Here's a custom order I'm working on right now, figured I'd share some of the making of photos. Steel is 15N20 and 1084, no mystical reason behind the choice of steels other than I like the way it works and holds an edge, plus I love the look I get after etching. Sorry if a few of these pics are a little blurry but I'm just shooting from my phone as I'm working so no real time to be too darn professional about it.. Anyway, I had some other things going on this week and haven't had a chance to finish it, but I'll be doing the heat treatment as a demonstration this weekend during my knife making class. Enjoy!

-J

I have a "Kukri" question. What are the notches in front of the guard for? They seem to be a pretty common Kukri feature.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have a "Kukri" question. What are the notches in front of the guard for? They seem to be a pretty common Kukri feature.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have read that nobody really knows anymore as the answer is lost in antiquity.  Some believe the notches symbolize a cow's udder (sacred Hindu symbol), others say it symbolizes the lower nether regions of Shiva.  Still others say it is a shock absorbing feature - this because very few traditional kukri have full tangs.  I like the last explanation because every old kukri I have examined has a rat-tail tang that is riveted over the pommel and it stands to reason that some give on a large blade might be a good engineering detail.

That notch is called the cho. What it's exactly for has pretty much been lost through the ages but there's plenty of wild speculation out there on the net. Historically it's not present on every kukri but its prevalent enough to have been associated with it. I've heard everything from using it as a defensive mechanism to cutting a finger just saw the blade always draws blood when it's removed from the sheath. Personally, there's so much variation in cho designs that I think it could have just been an expression of the makers art or talent, perhaps there are even regionally diverse. But I'm not knowledgeable enough to give a real reason, which along with my earlier Internet citation, I don't think anyone else is either. Lol

-J

I have a "Kukri" question. What are the notches in front of the guard for? They seem to be a pretty common Kukri feature.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, lost in antiquity works for me. Now I can speculate wildly and not look any dumber than anyone else!

My first thought was a blade catcher not really a "sword breaker" but similar. Were one to parry a blade with the Kukri held perpendicular and slid against the guard it might be possible to catch the other blade between the guard and notches for a disarm.

Hmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Thanks, lost in antiquity works for me. Now I can speculate wildly and not look any dumber than anyone else!

My first thought was a blade catcher not really a "sword breaker" but similar. Were one to parry a blade with the Kukri held perpendicular and slid against the guard it might be possible to catch the other blade between the guard and notches for a disarm.

Hmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 And that very well could be a reason, specially since there's no guard or a flared bolster for hand protection. Its a knife fight afterall, you're going to get cut, the objective is to cut the other guy more. 

-J

Its a knife fight afterall, ......   the objective is to cut the other guy more. 

-J

or first, if you do it right.

LOL. I was always taught the first rule of a knife fight is don't. Just don't. Run, cheat, do whatever, but don't if there's any way out.

The older handles on kukris were partial tang instead of stick tang....according to me references.  And had a disc pommel, guard, and a ridge ring in th middle. Sometimes a plaited cane band and iron ring. Much changed over time.

I was teaching a knife making class this weekend with two teenagers, one of which was my son, so I didn't have all the time in the world to work on it but there were a few moments when I got to demonstrate a few things and I took advantage of them. Struck while the iron was hot, as we say. Anyway, I got the heat treatments done, polish and the first etching. Also, not pictured, I got the handle roughed out and ready for attachment. I'm going to be casting some pewter for the bolsters and for the cap - hopefully tomorrow. Still lots of work and touch ups to be done, but it's coming together. Here's the new pictures, enjoy!

-J

My rule of knife fighting got Forbidden! <grrrr>

My first rule of knife fights is be the better chef.

Frosty The Lucky.

Edited July 13, 201511 yr by Frosty

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished Kukri J.

Frosty The Lucky.

"The winner of a knife fight is the one that makes it to the ER before exsanguination"

I think the first rule of a knife fight should be "Don't let them see it coming."

