WW II K45 vs K

[John Powell]

Just to show how difficult it is to classify the WW II pieces I showed in the other thread, here are two more kukris.

The lower knife is the typical K45 (marked 1941 on the scabbard and G 7 on either side of the blade for the 7th Gurkha Rifles). The other knife is the "K" model made later and post war for Gurkha troops in India. You can see that the scabbard is well done and has a space for a excellent quality karda and chakma. The blade on the upper knife is of high quality steel and you always find this model with panna butta (scale) horn grips, no bolster and sometimes no 'ring' on the grip.

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JP

 

[Lt. Dan]

This is great stuff. Many thanks!

 

[Craig Gottlieb]

Do you find that horn handles on old khukuris to be cracked more than wood handles, or is there no pattern either way?

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor

 

[John Powell]

Craig,
I don't find either one cracks more on the old knives, in fact these old pieces hold up very well. Older close grained wood maybe?I found more problems on new wooden grips than anything else. Humidity being the main cause.

The old knives show stress cracks from use and shrinkage as shown in the picture of the wooden handle. The wood dehydrated so much it pulled away from the blade. Both this horn handle and wood are from 1850 thru 1870.

The horn handle is just plain flaking apart from age. I hope you can see the damage on both.

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JP