Villagers Rule!

Joined
May 5, 1999
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Just took delivery of 14 inches/14 ounces of hand-forged steel and Indian rosewood. Price forty bucks, including $6.30 worth of insured priority shipping. I'll defy you to find another product anywhere that gives more value for the price. Got this one to practice my woodchuckery, and did good - k & c are rosewood handled also, unfinished and unoiled. Both are also much more useable than usual village accessories - someone has obviously been paying attention to BirGorkha products. Blade cleaned up on the Birgorkha polisher; handle just right for my small hand. I love it!
 

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Nice one, Berk.

I'm thinking that due to my current budget constraints, I too will be joining the villager club. I hope I can score one as nice as that one, and I noted that a few of the other villager models looked pretty sweet.

Then we will see over what domain the villagers rule...

Keith
 
I just picked up a villager, myself. It's sort of like a midget BAS, but with a comfy-sized handle. Full-tang, too.

It will never be pretty, but at $45 shipped and insured, I'm happy.

S.
 
You should have fun with that handle, Berk. My villager has a grain pattern identical to some verified Indian rosewood grips on a S&W (verified years ago by Raj at Eagle Grips). Color is a bit different, though. The pistol grips are black stripe on a caramel tan background - very hard, dense wood that has polished out like marble, without any "action", or movement in the grain as the light changes on it. The villager handle is the same, but the background color is _Maroon_! It soaked up the first three coats of oil like a tourist in the desert, and when the fourth one set up, it was like glass. The blade can be prettied up - I used a sheet of 3M wet or dry, 600 grit, and hand sanded until everything was smooth except a couple of deeper folds. It isn't the BirGorkha shine, but some of the bladesmiths who charge $450 per blade use this finish, and it looks great under a coat of good carnuba. Just sand with your strokes all in one direction (bolster toward point) with no back-strokes. I cut the paper into 2"x6" strips, folded them in half, and changed sides as the paper loaded up. When all the strips are loaded, clean them out with a stiff brush (makes them the equivalent of a soft 8-900 grit) and do a final pass. Classy looking knife, and any scratches or dents just sand out.
 
Wal,
Thank you for the directions - this is going to be a project khukuri, with no particular objective in mind, just having fun and making it look nice.
Berk
 
Have you seen the pix I posted of them, Berk? You can't see the teeth on the saw very well but it's well done -- think it's Bura's work.
 
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