Fiddled enough!

As the title says: I have been fiddling with the photo at the top and the tittle for my blog. I am going to keep the blog name I  started with and leave it alone now!

The Iceman's kit

The Iceman's knife and sheath

I'd like to draw attention to this blog's post about Otzi, the Iceman, whose body was discovered coming out of a glacier in the Alps some years ago.   The Iceman's kit


It is a very good re-assement of what the kit the Iceman carried and the author gives some reasons why he thinks some of the kit was missed.

Kitchen knives

I am now working on  a small range of new kitchen knives. No photos as yet but I will be adding them as soon as the real work on the knives has taken place. All will be carbon steel blades from about 2" to 8" long cutting edges. Stay tuned!

Improving and tidying my blog

I am changing the design of my blog somewhat and I am also tidying it up, the electronic version of  a spring clean!  I have also added my  most popular posts to the side-bar.

Hopefully this will make it easier for you the visitor to find what interests you the most.

On knife making

I have been thinking lately. Where am I going with my knife making?  To be frank I like making knives, but I also need to sell as many as I can. That creates a conflict in me between what I'd like to spend my time doing, and what I need to do. I like to create knives one at a time, I like to take my time, do a bit today, nothing tomorrow, and a maybe a lot the next day, and I can fit that between the other things in my life.. When I make knives on commission, that changes things, it is obvious the person who orders the knife probably wants it as soon as possible, which is understandable. So I need to discipline myself to do it as rapidly as possible, and that create the confict I mentioned above.

The problem for me is that I have an artist view of things. I am not a businessman. I may need money, like everybody else there are bills to pay, but I am not motivated by money. I can understand what made some artists, like Van Gogh, die in poverty!!!

So I need to find a solution to my dilemma. Perhaps what I need to do is to stop taking commissions, That would permit me to make the knives I want to make, at the speed and to the standard I wish. Perhaps also, I need to concentrate more on some type of knives: I am thinking folders and kitchen knives in priority over the other type of knives I have made... I feel those may have a more extensive market that other knives,

The folders because it maybe easier to sell a really nice folding pocket knife, with blades under 3" in this country, and people may be more prepared to carry one in their pocket without fear (real or perceived) of getting into trouble with the law.

The kitchen knives? There are plenty of cooks, and everyone need kitchen knives!!
 
Gotta do some more thinking!

My first old Kukri

Discounting the one my daughter got for herself, this is the first Kukri I have just received through a deal with a gentleman who wanted one of my knives. I am certainly happy with my side of the deal and I hope he will be too.

I don't know much about it, except I think it's a lovely piece. There is a carving around the middle of the handle, only a little piece of wood missing on the ridge in the middle of the handle, and a few rust marks on the blade. It is quite a long and fine Kukri. Overall it's 20" (558mm) with a 15" (381mm) blade. The blade is 1 7/8" (48mm) wide at the belly.

I'll be trying to find out a bit of history, if possible.  I'll also be making a scabbard for it, as it did not come with one. This will be an interesting project as Kukris scabbards are made of  wood and covered in leather.

Couple more pictures. The carved ring. This is really neatly done. The small missing part of the ring, and a thin crack on top of the handle near the bolster are the only damages, apart for some rust pitting on the blade.

View of the bolster and the Cho.
















The consensus so far on the Forum is that this is an old "hanshee" kukri, very good quality, almost certainly made in Nepal in the early part of the 19th Century. The term Hanshee was used by collectors to describe kukris looking exactly like this one, long handle and slender blade, describing an almost perfect arc. The term is not known in Nepal.

I am really chuffed with it!

