handle for "bhujaali" alias "kukri" - need suggestions

[marthandan]

hi there...need your guidance once again. have designed a handle for the blade that i had posted earlier.

it will be a take down handle with a wooden handle and brass or SS bolster. have altered the profile of the blade slightly to accommodate for wear and tear as well as to remove the double recurve. it looks more like a fighter than a camp knife. might need to reduce the acuteness of the tip. need your suggestions regarding these aspects as well as the angle of the handle in respect to the blade.

2012-01-12 13.23.46-1.jpg

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[kalashnikovcult]

give it a good 'stomach' but you been really great ...nice work...

[Moin.]

hi there...need your guidance once again. have designed a handle for the blade that i had posted earlier.

it will be a take down handle with a wooden handle and brass or SS bolster. have altered the profile of the blade slightly to accommodate for wear and tear as well as to remove the double recurve. it looks more like a fighter than a camp knife. might need to reduce the acuteness of the tip. need your suggestions regarding these aspects as well as the angle of the handle in respect to the blade.

2012-01-12 13.23.46-1.jpg

2012-01-12 13.24.24-1-1.jpg

Hi Marthandan, IMHO, the blades got a very nice form and free flowing lines. These blades are not for thrusting so the guard can probably be avoided or may not be so pronounced. I would rather prefer the handle to be an extension of the clean lines of the blade, rather than doing a fancy ergonomic handle with a fancier guard. Keep it minimal and it will turn out lovely.

Best Regards
Moin.

[marthandan]

thank you...both of you.

moin...you have a point there...will see how a simpler handle and bolster turns out...

[essdee1972]

Marthandan, great blade you got there! The cutout of the full thing looks cool, too! Nice, flowing lines, as Moin says, good to cut anything! If you ever market this thing, I'll be in queue!

By the way, I would suggest you keep a full tang, riveted / screwed as well as glued to the handle. Had a slightly bad experience with a local Darjeeling-made kukri with this type of pointed tang - came loose after a few slashing cuts on nice green wood.

Cheers!

EssDee

[marthandan]

2012-01-13 17.47.44-1.jpg

change of plans...
the blade will be made into a fighter(top one) for the blade is 11" long and i don't want to reduce the length to <9" and hence lose the beautiful curve of the blade.
have decided to make a full tang bush knife from scratch (bottom photo).
probable specs:
blade length - 9"
overall length - 13.5 "
thickness - 6 ~ 8 mm
blade material - spring plate (5160) or file steel (W1 or W2...i think)
handle - laminated leather or buffalo
bolster - 416 SS
PS: would love to make the knife out of 440C steel. could someone direct me to a possible source for buying the steel and for heat treating it?

essdee...thank you...i am sorry, but i don't plan to make it for anyone...i can send it to you if you want...you can make one yourself. it will take a few months though...

moin...i believe you will like the design for the bush knife...simple and elegant ...if i may say so myself...

[Moin.]

2012-01-13 17.47.44-1.jpg

change of plans...
the blade will be made into a fighter(top one) for the blade is 11" long and i don't want to reduce the length to <9" and hence lose the beautiful curve of the blade.
have decided to make a full tang bush knife from scratch (bottom photo).
probable specs:
blade length - 9"
overall length - 13.5 "
thickness - 6 ~ 8 mm
blade material - spring plate (5160) or file steel (W1 or W2...i think)
handle - laminated leather or buffalo
bolster - 416 SS
PS: would love to make the knife out of 440C steel. could someone direct me to a possible source for buying the steel and for heat treating it?

essdee...thank you...i am sorry, but i don't plan to make it for anyone...i can send it to you if you want...you can make one yourself. it will take a few months though...

moin...i believe you will like the design for the bush knife...simple and elegant ...if i may say so myself...

Hi marthandan, please see this link.

http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/catalog/ ... 13932fecc3

Since you will be doing a full tang blade how about extending it beyond the handle with a lanyard hole to work as a glass breaker/impact device.

How comfortable will the handle be in the template you have made with the bulge in the centre of the handle. And since this will be a bush knife why keep it 6-8 mm. Can't a thicker blade be tried, since the length of teh blade is restricted to 9"

Regards
Moin.

[marthandan]

moin...

a flat pommel might be more useful than a glass breaker / chisel point. forgot the lanyard hole. thank you. the handle's design is very fluid right now and i will finalise it only when i am actually making the handle.

10721194.jpg

have cut down small trees and branches using hatchets like the one above. none of them were more than 6mm thick. i believe chopping is more about weight distribution than weight.

2012-01-13 17.47.44-1-1.jpg

the blade is 1.25" wide at the narrowest point and 1.75" wide at the widest point. plan to increase this to 1.5" and 2" . what do you think?

[Moin.]

moin...

a flat pommel might be more useful than a glass breaker / chisel point. forgot the lanyard hole. thank you. the handle's design is very fluid right now and i will finalise it only when i am actually making the handle.

10721194.jpg

have cut down small trees and branches using hatchets like the one above. none of them were more than 6mm thick. i believe chopping is more about weight distribution than weight.

2012-01-13 17.47.44-1-1.jpg

the blade is 1.25" wide at the narrowest point and 1.75" wide at the widest point. plan to increase this to 1.5" and 2" . what do you think?

Hi Marthandan, the extended tang/glass breaker is found in the superb series of Bush knives by ESEE/Rat Cutlery so I assumed it would add some value to the balde. Some outdoorsman would probably know what the use for the same is on a bush knife. Looks Super Cool too

Weight distribution yes, but a thicker knife blade will give you a more deeper wedge shaped and thus reduced effort on chopping. The very opposite being the thin slicing fish fillet knife. A larger angle of the wedge the better the chopping power I would assume.

A small difference between the narrowest point in the blade and the widest will make the blade look like a sickle. A larger differnce will give you the forward weighted blade like a khuk which will give you that added chopping power.

I may be wrong on the above.

regards
Moin