Category Archives: Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

April 2017 – My EDC Knife is a ZT 0350BW

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A while back I screwed up the blog and re-posted an old post about my every day carry (EDC) knife being a Kershaw Compound.  While that was a great knife, I did eventually replace it – with my daughter’s approval.  I have always liked Zero Tolerance knives.  Think of them as a higher end brand to Kershaw.  Both are owned by KAI USA, so I think it is fair to say that.  In the past I owned a ZT 200 and that was just way too big to be an EDC.  It’s a huge folder but not something I wanted to lug around in the shop all the time.  I actually sold it and wound up buying a ZT 350.  The 350 is way slimmer and lighter but still has assisted opening.  It’s a hair over 4-1/2″ long when closed and about 7-5/8″ when open.  It’s about 0.518″ wide not including the belt clip and my digital scale says it weighs 6.2 oz.

Size and weight are important to me because I keep this in my front pants pocket.  I don’t want a ton of weight dragging down jeans, sweats or shorts nor do I want to have it really noticeable or uncomfortable.  On that last note, big and heavy knives suck in the front pocket – they need to go in a belt sheath, which I don’t want to wear unless I am camping or hunting.

The knife is designed by Ken Onion, who happens to be one of my favorite designers.  In addition to the very ergonomic handle he designed, the blade is made from S30V steel, which is excellent.  Now this is not a safe queen.  I dug back in my records and I’ve been using this since 2015.  I can’t tell you how many boxes, cords, ropes and plastic pails this thing has opened.  I don’t recall ever using it to pry things open but suspect it would hold up pretty well.  The following photos are of the blade in April 2017 and I didn’t bother cleaning it up.  The ZT black finish has held up remarkably well.

The S30V steel really holds an edge but it can be a bear to sharpen.  If you want a working edge, a Lansky Blade Medic pocket sharpener or diamond rod can help.  If you want a razor edge, I would recommend a Ken Onion Work Sharp (KOWS) belt sharpener or it will take forever by hand.  I use my KOWS all the time because it is quick and easy but do take both the Blade Medic and the rod on camping trips.

If you are interested in how I clean and lubricate my flipper knives so they continue to open smoothly, please click here.

So, there you go – that is my current EDC and I highly recommend it.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

2014 Restoration of a 21-1/8″ New Haven Edge Tool Co #3 Cleaver

This dates back to August 2014.  I scored a beat up but fascinating New Haven Edge Tool Co #3 Cleaver.  It was quite large measuring approximately 21-1/8″ long and 3.187 pounds.  The exact age was hard to say – it could be anywhere from 100-150 years old given the way it is made.   After doing some digging, one person doing research said that “New Haven Edge Tool Company” was  a Sargent Brand and the listed it discontinued in their 1911 catalog so that would mean this cleaver is likely older than that.  Regardless, you would never know it now.

It would appear to be cast iron and is just a big no nonsense brute of a cleaver.  It’s either ready to go to work or to be one heck of a conversation piece.  Let me tell you a bit about what we did after we bought it:

The handle was cracked and we stabilized it internally with a special Cyanoacrylate glue that penetrates wood very deeply.  We also used glass reinforced epoxy to seal the front of the handle where the blade is inserted.  The blade is actually secured via rat tail tang that goes through the whole handle and is peened over at the pommel to firmly secure it.  Once we had the handle all fixed up, we sanded it and then applied four coats of a penetrating combination of boiled linseed oil (BLO) and turpentine.

The blade was actually in very good shape and most of our work was cosmetic.  We did some sanding to shape it, abrasive blasted it and then used an acid etching based on apple cider vinegar and phosphoric acid (click here to learn more).  Once it was all set, we applied a thick coat of engine oil to stop the rusting.  If you plan to use this to cut meat, and it definitely will do the job, be sure to was the blade and then apply a cooking oil to the blade.  This will avoid making your food taste funny plus it will prevent rust.