Bishnu Shrestha. A brave man

Lone Nepali Gorkha who subdued 40 train robbers
	MANOJ ADHIKARI/SANTOSH POKHAREL POKHARA, Jan 13: Gorkha soldiers have long been known the world over for their valor and these khukuri-wielding warriors winning the British many a battle have become folklore. A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government. Slave girl Morgiana in the Arabian Nights used her cunning to finish off Ali Baba´s 40 thieves, but Bishnu Shrestha of Baidam, Pokhara-6 did not have time to plot against the 40 train robbers. He, however, made good use of his khukuri to save the chastity of a girl and hundreds of thousands in loot. Shrestha, who was in the Maurya Express to Gorakhpur from Ranchi on September 2 while returning home following voluntary retirement from the Indian army--saved the girl who was going to be raped by the robbers in front of her hapless parents, and in doing so won plaudits from everybody. The Indian government is to decorate Shrestha with its Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Medal and the 35-year-old is leaving for India Saturday to receive the first of the awards on the occasion of India´s Republic Day on January 26. “The formal announcement of the awards will be made on Republic Day and on Independence Day on August 15,” said Shrestha, whose father Gopal Babu also retired from the same 7/8 Platoon of the Gorkha Regiment around 29 years ago. His regiment has already given him a cash award of Indian rupees 50,000, and decided to terminate his voluntary retirement. He will get the customary promotion after receiving the medals. The Indian government will also announce a cash bounty for him and special discounts on international air tickets and domestic train tickets. The band of about 40 robbers, some of whom were travelling as passengers, stopped the train in the Chittaranjan jungles in West Bengal around midnight. Shrestha-- who had boarded the train at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the place of his posting--was in seat no. 47 in coach AC3. “They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers. “The girl cried for help, saying ´You are a soldier, please save a sister´,” Shrestha recalled. “I prevented her from being raped, thinking of her as my own sister,” he added. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. He said the rest of the robbers fled after he killed three of them with his khukuri and injured eight others. During the scuffle he received serious blade injury to his left hand while the girl also had a minor cut on her neck. “They had carried out their robbery with swords, blades and pistols. The pistols may have been fake as they didn´t open fire,” he surmised. The train resumed its journey after some 20 minutes and a horde of media persons and police were present when it reached Chittaranja station. Police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train. Police escorted Shrestha to the Railways Hospital after the rescued girl told them about his heroic deed. Mainstream Indian media carried the story. The parents of the girl, who was going for her MBBS studies, also announced a cash award of Indian rupees 300,000 for him but he has not met them since. “Even the veins and arteries in my left hand were slit but the injury has now healed after two months of neurological treatment at the Command Hospital in Kolkata,” he said showing the scar. “Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier; taking on the dacoits in the train was my duty as a human being,” said the Indian army nayak, who has been given two guards during his month-long holidays in Nepal. “I am proud to be able to prove that a Gorkha soldier with a khukuri is really a handful. I would have been a meek spectator had I not carried that khukuri,” he said. He still finds it hard to believe that he took on 40 armed robbers alone. “They may have feared that more of my army friends were traveling with me and fled after fighting me for around 20 minutes,” he explained. Following on from the above story. I have a suggestion. Let's sack all the useless coppers (and yes, they're not ALL useless !) and replace them, at a ratio of 1:40 with our retired gurkhas. Naturally, they will not need stab-vests, tasers, truncheons, Health & Safety Guidelines in their top pocket, a thieving group like ACPO to "administer" them, two-way radios, Blackberries, or even blue serge. The Gurkhas can dress however they wish. You will never know when they are nearby, armed only with a Khukri. Crime will be eradicated overnight. J D Riddell

A junk shop find

Unfortunately for me, my daughter and her boyfriend found it :-(  But never mind, I get to play with it a bit...I found the handle as it is, is not confortable for me. The ridge in the middle of the handle is rubbing on the middle of my finger. The handle is a bit too small for my hand.

It's a very nice, old Kukhri, 17 1/2" long  (445mm)!  Despite this is really is quite light, just 450g. The blade is hollow ground, the spine is 5/16" (8mm) thick, and the whole knife is in very good condition, apart from a crack in the handle and a bit missing at the pommel. The blade also has a bit of a twist to it. I am not sure if this is deliberate or not.

I'll now let the pictures do the talking.

It came with it's scabbard and a Chakmak. The sheath is falling apart, but it's very interesting to find out how it was made. I am going to make a new sheath, copying the old one as closely as I can. The Chakmak is a blunt knife used to sharpen the Kukhri with, or to light fire with a piece of flint, that can be kept in the separate tinder pouch. We really are not inventing anything new!

Even has it's separate tinder pouch!

According to members on British Blades, it's probably between 60 and a 100 years old.

I have found out a bit more .  It is a  Longleaf Kukhri, military issue, late Victorian era, probably around 1900. This style of choil (the notch)  is known as a Chorten style, named after the silhouette of the budhist shrines found in parts of Nepal.

Not bad for £33.00!

Large Nessie: finished

Well, I have finally finished my large  Nessie. I had difficulties finding a suitable  crown antler. Lets the pictures do the talking.

15" long, with the blade being 8". The knife weights a hefty 550grams  The blade is fixed through the handle with a long stick tang, that is riveted at the pommel. I have used pewter to make a bolster and fix the blade in the handle. 

Next to a Swiss Army Knife for scale.

The view of the pommel, with the riveted stick tang. The steel pommel is epoxied to the antler, so no moisture can get in there. It's hard to see, but some of the fur is still attached to the antler. I left it on as I think it add to the look of the knife.


This is one hefty beast! I am very pleased with it.