Wwii

mott

mott

Joined
Aug 6, 2001
Messages
166
well it's finally getting cold enough around here to light the fireplace, so I pulled out my WWII model and started to chop some kindling.
about midway through the second piece I had to stop and pull shards of horn out of my hand, the handle is starting to seperate from the bolster in front and causing the horn in back to jam up against the bolster and fragment.
any suggestions?
 
That's too bad Mott. The only suggestion I have, other than sending it back to Uncle Bill, is to get a pan of water boiling and soak the handle in it for about 7-10 minutes or until the handle will move a bit on the tang. Be dayumed careful and use a good heavy pot holder or glove to hold the khuk with while doing it.
The laha in a semi-molting state is still very hot indeed and would be just like hot tar in its action on bare skin.
Doing this should reset the laha firming everything back up once again when it cools off.
If it's real bad with damage to the handle you might want to send it back.
Or Uncle Bill may work out a deal with you to send it to Terry for a replacement handle if it's needed.

I've noticed that there can be lots of difference in the laha. Some of it's hard enough to mould into arrow points I believe!!!!
The colors vary greatly, I assume from different ingredients. Some is black or reddish black and some is almost as clear as a purified tree pitch.
 
This may be another Dasein related problem. If it is that will make 3 so there should be one more.

Terry can fix it for sure if you can't. Just send it directly to him for repair. No cost to you and I'll refund your shipping cost or give you a credit against your next purchase -- IF you remind me.
 
Which gave away first? The horn handle or the bolster?

So, this year one tang and two handle failures.
 
I hope that the WWII I'm ordering won't be subject to this sort of stuff...Dasein ended only about three or four days ago...
 
To keep things normal we should have one more failure of some kind. 4 is the magic number for Dasein failures.
 
Originally posted by Quadro151
Yvsa,
What is purified tree pitch made from and what are its uses?

Thanks,
Quad
Click to expand...


Just what it says Quad.:) Tree pitch is the sap that's ran out of a wound on the tree, pines are good about this, and then dried.
It can be picked off the tree, but if you're gonna use it for glue it has to be heated and strained, purifying it, to get any bugs, pieces of bark, and the like out of it.
The Old Ones used to use it to glue their Flute's together with. The Flutes sometimes had different things written on the inside sometimes and by glueing them with the pitch they could be warmed up and taken apart so the secret could be passed on to the young ones.:)

The kamis mix all sorts of different and sometimes strange, to us, ingredients such as blood, urine and the like according to
Uncle Bill.
One wouldn't want to eat it or use it for chewing gum.;):eek: :barf:
 
:barf:

They use whatever is available at BirGorkha. The purified version comes in "tablets", maybe about the size of an Alka Selzer and works really well. It's sticky enough so that you can apply it where you want it and then heat it up to melting. Much easier than handling the boiling stuff.
 
Yvsa,
Thanks, i was wondering about the purified part of it, i had used spruce pitch for making torches at the campfire (fun until they drip, then they are a little tricky), and worked with my dad and brother to make sweet maple sugar from maple sap, but had never heard of purified pitch.

Uncle,
I sure wouldn't want to be the one handling the boiling stuff, doesn't sound all together too fun...

Quad
 
The village kamis generally don't have a choice so have to use whatever they can concoct themselves.
 
Uncle,
Thats impressive that they do so well with whatever they are provided with, i wouldnt know where to start! another demonstration of how ingenius (compared to your average american) the Nepali are.

Quad
 
I had a similar handle failure to the one you described. I filed a line through the bolster and removed it. You might need to heat it up to separate it from the epoxy. I used a propane torch to do this but care is required as the horn burns. I then chipped the ga off the handle and blade. I pried the handle apart and filled the handle-tang gap with 30 minute work time epoxy. After that I used a hose clamp to squeeze the handle back together. After the epoxy cured I build formed another bolster with steel re-enforced epoxy.

The epoxy bolster cracked on the first try. It had to be chipped off with a chisel and mallet. The second bolster attempt was a success and is still in service, as is the knife.

Will
 
I remember when you fixed that knife, Will, and it will probably keep on going for another 50 or 100 years.
 
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