Best serious use HI wood chopper?

Hi friend, do yourself a favor and go on and get a HI.Read my above thread on the chiruwa ang khola. I waited quit a while for mine while they stocked up and it was worth every second of the wait bro.Even the blem sirupate I got for my son is rock solid.Quality quality quality.The cak is a good chopper as I now have held 1 but like others stated the ganga ram and others would be jus fine also. Just make sure its a HI as you prolly will be dissatisfied until you get 1.
 
Yep. I have a Sgt. K 15" CAK as well. I'd cut off a finger for a few more of his. My go to limbing and light chopping khukuri is my 15" Murali Baby bonecutter/GRS though. It's a fine little tool.
 
Thanks again for the input gals and guys, I'm getting much closer to a decision.

I don't want to sound like I am flaming you, I just really want to try to understand and if you really want to make sure you get a full tang then there have been some good suggestions for them above. But, when you talk about needing a full tang because it will be better balanced. Realize you don't want a better balance. For chopping work, you want the weight over the sweetspot, where it will do the work for you. Allow the tool to do the work, don't make your arm do it. Also look in the HI "stickies" for the proper chopping technique using a Khuk and your wrist. It is much different than using an axe, but the right technique will be very helpful to your prolonged chopping.
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I'm actually quite glad you called me out on that because what you are saying makes perfect sense, particularly for a blade of this shape and intended usage. Believe it or not a similar thought crossed my mind today as I was day-dreaming at work about these kukris. :p

With this size of seasoned hardwood you definitely want to go with one of the larger models. Also, consider sharpening up your axe for some of this big stuff.

A khukuri is still a lot of fun, if not the dedicated tool an axe is. I highly encourage you to give Yangdu a call. She will quite likely be able to fix you up with something not on the website, or a blem with cosmetic flaws that meets your needs at a reduced price.
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My axe just isn't that great in general, it's merely decent. Head is an older "True Temper" which probably isn't a terrible company but I haven't done my research so I wouldn't know. Handle kinda sucks too, grain isn't straight and I've had to repair it several times. My original plan has been to eventually have a woodcutting "team" consisting of a higher quality Swedish axe like a Gransfors Bruks or something similar as well as a one handed tool to break up the monotony, which I've now decided will be a kukri from HI. As much as I would like to collect collect collect fine blades of all types, fact is I'm a poor-ass college student paying out-of-pocket for college and living on parent's land to avoid rent, so my expenses in this area must be limited and carefully thought out. Whatever I buy will be a TOOL to be used for my personal advancement, and a well made tool always receives my love, care, and respect. And that's the plus side to living in the country and not the city isn't it? That there are TREES to play around with, a hobby that I much enjoy. ;) Chopping is a great psychological outlet for me and also an interesting and fun way to gauge my on-going weight lifting progression, so I know my Khuk is going to be WORKED.

As for emailing Yangdu, I did indeed do that last night and here is her response today:

"First of all welcome to the HI and blade forum.
The Chiruwa Ang Khola comes with full wide tang strong and steady.
Right now I do not have the large size knife with chiruwa handle in sock.
You are welcome to order any size knife with chiruwa handle and once I get your order conform then I will send to my shop manager and Kamis.
Let me know

Thank you"

That sounds like some damn fine customer service if I've ever heard of it. I don't think it'll be necessary for me to go that route as I'm willing to give the rat-tang a shot, but it's still very heartening to receive that kind of service. She certainly has my loyalty already. I'll be putting whatever Khuk I get to the test with some serious usage, so if it breaks or bends, well there is always their reputably very reliable warranty.

For regular or lengthy chopping sessions Id go with the 18" AK or CAK. They are a bit lighter for extended use. KLVUK is a great all around knife but it doesnt have the weight you need for what you are describing. Anything over 3-4" diameter will be a challenge to process with any regularity although it can be done. For heavy chopping the edge geometry of the AK is really better suited. They are thicker behind the working edge.
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Awesome that you posted that my friend. I've been thinking all day that I'm likely going to decide between an 18" or 20" AK. Ganga Ram looks great too but the shape of the AK is more pleasing to me and since they are likely both great choppers, I guess aesthetics does come into play under those circumstances.

Can you or anyone else who owns the 18 or 20" AK models give some input as to the average weight that comes through for each? I'm very tempted for the 20" and 3 pounds would be absolutely perfect for me, however I'm a bit frightened that I could get a nice fat 4 pounder which would be too heavy. I bet I could just ask Yangdu for a 3 pound one.
 
The 20" AK I own was made by Lachhu and is closer to three pounds with 1/2" spine. I think Lachhu is the Kami that has been making them lately but that may have changed. I would definitely ask Yangdu about the weights but i doubt seriously you would get a four pound AK. As far as aesthetics the AK's are as good as it gets!
 
