where the blade is thin and appears warped. Could this also result in tempering/heat-treating w/ a thinner blade?
 
Hello Thomas,

Its quite simple, it requires more skill to forge the metal to 1/4".
The Kami in Nepal do not have very sophisticated equipment and to ensure good lines on that stock requries more time and a better eye.

Most kami are only caple of making tourist kukri, which are of rubbish standard. It has been very frustrating finding good kami, I am lucky in having good and patient friends help me out in Nepal.

Please remember that in the past most military issue were made in India and a lot of the best early kukri were also made there. After WWII there was not a big call in Nepal for exporting kukri, it is a fairly recent demand for good quality kukri. As a consequence they are having in many ways to re-learn their craft still and over the last four years I have seen a big improvement, as well as some right bosh jobs along the way.

Having said all that they are getting better and better and more able to cope with the high standards required in the West.
 
Thomas, from what I understand of the heat-treating problem, that's almost certainly what happened.
 
Not so much of a problem but the kamis are used to doing the hardening and tempering at the same time by pouring water from a teakettle onto the hot blade and can do it
more easily with a thicker blade. After the water is poured the residual heat then flows back into the hardened part, leaving the thicker parts to soften more and the thinner to retain the hardness more.

Uncle took them some ATF fluid, I believe and showed them how it worked.
They wouldn't have anything to do with it.

The alternative is to have them build the blades and ship it over to have them hardened by Paul Bos or the equivalent, which would be fine for us, but probably detested by the Nepali's like the Wilkenson khukuris were. You and I can accept that even a differentially hardened blade will break with abuse. The Nepalese prefer dead soft spine and tang that can be unbelievably abused.
 
The heat treating process in traditionaly made blades has always been tricky, even the very best smiths in the world (the Japanese) chuck away 1 in 3 blades from the final heat process.
In Nepal the problem has been to get the kami to have the skill to forge it that way in the first place, and our kukri have not suffered from any heat treatment defects.
 
Surely the point about having a traditionaly made kukri from Nepal is to know that it is unique and that it nay have a few quirks, part of the charm, otherwise you might as well have a Cold Steel kukri.

To ship them over to the States to temper them yourselves is not quite what bying a A hand made kukri from Nepal is all about?
 
Rusty, I assumed (with all attendant risks) that the residual heat in the part of the blade not subjected to the water drew the brittleness from the "hardened" edge - tempering and drawing in one step. No?
 
Sir,
You sir," are a real piece of work"!!YOU "are gooood"Guys!!AWW,never mind,not going to say it!
THE SAINT!:cool:
 
Sirupate: If you want more American business why not sorting out some way to recieve payment in U.S Dollars. I will not use a credit card and I find it impossible to get a Pound/Sterling money order from where I live. Cheers mate!
 
Hello Pipey,

If you have a paypal account you can send Sterling through that if you are in credit, if not I would try to work out an exchange rate, but would have to take into account conversion cost over here.

Besides that its great seeing all the different views on this forum, who prefers what etc, kukri V machete and so on.
 
Has anybody had one of the so called genuine kukri from Windlass/Atlanta Cutlery/ Leg.Arms?
Their blade length spec on the WWI models doesn'T ad up!!?

Keep Chopping Tora
 
Hi Tora,
Ive had 6 kukris of Atlanta,
They were sold as
A WW1 rivit = A WW2 Indian M43!
A WW1 plain = A late Victorian
A WW2 = A K44
A WW2 scabbard = A CMW K45!

Then I orderd a

A Bhojpure = early Bhojpure/Bhudume
A WW1 = 1917 mk.11

Overal I came out a head & was pleased, but they have problems identyfying them!

Spiral
 
Hello Spiral,

Do you think they are the real deal then, as the blade lengths (17-17.5") dont conform to Gurkha issue WWI at all?

Keep Chopping Tora
 
They are as real as they get, they just type in the wrong numbers!
{ & sometimes send the wrong kukri!}

Tell me by any chance have you any idea which units used the "Pioneer stabbing kukri" ? Its a pet research questian of mine!

Cheers,
Spiral
 
Hello Spiral,

So are these kukri good enough to use then?

Are you refering to the kukri issued to British units based in Indian between WWI and WWII with a 12.75" blade?

Keep Chopping Tora
 
Originally posted by spiraltwista
They are as real as they get, they just type in the wrong numbers!
{ & sometimes send the wrong kukri!}
Click to expand...

That's for sure!!!! I finally got the correct ones, that is as correct as they get, after a great deal of hassle.:( Sent my first ones back with a pic of what they were supposed to be like and instructions to replace.
AC ignored my instructions and said the first ones were in compliance with the catalog then cancelled my order so I had to make several calls and reorder. A customer service lady named Jackie had Mondi hand select my khuk's and then sent them on to me.
I'm very happy with what I received this time.:)

Tell me by any chance have you any idea which units used the "Pioneer stabbing kukri" ? Its a pet research questian of mine!

Cheers,
Spiral
Click to expand...


What is a "Pioneer stabbing kukri"?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top