Windlass Khuks

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Yesterday I saw an ad in Atlanta Cutlery for Windlass Khukuris. They had cheap looking handles like the ones I got from India. And they were bragging about their "thick" 1/4" blades. I have two khuks from KH and two from HI and all my blades are thicker than 1/4". The thing that gets me is that they claim to be the supplier to the British Ghurkas. Is this true? Do these knives suck as much as it looks like they would? What is Windlass' reputation?

Also in Atlanta Cutlery catalog are several Khuks they claim are over 100 years old. They wanted upwards of $200 for them. Are they real? Anyone have any experience with Atlanta Cutlery or Windlass?

I'm not in the market for any non HI Khuk, so I'm not thinking of buying, only curious.

Andy
 
Andy, the old khuks are genuine. They're from an old armory whose contents were recently sold. I have one, as well as a bunch of the chakmas and kardas that they sell separately. Definitely a piece of history for the collector.

I have had no problems with Atlanta Cutlery, but have not bought one of the new khuks from them. No experience with Windlass.
 
What Aardvaark said about the old ones. Very cool stuff. Their antique chakmaks and kardas are also well worth the money; in any bag of them at least half will be salvageable and they tend to be very well made.

Now, that Windlass stuff...hrm. Their swords can be good. Their khuks? I have one and it's what I loan out to people who can't be trusted with better stuff. I'll leave it at that.
 
Andy, As Ardvark said, the old kuks that Atlanta Cutlery sells are genuine. Their other kuks are hit or miss at best.

As for them supplying the Ghurkhas, if you go to the IKRHS (international kukri research history site), then it's been covered there. If my memory serves me correctly (which sometimes it doesn't) I think it's actually KH that has a contract with the Ghurkhas now. But that's now, and the contracts are renewed or given to a different supplier fairly frequently.

mike
 
Andy the Windlass Khuks are alright in their own way. You do get what you pay for. I think most of us old timers have had one at least at some point in our search for a good khukuri.
Unless you have it sharpened by Windlass they come dull as all Billy's Hell and although they can be sharpened with a good file it's much easier with a belt sander.
I passed along the one I had to an aquaintance and he was tickled with it not knowing any better as I was until I found the HI Khukuris.

One of these days I'd like to get one of what they call their Officer's Models just so I can play with it a bit and see what happens when taking some artistic license with it.;) :D
 
You guys are confirming what I thought about the Windlass Khukrappies. I am surprised, however, that the historical ones are real. I live in Atlanta, I'll have to see if they have a showroom. I'd like to pick up some of the kardas but I'd rather pick my own group. Thanks for the help!

Andy
 
I recently received one of their currently made MKIII khukuris and was so unimpressed with it that I sent it back within 2-3 hours of receiving it.

I then sent Mr. Pradeep Windlass of Atlanta Cutlery/Windlass Steelcrafts an email to share my impressions with him, and this was his response (you may find it relates very much to the subject at hand):

Dear Mr. Jimenez,

I am sorry to observe that you have not liked the workmanship of the
Regimental Khukri shipped to you by Atlanta Cutlery, and have sent it back
for refund, which will be processed immediately on it's receipt. We will
also refund you the shipping charges.

I would just like to take this opportunity to explain to you that the
regimental khukri received by you is exactly the same as bought by the
Indian Army. The emphasis of the Indian Army is on the functionality of this
fearsome blade and not on the cosmetic appearance. This khukri is used
mostly for jungle clearance and other chores, and is not used as an elite
forces tactical knife, as the other more priveleged armed forces of the
western world. The price that the Indian Army can afford to pay for this big
chunk of hand forged, full tempered high carbon blade does not allow for
cosmetic treatments. Even at $ 29.95, it is a lot of steel, with a sheath
made out of genuine leather and wood, and two small knives, which
incidentally are also the same as the ones bought by the Indian Army. The
Regimental Khukris for as far as I can remember always had two kardas, which
were used for skinning in the old days, but are now just traditional. The
chakma is offered with the officer's pattern khukri, which also has a better
finish, and a smaller blade, with a horn handle. We make the same regimental
khukri specially for the US embassy in New Delhi, India, of a much higher
quality proportional to the price paid. The romance behind the traditional
knife of the famous Gurkhas does make the expectations of collectors to get
a better quality knife, but once again this particular khukri is more for
it's functional values to the Indian soldier. The MkIII pattern from the
second World War, which we acquired from the Royal Nepalese Army with our
purchase of their entire inventory of old British Victorian firearms, is
also of the same fit and finish, or rather poorer.