So, here’s how it turned out before it found a new home:

Approximate Dimensions

Overall length:  21-1/8″

Blade length: 9-5/8″

Blade height by the handle:  3-7/8″

Blade height at its tallest point:  5-1/2″

Handle at its thickest point: 1-5/8″

Handle at its thinnest point in the middle:  1-1/4″

Weight:  3.187 pounds

By the way, the BSI Super Thin glue is fantastic for taking care of cracks.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

The Gerber Golok Machete is Pretty Wicked and Surprisingly Hefty!!

Ok, so I wind up clearing brush pretty regularly.  Usually its pine, vines, scrub oak and junk like that.  Back in June 2014, I bought a Ken Onion designed Half-A-Chance machete (CRKT K920KKP) from CRKT that has served me well (click here for my review).  On my last trip to clear brush this past fall, I accidentally left the Half-A-Chance at home and had to get a replacement machete.  Thankfully SMKW was on the way so I stopped in and tried out a bunch of different ones in terms of heft and balance.  When I got to the Gerber Golok, I was really surprised.  It’s surprisingly thick and that mass makes a big difference when taking out saplings so I bought it and used it to clear the small stuff.

It seems like an opportune time to compare the two and share my thoughts.  In the next photo, the top is the Half-A-Chance and the bottom is the Golok.

What really surprised me was that the thickness of the Golok’s blade.  Why Gerber doesn’t make a big deal about this, I don’t know because there are fans of knives with big blades.  The blade is 12″ long and made from MN65 steel, which is a spring steel that is roughly equivalent to 1065 steel, which is fairly common in machetes.  The blade comes in at 0.2566″ when I mike it and weighs 1 pound 10.8oz (26.8 oz). That is a lot of steel!  It’s like you are moving the design from being a classical machete more towards a chopper with that kind of width.  When I was hitting some dried oak and ash, the Half-A-Chance bit deeper than the Golok and I think it reflects the relatively thin blade of the Ken Onion design that mikes at 0.1147″ which is less than half the Golok.  The Half-A-Chance also weighs 20.3oz.

The blade on the left is Half-A-Chance and the right is the Golok on a piece of dried ash.

You can definitely see the the thicker Golok blade right away.  It’s the top blade on the left photo and the bottom blade on the right photo:

Just a closer view of the Half-A-Chance on top vs. the Golok on the bottom.  The Half-A-Chance’s handle is more ergonomic but the rubber coated Golok isn’t too bad.

The Half-A-Chance’s sheath is fancier while the Golok is simple and to the point.

Folks, in the end, the Golok is a chopper.  It’s heavy but too thick for the traditional fast slices you are doing with a machete.  I’d recommend the Half-a-Chance for thin stuff like vines and stuff under 3/8″ ballpark and the Golok for thicker vegetation where you need to chop but you are also starting to cross over into where a heavy khukuri or hatchet might serve you better.

While clearing the lot I did put a nick in the Golok and used my Work Sharp Ken Onion edition sharpener to take it right out when I got back to my shop. [Click here for my post on the KO sharpener.]

Bottom line, the Half-A-Chance machete is still my favorite and the first one I would grab to clear brush but the Golok is a keeper also because I like its mass and balance.  It’s a lot of blade for the money and I do like big blades.  You ought to take a look when you get some time or even pick one or both machetes up from Amazon.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

Restoring a Giant 24″ Hog Splitter

Everyone needs a hobby.  I guess mine is creating or fixing things in my own way.  Back in 2014, I bought an absolutely massive beat to hell 24-1/2″ hog splitter off eBay.  This thing was absolutely a diamond in the rough.  Clearly it had been used very heavily – probably for decades – yet there was an amazing design in that beat up cleaver as well.  First off, the blade was almost a half inch thick and it weighed about five pounds.  Back in the days before machinery, you need mass to butcher big animals and this was (and still is) the most massive cleaver I have personally worked with – imagine a baseball bat with one hell of a heavy end is what it boils down to.

