Where should the cho really be?

This might get really funny. The kamis will probably put the cho on the buttcap, or carve it into the handle. When I ask my men at work to do a job they disagree with, they generally find a way to screw it up, so they can say "I told you so". :footinmou

Can't wait to see how they come out! :D

Steve
 
once the blood collects on the cho the nearer the hand it is the more possibility of any drips finding skin.

I would have thought the issue of the habaki bolster of more importance- but everyone has opinions. it is interesting those who make these have no problem with 'authenticity' of cho location but those who buy them did. life is fun.

going to AZ now.



munk
 
If I had to guess from an engineering point of view I would say that the Kami's have made some type of template that they fit over the bolster and blade and cut the cho in that area.

In that sense they have automated the process and a new cho area would require them to "retool". At least that's how I would do it, but I'm not a kami with many years of tradition behind me. Of course, by that logic, why did they change in the first place?

Hmm, that's a thought. Tell me, did the cho creep start at the same time as the habaki bolster?

Tnx.

Norm
 
Svashtar said:
Tell me, did the cho creep start at the same time as the habaki bolster? Norm
Click to expand...

Hi Norm!

Rusty answered that question in the following link:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304330&highlight=habaki+bolsters

I'm crossing my fingers that Uncle Bill's recent "plea" directed at the kamis will get them to start producing the more traditionally placed chos, and the more traditional bolster. I'm sure Yvsa will be happy if they do. :D

Being that the habaki type bolster were said to have been adopted to better fit the khukri in the scabbard, perhaps a strap and a snap could be made to secure the knife in the future. It would work very well, and traditional designs could be used...

Dan :)
 
Any backward cho movement will be fine by me.

(But if it stays were it is, I'll still be buying HI khukuris)
 
I kinda like the habaki bolster. But it should cover the blade not the tang. I really like how well the khuk stays in it sheath, but not at the expence of possible tang integrity. If the can just shorten the tang, or make the handle longer (either would put the blade in the bolster), then they wouldnt be moving the cho, they would be moving the bolster to the cho. Does this make sense? Another benefit to making the handle longer is that the handles would me more westerner friendly.
 
Actually, I don't mind the cho creep at all, although the originals do look a bit better.

I always thought that the purpose of the cho corresponded to a choil on a fixed blade. For several years as I collected 4" folders, I would take a swiss file and cut a choil at the end of the blade just where the edge met the rest of the blade if it didn't already have one. This allows you to lay the blade correctly on an oilstone, and index the blade at the same place each time. Without it you just have an undefined messy area where the cutting edge starts. I figured the cho served that same purpose for sharpening. If the knife is designed correctly, that "start of blade" will be consciously factored in. Look at a Randall Model 2 for instance to see what I mean.

As far as the habaki bolsters, they are generally OK with me, although what I do miss with the old style bolsters, was the need for the Sarki's to then fit the scabbard exceedingly well to the blade itself. I only have a few of the old style khuks and love how the scabbard opening is just wide enough for the blade and it fits very snugly. The knife and the scabbard are almost one, and you could turn the scabbard upside down and the worst that would happen is that a karda might fall out, but the big blade wasn't going anywhere.

As a general rule, (IMO!) while the scabbards for the knives are usually fit pretty well, sometimes you will have one that is really loose and the blade really flops around in it, whereas of the three HI swords I have the scabbard fit is flawless. The bolster practically "clicks" when the blade is inserted all the way, and I really like that attention to detail.

Regards,

Norm
 
Thats a good point, if the blade was in the proper place in the bolster (instead of tang, the cho would be just about where it should be, right?
 
I dont mind the habaki bolster. If done right, I feel they dont really contribute to the disproportion as much as cho creap. I have a Bura white metal hilt AK that has a very well done habaki bolster, that is understated and proportional. I think things are made worse when the bolster is over-done, and then added with cho creep makes things look worse than they are.
 
The only benifit I have personaly seen is being able to do a 2 hand grip (by having one hand on the bolster to the cho), not exactly usefull but cool to practice self defense with.
It's a 21 inch chit and only possible with a closed cho.
2 hands on an open cho would look like too many paper cuts, at best.
 
As far as I can tell, there are a lot of old khuks in Nepal.
Sometimes the Kamis make replicas of them.

Where are the cho's on those old khuks?

I've seen a lot of JP's and Rod'd old khuks posted.
The cho's seem closer to the handles.

I don't quite know what to make of this.

Do the kamis think the most common use of khuks here is to kill mammals, human or otherwise?

If so, I think that they must be getting a crap selection of movies or something.

?????????????????

That said, on a decent-sized khuk, (18" +) it is more important to have the tang properly secured in the handle instead to floating in the bolster, IMO. Doesn't matter what kind of bolster.

On a tool of this type the superiority of a convex edge and grind should not be open to question. If the kamis start producing skinning or fillet knives with 1/8" spines then this may be open to disusion, IMO.

Tell them we usually don't cut stuff that bleeds, for God's sake, just like them, at least when the Maoists aren't on the rampage.

If they want to start selling a Rambo line, fine, just don't leave out the rest of us, which I think is the majority, at leat as far as khuks go.

If anyone's primary use of khuks is killing mammals and the current cho position is superior please feel free to correct me.

My most recent use of a khuk was using a 15" AK as a drawknife to trim down a cabinet jamb where a portable dishwasher was to be installed. It did a fine job. And I didn't have to say, "no go buy a special tool for this"-- I had something that would do the job, but it might take a teeny bit longer.

That to me is what a khuk is. It does a lot of jobs.
 
firkin said:
My most recent use of a khuk was using a 15" AK as a drawknife to trim down a cabinet jamb where a portable dishwasher was to be installed. It did a fine job. And I didn't have to say, "no go buy a special tool for this"-- I had something that would do the job, but it might take a teeny bit longer.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they do make pretty good draw knives, don't they? The guest bathroom door in our house wouldn't latch due to poor alignment. It was slight -- just enough to catch the top of the jamb. As Dan put it in his leather covered kydex sheath tutorial:

While the lady of the house was away :) I shaved the top of the door with my 16.5" WWII model. Five minutes, including sweeping up the chips. For this job, I found it a bit easier than fooling with a block plane.
 
Mr.BadExample said:
Like this?

smileycho.jpg
Click to expand...

Just saw your attached photo... :D

Dan :)
 
johntrout said:
Yvsa what do you think about what I asked?
Click to expand...
johntrout said:
Thats a good point, if the blade was in the proper place in the bolster (instead of tang, the cho would be just about where it should be, right?
Click to expand...
Do you mean this question John?
If so the answer is no.
I believe the cho should be in the same place it was on the old khuks, within 1/4" to 1/2 inch of the bolster.
And if the so-called habaki bolster was made as a real habaki is and constructed completely over the blade all the way around the blade instead of the tang I would be a staunch supporter of it.
 
Hmm I'm having a hard time articulating my thought. What I am saying is assuming the current habaki bolsters are covering some tang, if the bolster is moved up where it should be (where flat part covers only blade and no tang) the cho would be pretty close to 1/2" from bolster, - am I making any sense?
 
Okay John, I see now. Maybe a few would be but the habaki bolster's flat area varies a bit in length. Personally I feel if the kamis made a correct habaki bolster and the cho was in the correct place, about a 1/2" from junction of tang and blade, there would be about 1/8" from the bolster to the cho.
 
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