I'll also add that my 20" is my least used khukuri. I'm pretty fit, but it is a pain to use for any length of time. One day I'll get around to trading it for something smaller that I'll use more.
 
Ang Khola... 18"... I think someone mentioned it already. We had a storm blow through not too long ago and some trees in our backyard came down. I know I could have used a chainsaw, but I saw an opportunity to test some blades, so I pulled out my beater KH full tang kukri (has about a 13" blade and by all means isn't a bad kukri), but after about 30 minutes of chopping, I realized that my hand hurt more than my arm did. The repeated impacts against the hard wood had started wearing on me. I switched to my HI Ang Khola and the buffalo horn/laha made all the difference in the world. It was like night and day. Plus, the heavier blade made shorter work of the limbs. I've always been a full-tang kind of guy but that was an eye opening experience. Kukris aren't supposed to be full tang...
 
Shao said:
...full tang kukri (has about a 13" blade and by all means isn't a bad kukri), but after about 30 minutes of chopping, I realized that my hand hurt more than my arm did. The repeated impacts against the hard wood had started wearing on me. I switched to my HI Ang Khola and the buffalo horn/laha made all the difference in the world. It was like night and day. Plus, the heavier blade made shorter work of the limbs. I've always been a full-tang kind of guy but that was an eye opening experience. Kukris aren't supposed to be full tang...
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The shock absorbing feature of a traditional enclosed tang is a feature that has led many users to appreciate that design. Also, if there is any shrinkage of the handle material, in a chiruwa design the little ridge of exposed metal where the handle slabs pulled away from the tang will chew up your hand. The enclosed tang does take extra work in heat treat. It should be dead soft, in contrast to the hardened cutting edge not so far away. If the heat treat is done incorrectly the tang can be hardened and brittle, and this can cause a failure. That is why I perform a whack test on a new khukuri before I really trust it. If there was a poor heat treat and the tang is improperly brittle, it will almost surely fail right away during the first hard impacts. If the knife passes the whack test I feel confident trusting it.
 
Alright you guys have convinced me. :p I'm going to go with the 18" Ang Khola with regular rat-tang. I'm in decent physical shape but of course there is always room for improvement, so I'd rather not take the risk for the 20" being a pain to use. 18" should be more than adequate, and I intend to use the hell out of it and receive much joy in doing so.

Like I mentioned earlier I'm also going to finally acquire a good, large ax to compliment this khukuri, I think they'll be a great team and between the two I should have all my bases covered for wood cutting needs. And MAN is there a LOT of wood around here for me to work on, so THE BATTLE CONTINUES ON!! :p Only now I'll have excellent tools to make the process even more enjoyable.

I'll post pics of the blade when it gets here if you guys are interested, and lets face it, Khukuri nuts like you all probably are. ;)

Thanks again and again for all of your timely support in making this decision, couldn't have done it without you all. :) I look forward to seeing you all around this site.
 
Well I've got time on my hands so if it's all right with yall I'll just sit here and wait for the pics. I think your making an excellent choice. I wish I had this abundance of wood you speak of around my place. This last winter I almost had to resort to tearing the siding off the neighbors house to feed the wood stove. It was a close thing.

I gotta get me a load hauled in or something, the neighbors siding will not make it through another winter.
 
Bahah I know the feeling. We used to have a wood-stove back in the day, loved that thing to death. Feeding it's insatiable hunger can be a challenge though sometimes.

As for the wood most our land is a grassy field in the summer and a swamp in the winter, but it does have that "miniforest" of what I believe is Oregon ash on it. I should count all the trees in it one of these days, but if I had to make a generic guess I'd say it has about....50-75? Perhaps more, very hard to gauge such things. Not enough to feed a wood-stove forever, but it's at least enough to have fun fooling around with. :)
 
Ill send ya some wood brother! Do I need an FLL for that in WA?
Bawanna said:
Well I've got time on my hands so if it's all right with yall I'll just sit here and wait for the pics. I think your making an excellent choice. I wish I had this abundance of wood you speak of around my place. This last winter I almost had to resort to tearing the siding off the neighbors house to feed the wood stove. It was a close thing.

I gotta get me a load hauled in or something, the neighbors siding will not make it through another winter.
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I think ya did good with the 18" and pics will be cool! I want an 18" for more regular use myself. I got so much dead wood around here I couldnt do it without a chainsaw. If you get a good swiss axe feel free to post pics as well! Ive been using a woodstove for heat exclusivley and it does keep you healthy! Keeps your electric bill down too.
 