In the eBay listing, the seller was up front – this thing was on its last leg.  The wood was all busted up, dirty as heck and the blade was loose.  Of course, I had to buy it!  Here’s what it looked like when it arrived.  Why I did not get an overall photo at the start, I do not know.

There were no maker’s marks anywhere but it was too professionally done to have been a village blacksmith.  I still wonder who made this as I would love to track down more of them.  If you have one, or find one, and are interested in potentially parting with it, let me know.  I’d even be happy with just the giant blade.

Getting back to the story, I had to look it over and take stock.  This thing was stunningly heavy and the wood was busted up because it was thin and hollow.

There had to be more than what I was seeing so I broke the frozen on nut and pulled the handle off.  Wow.  There was the largest rat tail tang I had ever seen – and still haven’t seen one bigger!!  That’s how they spread the load.  What an interesting design.

Now, the wood totally intrigued me.  There was something about the color that caught my eye so I decided to fill it with glass reinforced epoxy.  Now not all epoxies are equal.  When you do structural work like this, you need an excellent shock resistant epoxy.  My go to epoxy for stuff like this is Acraglas liquid epoxy from Brownells.  

I but it in quart bulk containers and meter it out using syringes or a digital scale.  I use 5/32nds milled glass fibers and black dye to color it.  Fortunately, it’s the same dye I use for my plastics but you can either buy from Brownells or elsewhere.  So, over the course of several days, I mixed, poured and let it sit overnight as it takes Acraglas 24 hours to cure so this work is done in steps.

I used wood stripper to try and get all the grease and oils out of the handle plus I drilled open the end to fill it easier.  By the way, if you heat epoxy with a heat gun, it will get thinner and flow more readily until it cools.  Gentle warmth also accelerates curing of the epoxy but remember that just because epoxy feels dry to the touch does not mean it has fully cured – read the instructions for whatever brand you go with.

Next, I sanded, sanded and sanded.  The wood was very interesting – maybe a cherry or mahogany.  I’m not really sure.

The rat tang was HUGE.  I carefully marked where it was at and drilled holes for two brass pins just to play it safe.  I’ve never had Acraglas let go from a clean prepped surface but never say never.  The pins are a cheap insurance for a giant blade like this.  I inserted the 3/16″ pins with epoxy and then added epoxy to all the imperfections followed by more sanding.  Notice how I blasted the pins before gluing?  Epoxy always, always, always does better on a rough surface.  Do not epoxy two shiny metal surfaces together and expect them to last – they probably will not.

Now this took my breath away.  I used a 50/50 combination of turpentine and boiled linseed oil (BLO), put it in a tank I have just for these big cleavers and let it sit for a few hours before I pulled it out.  The color blew me away.  Wow!!  I wiped it down and then applied additional coats of BLO to seal it.

My last steps were to acid etch the blade (click here for our guide to acid etching), seal everything with BLO and then make a blade guard.  Mission accomplished.

To protect the blade edge, not to mention protect other things from the edge, I made a protective cover out of 0.093 Kydex and 3/8″ shock (bungee) cord.

That bad boy weighed 5-1/4 pounds and was solid as a rock.  I keep looking for another one like it.  I never did find out where it was made but it sure was a stunner.  This is another project that part of me wishes I had kept it but it went to a very happy new owner shortly after I finished it.

3/4/2020 Update: This is still the most wicked restored cleaver I have done. The wood was simply gorgeous.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

The following is a real-time search of eBay using keywords that have worked for me in the past and I hope they help you find something (note a few odd items might show up just like any other search does):

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris, Gunsmithing, Tools

Acid Etching Steel With Apple Cider Vinegar

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Some folks have asked how I get the dull grey look on khukuris that I used to work on.  The answer is simple – apple cider vinegar straight from the grocery.  I’ve also experimented with various ratios of Prep-and-Etch, which contains Phosphoric Acid, and gotten a darker color but apple cider works remarkably well.  Apple cider vinegar contains 5-10% acetic acid (CH3COOH) depending on how it is made.  For example, I read that Heinz is about 5%.  My local store carries Spartan brand, which is their store brand, and it works just fine – again, this is apple cider vinegar from the grocery store.  

