UBDOTD - 2 Great 18 inch AK by Durba for $95.

[Bill Martino]

Watch yourself in the Windy City!

 

[Yvsa]

Originally posted by Cuttin' Craig
Yvsa: How would you go about the "Horn"chuckery treatment? I won't apply it to this AK, but, as you said, I do have my eyes on others from uncle which are silver mounted A primer on this method would be greatly appreciated for future reference.

I remember from a previous thread that you've sanded or steel wooled horn handles to enhance their grip-a-bility. Do I recall correctly? If so please tell me how you did it. Sorry to be 20 questions, but, like the bank robber in "Dirty Harry", I gots ta know!

Thanks!

Horn newbie,
Craig

P.S. I think I've seen some of the pottery you're talking about, and it is very pleasing to the eye

It's pretty much the same process that you use for wood except that no finish is put on the horn.
The horn is a little more difficult to work than wood to get all the scratches out, but that's all.
Just use finer and fine sandpaper, preferibily SiC and when the deep scratches are all gone polish with a buffer or a Dremel being careful to not burn the horn. A slower process is using a strip of soft cloth embedded with jewelers rouge and then for an ultra high polish a strip of soft cloth charged with Chromium Oxide.

"I remember from a previous thread that you've sanded or steel wooled horn handles to enhance their grip-a-bility. Do I recall correctly? If so please tell me how you did it. Sorry to be 20 questions, but, like the bank robber in "Dirty Harry", I gots ta know!"

Just grab some coarse Scotch-Brite or 00 Steel wool and scrub the horn like hayell.
Guaranteeed to scratch it up and gives a lot more gripability!!!!

 

[Bill Martino]

Thanks for info, Bro. Expert help and advice is always greatly appreciated.

 

[Cuttin' Craig]

Greetings, One and All, After a slight work induced absence (2 weeks in Chicago) I'm home for 4 days, and I've just got finished testing out my new lightweight AK. What an excellent Khuk!

The horn handle with the repair done by durba is quite nice and fits my hand wonderfully. The horn texture is tactile enough to provide a good grip and the repair looks pretty darn integral with the horn. It doesn't scream, " I've been fixed" !

The Blade is all that I'd hoped it would be:
18 1/4" long, 3/8" at the spine, 2 1/4" belly. The fullers are nice and even. I can see only the very faintest of hammermarks on one side, I should say, hammermark, since there was only one about 1/8" ! Man what those boys can do with a hammer!

The point of balance is 1 1/2" up from the cho. It is very light and agile in hand. My wife, Heidi, summed up it's balance by saying that it takes no special effort to hold it or swing it. She thought my malla "felt" heavier.

The edge was pretty darn sharp, so I commenced "Operation make Toothpicks" in the shop. It really tore through well seasoned 2 x4s with realitive ease. It don't reasonable expect it to rival my GRS as a lopper due to it's light weight, But it'll definitely do a good days' work. The Karda and Chakma are up to HI's usual high standards.

It is overall my prettiest Khuk so far. True they are all pretty in their own right, but fullers are eye candy.

Thanks for all the valuable info on becoming a "horn" dog, Yvsa, and thanks for the input on the Ak by everyone. I can now see why this style is the favorite of many of ya'll. I'll keep the further adventures of AK-MAN coming!


I have a lot of catching up to do, man, you miss two weeks, you miss a ton. especially Sanu's Jewel. Nice catch Dave!

Uncle and Durba have done me proud once again...Hey, this could be habit forming....

-Craig

 

[Bill Martino]

Many thanks for report from the field.