Once again, I sincerely regret your dissatisfaction over the cosmetic
appearance of the Khukri.

Kind regards,

Pradeep Windlass.


If your interested in reading my complete impressions of this knife, click onto this link:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371309
 
I have a Windlass khukuri from around 1990 or so. Assam Rifles model I think. Fit and finish isn't near as good as the worst HI blem. The handle was loose from day one, but I used some Zap-a-Gap superglue on that to snug it up. Recently sharpened it for fun using a file and diamond paddle. The steel seemed hard at first. The file skated on the steel, but then got softer as I filed deeper. Was able to put a very sharp edge on it, but imagine that edge won't last too long.

If you can afford HI, you will be much happier. JMHO.

Jeff
 
Wow, thanks. That was helpful. Andy
 
Very nice of Mr. Windlass to send a personal note.

I've heard very good things about him, and I believe that Uncle Bill thought highly of him.

I'll stick to HI for my khuks, though.
 
I was in communique with him before, during and after the order of the knife. My "visual impressions" review does have a few other emails that he sent me concerning these knives.

Overall, though I did not keep the knife, I was able to gain some information from Mr. Windlass. For this alone it was not all a waste of time :)
 
Aardvark "I'll stick to HI for my khuks, though."

I also perfer HI Khuks, but must advise that Khukuri House makes a fine product that is more comparable to HI than to Windlass. I am happy to own two KH Khuks and they are good users. They have passed all my cutting tests (pennies, aluminum cans, hickory, oak, and dogwood) and all my prying tests (pried boards (screwed in) from a picnic table) just as well as my HI Chiruwa AK. Using a file to test hardness, they seem to behave like my CAK too. Unfortunately they are less personal since you have no connection with the Kamis and less collectable (in my meager opinion) than HI knives because of above and also blade shapes are very similar for the most part. Not Khukrappies at all though.

Andy
 
IIRC, Windlass (dba Atlanta Cutlery in the U.S.) was selling Mk. III's (AKA "K45") to the Indian government for the equivalent of under $2.00 U.S. each, FOB the Windlass plant. That did not include a scabbard. Sooooo . . . .

I have seen them very soft (really rip under file) and too hard to file. That would amount to inconsistent heat-treatment. My example came with loose handle scales and was just soft enough to cut with a new file.

Some units buy their own.
 
Cndrm and I were etching some khuks a bit earlier and I decided to toss my Windlass into the mix; what with this thread going on and all, I was curious. It would not hold an edge in the field so I was pretty sure that it was just through hardened to a spring temper or similar. I was almost certain that it wasn't a differential heat treat.

I was wrong.

I don't know what to make of this, other than that I now understand why it wouldn't hold an edge. It...well, you'll see.

First pic is just after etch (hardened portion is black), second pic is after polishing. Hamon is faint and there is no transition at all - just hard here, soft there. Very unusual.

I'm still trying to figure this out. Anyway, here are the pics. Draw your own conclusions. (And no, I did not Photoshop these - these are real, and I have a witness...otherwise, I wouldn't have believed it myself.)

lion1.jpg


lion3.jpg


Now tell me that ain't something else. :cool: YMMV, of course.
 
Dave is that the Windlass Assam Rifles model?

If so I have changed my mind about getting one to play with. They aren't worth much to begin with and with that much cho creep what I wanted to do wouldn't be worth the amount of work involved.:(
 
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