This process only works with steels that can rust.  For example a mild steel or high carbon.  It will not work on stainless, aluminum, etc.

Safety Notes:

I would recommend doing this outside or some place very well ventilated or else if the acetic acid condenses on metal surfaces in your shop/garage, it will cause rust.

Wear safety glasses and don’t goof around with the stuff.  I’ve never had a problem but probably need to say some kind of warning here.

Process:

  1. Clean the part and remove all oil and grease.  Either hose it down really well with brake cleaner or soak it in acetone.  Any oil, even from your skin, will mess you up.  
  2. Abrasive blast the part – I use “The Original Black Beauty” media that I get at my local farm supply store.  It’s made from coal slag and is fairly environmentally friendly.  It does break down quick so if you use your blast cabinet a lot, be prepared to clean it out and add new media when performance starts to suffer.  Blasting will get you a really nice uniform surface color.  I suppose you could try sanding or wire brushing but blasting has worked the best for me and is all I do now.  My only recommendation is not to use sand because as it breaks down it creates a fine dust that will never come out of your lungs – read that as “bad”.  I do use a blast cabinet with a vacuum to get rid of dust, you could do this outside with a hand blaster or tank blaster and dust mask if you needed to.  I wear a hood when blasting outside as the media goes everywhere.  Just protect yourself is the bottom line.
  3. Wear rubber gloves and clean the part again – the gloves are to keep oils from your skin from contaminating the part and preventing etching.  Cleanliness is critical.
  4. Put the part in cider that is at least 70 degrees.  I like 100-150.  If it is too cold the reaction slows waaaaay down.  I don’t like to get it super hot or boil it as you lose a ton of cider with no real benefit.  I have done this in everything from stainless steel containers to plastic containers and even plastic trays used for wallpaper with halogen lights warming it up.  In general the colder the cider the slower the etching and the hotter the cider the faster the etching bearing in mind you will have the cider evaporating faster.
    Note:  If you do not see bubbles coming off the part then either the solution is too cold (especially on cold days under 70F), the part is not clean or ready (so clean and blast it) or the cider too weak.  I’ve never had an issue with weak cider – always the first two.
  5. Submerge the part in the acid and let it sit for 15-30 minutes.  It’s not a strong acid so there’s no rush.  Just check the part and stop at the color you want. The warmer the water and the part, the faster the reaction and vice versa.
  6. Rinse with hot water
  7. Rub down with WD40 and steel wool to get the loose particles off
  8. Then I like to seal it with boiled linseed oil (BLO).  Some of you may know BLO for woodworking but it is an old school rust inhibitor.  If you don’t want BLO, then thoroughly oil your part.

I like the results.  No real harmful chemicals are used, it’s cheap and looks great.

3/4/2020 Update: I recently did some blog posts on building a cost effective digitally controlled heat tank from PVC pipe that is perfect for acid etching – click here for that one. I’m also using a ferric chloride and apple cider etching solution now – click here for that one.

Photos:

The light brown solution is just apple cider.  If it is darker, it was 25-50% Prep-and-Etch + the vinegar.

Use whatever container works. These were from a bunch of zip ties I bought once.
You can see the abraded surface from the abrasive blaster. You can acid etch without this step but I find doing this first really makes for a good finish plus all the tiny nooks and crannies really let the BLO grab hold.
This one is getting ready to go it. I use WD40 when done to remove the water – it literally means “Water Displacement” forumula 40 and excels at that.
You will see lots of little bubbles. I go by the color of the etched steel more than I do the degree of fizzing or time.
These two have already gone through the process.
I like the post apocalyptic look it gives.
This giant cleaver was acid etched and then sealed with BLO.
Another angle of the big “splitter”. The blade is over a 1/2″ thick!
Another cleaver.

