Tourist khukuri or the real McCoy?

I have posted alot of pictures of a knife which superficially looks a little like Golok's. Perhaps his example will prove much more interesting.

N2S
 
"It has an ivory handle that has lost it butt cap. There are some wriggly lines on top of the blade. There is a little "sun" on one side."
Click to expand...
View
 
That's a good looking old knife and I'm betting that blade is very good. Take a look at how everything fits at the bolster.
 
Black Bear,

It may very well be an old kukri, and still be a tourist piece. There are documented tourist kukries going back into the 19th century. A few were exceptionally well made for very well to do tourist, but the vast majority were poorly constructed and made for purely decorative purposes.

BTW

Berkley, is your example also missing the pommel cap?

n2s
 
Berkley, is your example also missing the pommel cap?
Click to expand...
Yes, it is - the handle is bone, and quite hollow, but filled with a well-carved piece of wood that matches its internal dimensions, into which the partial tang has been driven. The edges of the bone and the end of the wooden plug are covered with a layer of old laha which held the buttcap on, and was the weak link in the original design. Interestingly, this laha is reddish in color and looks somewhat like sealing wax, contrasted to the blackish stuff that HI uses, so it may have been a bad formula at fault.
It may very well be an old kukri, and still be a tourist piece. There are documented tourist kukries going back into the 19th century
Click to expand...
Yup:)
 
Berkley,

It looks like somewhere out there someone must be collecting pommel caps. :)

Thanks for the pictures of the old tourist khukuri, I tried to find one on the net but came up empty.

n2s
 
Sorry, I was unable to post earlier. Was held up by some personal errands.

Berkley, I must say, that sun looks like a remarkable copy of the one on my khukuri. In fact, even the bone/ivory handle looks the same.

The guy who sold the khukuri to me put the blade edgewise on his thumbnail (near the handle) and balance it. He said: "Look, perfect balance. A sign of great workmanship.'

The length of the blade is about 12 inches. It is relatively light but has a good balance.

In fact, the sealing wax which you called the laha on my khukuri is also reddish in colour. I was wondering what was that.

Thanks for the info.
 
Golok,
It's interesting to learn that your knife has experienced a similar failure with a similar adhesive. My guess is that the reddish stuff we have is in fact related to sealing wax, and is just too brittle to withstand heavy use or rough storage/handling. By contrast, the real laha used by HI, (which Uncle Bill calls "Himalayan epoxy"), is closer in composition to "Himalayan silicone rubber", with some flexibility which allows it to absorb shock without fracturing and coming apart.
Berk
 
The Himalayan epoxy used by some village kamis often has additives, a couple of which I won't mention here.
 
Original fancy bowie fittings were not cast. They were thin sheet metal pressed (by hand) into molds, then filled either with lead or with 'rozil' = cutler's cement, made from rosin, beeswax, and brick dust.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't surprise me to learn that the kamis add some locally available, er, organic material :) to the mix.
 
... The guy who sold the khukuri to me put the blade edgewise on his thumbnail (near the handle) and balance it. He said: "Look, perfect balance. A sign of great workmanship.' ...
Click to expand...
Hi Golok - I just wondering that you might bought those Khukuris at the same place where I bought my 1st 2 Khukuris ... that is from a stall at ground floor of Pasar Seni, Kuala Lumpur! The problem with those Baraba @ Balance Khukuri which were sold at Pasar Seni is that their blade is too soft - I use those Khuks for cutting and diging - the edge is easily blunt, no chipping but sort of folded back. It is a tourist item.
... the sealing wax which you called the laha on my khukuri is also reddish in colour ...
Click to expand...
Yes - as Berk mentioned in his posting - this Khukuris is epoxied to it's handle using a sort of sealing wax. Golok - in Malaysia they called this sealing wax as Gegala or Gala-gala.
 
Thanks, Mohd. Really good to have you back. The HI Conscience Officer cannot be a quasi lurker!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top