My favorite knife fight rules are from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishnu_Shrestha

It's size of the fight in the dog...

as some of you already know; I also teach Jujutsu.  One of my students was very good at knife techniques, but it was going to his head, so I agreed to spar him and see what he can do.  We each had a Sharpe Marker to represent a knife, and wore old t shirts, to protect our uniforms.  He was very happy after the 3 minute round because he noticed I had a 1 inch cut near my right knife hand on the wrist, and a longer cut on my mid arm they would have totally disabled my right arm.  He commented about how well he felt he did, and he didnt see any marks on him.   I bowed to him and told him to get back in uniform and re join the class.  He was smiling very big and was so proud, even noticing the class was smiling and snickering as he walked to the dressing rooms. 

I held up a finger for the class to get quiet and lilsten for  "it".   Shortly after he entered the changing area, we all hear him yell, for he saw his face in the mirror.. I had written my name on his forehead, and the marker was not water based.   It took a few days to wear off.   He learned a valuable lesson that day.  While he did indeed cut me a few times, I would have messed him up also, we both were in trouble.  The lesson is that if you are in a fight you will get hurt;  A stick or club will hit you; a knife will cut you; a gun will shoot you. 

The best way to 'win' a fight is to not be there if a fight happens, and no matter how good we think we are, there is always some one better.

Forbidden again! arghhhh!!!!

I've been run around by the only contact with IPS I have long enough. This time I copied and pasted the "Forbidden" reply and asked for an explanation. I expect to be blocked soon now.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Forbidden again! arghhhh!!!!

I've been run around by the only contact with IPS I have long enough. This time I copied and pasted the "Forbidden" reply and asked for an explanation. I expect to be blocked soon now.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

time to chang that name to something like "Frosty the Sometime Lucky That IPS Lets My Post Go Through"

J

time to chang that name to something like "Frosty the Sometime Lucky That IPS Lets My Post Go Through"

J

Yeah, like the IPS staff cares enough to check how the forum is working. I'm just going to make an annoyance of myself to them, I strongly doubt it'll make a difference but it's a way to share the IPS experience.

Frosty The Lucky.

I don't think I've gotten the "Forbidden" notification yet. I did get an email warning the other day for "spamming" that I didn't understand. Then I looked at the post in question and found that it had been edited for (what I assume to be) foul language.

Forbidden again! arghhhh!!!!

I've been run around by the only contact with IPS I have long enough. This time I copied and pasted the "Forbidden" reply and asked for an explanation. I expect to be blocked soon now.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

It would be a shame if you got blocked or booted. I was just starting to like you!

Naw, I'm being a pest to Charlie on his/er company email address. I joined their forum where other customers are TRYING to resolve problems IPS seems unable or unconcerned with resolving. The gripes are pretty consistently the same as or similar to ours. It's a pretty easy to read pattern of incompetence and gross neglect of contractual obligations.

I figure Charlie will block me from his/er email address, it's not like I've done anything illegal or even against their rules. I'm just taking up a moderate % of his/er inbox with polite requests for explanations about their lousy service. Seriously Charlie is in sales, I haven't found a way into a dept that actually does anything IT.

Frosty The Lucky.

So I just got the "Forbidden" thing after trying to reply to another post. Man that's annoying. I guess you are supposed to copy every post before hiting the "submit" button, just in case you get "Forbidden" and lose everything you just wrote.

So I just got the "Forbidden" thing after trying to reply to another post. Man that's annoying. I guess you are supposed to copy every post before hiting the "submit" button, just in case you get "Forbidden" and lose everything you just wrote.

Ayup and it's an intermittent problem it lulls you into thinking it's been fixed then disappear one you've worked hard on. After its happened a couple times in one day I start copying the post, save a copy in Word and paste a copy in an email to Charlie asking for an explanation for why it was bounced. All I'm getting now is a boiler plate response so I'm filling his/er mailbox with reasonable requests and evidence of their incompetence.

Just sharing the displeasure with their product and being polite.

Frosty The Lucky.

following a thread there where they stated how wonderful IPS 4 is, only a few have any issues...  and no one forced us to upgrade, and another comment about if we have any experience with computers, we should have known that a new release would be buggy and held off on the up grade ??!?!?!?!... THAT honks me off more that the rest.

One guy posted a photo of his 70's challanger, and pointed out he does not do upgrades if he can avoid them   but I gotta wonder if they understand my philosophy of "if you take my money and dont follow through, I will kick their hiney?"

Yup once you get back to the real folk it will be more like: if [ $USERNAME==Frosty ] then mv $POST /dev/null/