Abrasive Blasting

You can usually get a coal slag blast media very, very cheap from farm stores.  Check there first because off Amazon you are paying a pretty penny for shipping whether they bury it in the item’s price or call it out separate.  I think I pay $7-9 per 25# bag at Family Farm and Home.

This is the actual product I use:  http://www.blackbeautyabrasives.com/products/black-beauty-original-abrasives.php

Now for the blasting, you have tons of options – hand blaster for small work, siphon blaster, pressurized tank or cabinets.  It all depends on how much blasting you plan to do.  I started out with a siphon blaster – dirt cheap but very slow.  I then got a tank and it was very fast and portable but media went everywhere.  I still have that for working on cars and big parts.  However, for my grips, gun parts and knives, I use my blast cabinet.  I have a Cyclone brand large bench unit and am relatively happy.  If I had it to do over, I would have gotten a free standing unit with a bigger and deeper hopper so I’m not constantly hitting the side or moving media around by hand.  I have a foot control pedal and that really helps plus it gets a the pneumatics out of the cabinet where they would normally be subject to abrasive dust and wear.

Cyclone Manufacturing
http://www.cycloneblasters.com/

My pressurized tank blaster is a Harbor Freight unit.  It’s held up relatively fine other than my constantly wearing out valves and tips.  The tank itself is just fine.
http://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-pressurized-abrasive-blaster-68992.html

Summary

Acid etching is easy and rewarding. I like using BLO to seal things partly because of the color it imparts.

I hope this gives you some ideas!

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Himalayan Imports Khukuris

Custom Himalayan Imports Uddha Sword – 24″ Overall with a 16.5″ Blade by Bura

I bought a beat up HI Uddha sword about a year back where the handle was toast.  The cool part was that the blade was made by Bura, who was one of the best kamis in Nepal.  He had to retire due to health problems and his blades are collector’s items now.  At any rate, I decided to replace the trashed handled with black paper micarta, acid etched the blade and made a custom Kydex sheath.  It has a new owner now but thought you might find it interesting.

Specs:

24″ overall

16.5″ Blade

7.5″ Handle

Weight of the sword alone:  1.86 pounds

Weight of sheath:  1.08 pounds

Total weight:  2.94 pounds

 

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Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris, Himalayan Imports Khukuris

What can a custom 21″ HI Sirupati look like?

This HI Sirupati had a 16-17″ blade and was about 21″ overall when it arrived to us with a busted handle so the first step was to boil it and a few others with bad handles and then pry it off:

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I made two new handles by gluing assembled blocks around the tangs of the two Sirupatis.  I didn’t mention it before, but they are twins – both about 21″ long so you can see a before and after shot.  The trick was to form a block made of black paper micarta and black glass reinforced Acraglas epoxy.  I then used my new Esteem grinder to remove the parts of the micarta that didn’t feel like a handle:

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The following photos are of the first completed Sirupati that has an acid etched blade and its custom sheath made from 0.093″ thick Kydex:

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The intent of posting this is to show how a very traditional looking khukuri can look after some modernizing.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

How to Moisturize a Horn Handle on a Khukuri

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I regularly am asked about how to moisturize or condition a horn handle.  This is important because if horn shrinks then it will likely split because it can’t shrink uniformly due to all the glue, different moisture levels, etc.  With that said, there is a very easy fix.  You can use hoof conditioner for horses to impart oils back into the horn.  I gently warm the horn slightly and the conditioner and then rub it into the horn by hand.  It’s important to use a bare hand so the warmth of your body is helping keep everything liquid.  I will work the conditioner in for about 5-10 minutes and then let it sit until it looks dry and depending on the temperature that might be 10-15 minutes or even just when I get back around to it.

I then repeat the above 2-4 times depending on how fast the conditioner is being absorbed.  I then buff the horn with a cloth handle and let it sit.  That’s it – mission accomplished.

I would recommend to khukuri owners to do this a couple of times per year if possible – especially in the fall and spring when the temperatures and humidity are changing.

I like Hooflex but just about any will do.  This may just be a personal preference but I was told to use thicker conditioners years ago vs.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.