Which Surface of Chakma to Use

C

cliff355

Joined
Apr 19, 2003
Messages
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My first real Khuk arrived yesterday and it is a very stalwart 18" AK by Kumar. The blade is impressive, but I am equally pleased by the Karda and general utility of the scabbard. It hangs comfortably on the belt without flopping around, and everything is held well in place.

The chakma was a particular surprise, and apparently I did not know what one was from looking at pictures of them. It is like a very thick butterknife, and has considerable scratches on one of its flat sides. Apparently the Khuk's previous owner had some trouble sharpening it, and these scratches are probably a result of this failed effort.

Part of the problem might have been trying to steel an edge which wasn't entirely present to begin with. However, I am wondering if the chakma's flat side is the correct surface to use. The other sharpening steel I have is round, and makes very limited contact with a knife edge in use. Is the chakma's flat side better for this? If so, I will leave the scratches where they are and add to them. If not, I'll just polish them off.

The khuk isn't quite ready to be chakma-ed yet, but I should have a good edge ready to go in the next couple days. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
There are a lot of forumites with more experience using the chakma than I. You will no doubt hear from some of them.

I find that most of the chakmas that I have are just a bit soft to do the job it is supposed to do. I have had better luck with the thin side of the chakma blade. I think the best ones I have were with Bura knives. The one that came with my 20" Sirupati is the best that I have. I am around home most of the time so I just keep things sharpened up with the ceramic rods that I have and don't worry about the steel. The rods and a good strop seem to do all I need.:) :)
 
A while back someone around here said that in Nepal the chakma wasn't used with a flint for starting fires anymore, everyone just uses a bic lighter. They also said (IIRC) that the kamis didn't really understand why we'd want them capable of striking a light as, naturally, we'd just use our lighters. This translates into smaller/softer/polished chakmas in modern khukuris.

I am under the impression that the true village khukuris are made with an almost completely useless chakma and karda.

What I <b>don't</b> understand is, if the chakmas are too small/soft/smooth, what do most Nepalese use for a steel in the field??? Do they just pick up a rock, or do they even bother?

(My chakmas are all too soft to use as is - I've been thinking of trying to harden them myself, but I'd hate to screw them up worse than they are.)
 
of the chakmak. Seems harder than the flat side on the one with my AK> Coincidentally, I currently own only one HI model that coes with the chak, as the Falcata, HI Bowie, and YCS do not come with them (the YCS karda spines double as a chak).

Keith
 
I use one of the bottom corners. However, on the convention video it looked like Pala used the bottom flat of the chakma.
 
I use the flat if its not a big deal, but if its a stubborn roll Ill use the edge (?). Then again, I tried all the chakmaks, in the 7 khuks I have, and then picked 2-3 as users, the rest just sit in thier sheaths.
 
Gentlemen, thanks for the info. My chakma does seem to be quite a bit softer than the khuk blade and it got scratched up pretty good during a trial run last night. This is probably better than a vice-versa situation though.

What I will probably do is cut down an old sharpening steel to chakma length and duplicate a handle for it. That should work pretty well and it won't appear to be an ersatz chakma as long as it is in the scabbard.

Haven't assessed the situation with the karda yet, but hopefully it is a little harder.
 
Just noticed youre from Minnesota as well Cliff. Nice to find a fellow Minnesotan here on the Cantina. :)
 
Fredrico: Yep, I'm right down the road in Buffalo. Good to hear there are seven other Khuks in the state.
 
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