Perfectly legal as long as it's mesquite I think. I had a fella one time down there your way wanted a set of grips out of mesquite, said he'd send me the wood. I said ok.
A week later there's a box about 18" x 18" on my front porch. He'd took a full round off his dad's or grandfathers wood pile and sent the whole log.! Thank goodness my wife worked at a small saw mill at the time and she took it and had it slabbed so I could so something with it.
Still got a lot of mesquite in the shop.
 
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Hey Freak.....
That True Temper you already have is probably a very good axe, especially if it's vintage. They were excellent axes in their day. Still are AFAIK.
If it were me I'd give it a good cleaning, sharpening and haft a new handle on it and you should be all set.
Probably will cost you far less than a new gransfors and then you'd have saved cash for another khukuri.
 
I just ordered my first HI too.

I decided for a M-43 with hornhandle, i´m quite excited now! ^^
 
Karda said:
...
That True Temper you already have is probably a very good axe, especially if it's vintage. They were excellent axes in their day. Still are AFAIK.
If it were me I'd give it a good cleaning, sharpening and haft a new handle on it and you should be all set.
Probably will cost you far less than a new gransfors and then you'd have saved cash for another khukuri.
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+1

The axe forum here at BladeForums can provide tons of info and guidance, such as with this restoration of Grandpa's old axe:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1146671-God-Bless-Granpa-and-his-Axe-Possible-restoration-project

Those vintage American axes usually have a high centerline "convex-sided" geometry that many axemen prefer over the "flat-sided" geometry of Gransfors Bruks, etc.

Steve Tall said:
[Written by Peter Vido]

Keen Kutter with high-centerline "convex-sided" geometry:
killa+concept+Keen+Kutter+B_1_3_1.jpg


Gransfors Bruks with "flat-sided" geometry:
killa+concept+Gransfors+B_1_1_1.jpg


[above photos courtesy of killa_concept]
...
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from www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/850453-Ax-Head-Geometry
 
Howard Wallace said:
The shock absorbing feature of a traditional enclosed tang is a feature that has led many users to appreciate that design. Also, if there is any shrinkage of the handle material, in a chiruwa design the little ridge of exposed metal where the handle slabs pulled away from the tang will chew up your hand. The enclosed tang does take extra work in heat treat. It should be dead soft, in contrast to the hardened cutting edge not so far away. If the heat treat is done incorrectly the tang can be hardened and brittle, and this can cause a failure. That is why I perform a whack test on a new khukuri before I really trust it. If there was a poor heat treat and the tang is improperly brittle, it will almost surely fail right away during the first hard impacts. If the knife passes the whack test I feel confident trusting it.
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Well said! Chiruwa tangs are strong, but a rat-tail hidden tang or traditional full-through tang with buttcap are far more comfortable for serious chopping, and by default incorporate the heavy blade forward feel that makes a khukuri and khukuri. Chiruwa tangs are modern inventions developed by the British to speed production. I'm not dumping my CAK's, but they aren't my favorites for chopping.

Unfortunately back in the day I was lazy and probably only tested 50% of the blades I was buying, using the old warranty as backup, so would be pretty much SOL if any of them failed now. However I've had really good luck overall, with good quality knives purchased, only having failures with the Farm Knife and Museum Model, and that last one (brazed handle only, not the blade which was excellent) affected everyone who bought one in 2006...

Norm
 
That True Temper you already have is probably a very good axe, especially if it's vintage. They were excellent axes in their day. Still are AFAIK.
If it were me I'd give it a good cleaning, sharpening and haft a new handle on it and you should be all set.
Probably will cost you far less than a new gransfors and then you'd have saved cash for another khukuri.
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You have a valid point. I've been too hard on dissing my True Temper, after further research on it it really is a nice ax. It just needs a new handle and the head needs a GOOD sharpening/cleaning, and I've indeed decided to restore it. However I've also been lusting after a Gransfors for quite some time now, and wouldn't mind having two decent axes as I quite love them. This True Temper has been used HARD so I feel justified in putting out my money on a good replacement/spare ax. Before I could justify buying a new khukuri I'd need to use this one I just purchased extensively and develop a love for it too.

Those vintage American axes usually have a high centerline "convex-sided" geometry that many axemen prefer over the "flat-sided" geometry of Gransfors Bruks, etc.
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That's appears to be the exact ax that I have, and it says "True Temper-Perfect" on the side. Mine looks a lot thicker though on the "sides" where the handle connects than that one does (don't know ax terminology at all.)

It's indeed a mean tool that splits through wood fibers quite well, and the grooves on the sides seem to help keep it from getting stuck. It'll be interesting to compare the difference between the convex and flat geometry.

Thanks a lot for those links BTW.
 
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