Broken Khukri

I have a Small Ka-Bar folder in ATS-34 steel that broke right down toward the base, and it did not fail under a high-stress situation... normal whittling is what broke it! Most weird. Not that I am a Metal expert or anything, but I had a Front axle shaft fail on my 2004 Dodge 4x4 diesel, and the metal looked just like the pics that Falnovice posted...
The Dealership said that Dana-Spicer , when They heard about the failure, wanted the parts sent to them and said that the Dana folks were quite apologetic about it failing.
It was the shaft inside the axle housing that failed, and it was Not a Jagged-spiral type of break, but fairly "clean" and the metal had that "crystallized" look to it.
The outer housing was fine.
Strangeness indeed!



"Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon." Winston Churchill
 
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In regards to HI and the warranty etc, it is Really nice to know how much HI stands behind its products!!
But then Ms. Yangdu always does go above and beyond in taking care of Her Customers/Friends.

Doc
 
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This is kind of an odd question, and it's not meant to be some kind of veiled reference to killing people. But does anyone use their khuk on a lot of soft tissue, like dressing/butchering game or cutting meat? I was kind of curious if it could be easily deployed to dress or butcher a deer.
 
IMO, 12-15" work best. AKs are great for rib cages and pelvis on Elk/Deer.12" to dress. 15" to get ready for the freezer. 18"+ are too unwieldy for me.

In the kitchen, nothing works as well as a khuk for semi/frozen meat.
 
MagenDavid said:
This is kind of an odd question, and it's not meant to be some kind of veiled reference to killing people. But does anyone use their khuk on a lot of soft tissue, like dressing/butchering game or cutting meat? I was kind of curious if it could be easily deployed to dress or butcher a deer.
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Yes, they can handle flesh and bone really well. I used to live on a small farm with Poltry, Goats, sheep, horses, cats and dogs. I've used my AK and other blades to cut up bones for the animals and also used them as clevers on frozen and also thawed meet.

There is a semi recent thread about a Khukuri in the kitchen. Impresive stuff.

Heber
 
Dan,

Thanks for the response. As I said before this was my first Khuk and it really spoiled me for all others that followed. The convex edge you put on it was excellent and it seemed to retain the orginal edge forever.

I was incredibly surprised when it broke, honestly. Having spilt so much hardwood with this knife I wasn't expecting it to snap like that.

Now a new question;
Would proper batoning be easier on the blade then the splitting I was doing?
(Example: Chop into stick with khuk burying it, raise the whole khuk/stick combo and slam it into the chopping block)
 
paua said:
This is why we try very hard to get Busse Combat Knife to make Khukuri.
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I'm betting a Busse Khuk would be in the range of $600.

Even though it would be tough, I'd rather spend $100-125 for a HI and then use the leftover for a nice gun.:thumbup:
 
falnovice said:
Now a new question;
Would proper batoning be easier on the blade then the splitting I was doing?
(Example: Chop into stick with khuk burying it, raise the whole khuk/stick combo and slam it into the chopping block)
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Sometimes I use a log to batton a knive or Khukuri through the wood but mostly I do as you described. Seems to be working well for me. :thumbup: BTW when you get your new Khukuri, please post pictures, specially action shots. We love pictures!!

Heber
 
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Just curious, what are the plans with the broken khuk?

Will anyone try to run some tests? Hardnes would tell if the HT was correct.

From what I learned in college, we would need to check the failure surface with a scanning electron microscope to know exactly what happened. It could also show if there were traces if sulfur, wich is a b*tch in steel.

I hate to say this... but maybe the cho didn't help. If the steel is weaker at this place, the sharp angle might have initiated a crack...
(a solution could be to send the kamis some small files to round the angle at the base of the cho, or do it yourself)

Never forget the universal rule: Shit happens.
 
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Steely_Gunz said:
Like you Hogs, we Sharks tend to circle the wagons when we perceive a threat.
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My emphasis on Sharks ... Steely, so here in the HI sub-forum, being a shark is a term of endearment, a badge of honour to be proudly worn rather than a term for dotd bargain hunters?
 
falnovice said:
Now a new question;
Would proper batoning be easier on the blade then the splitting I was doing?
(Example: Chop into stick with khuk burying it, raise the whole khuk/stick combo and slam it into the chopping block)
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Both would be considered severe by me, personally.

Have I done it? Yes. But I did so knowing in advance I was pushing the limits...and I didn't care. And I have actually never had a failure from it. (go figure)


Like has been said already...the H.I. product line "spoils us"...gets us into the "I can chop anything" frame of mind....and nearly every kukri H.I. makes CAN do it! BUT....

It wasn't until I had broken a few myself that I realized it was "me", not the knife.

When I see "severe/extreme" testing now....the only thing I am impressed by is the tester's apparent luck. :rolleyes:



Knifemaking is an amazing process....it is both incredibly simple and terribly complex. The more I know...the more amazed I am that any of my stuff turns out right. But then I remember that the "window of success" in this field is a pretty large one....kinda like missing the side of a barn with a throw of the baseball....really takes a wild hair to screw it up....but if you want to put it right through the vent every time...you gotta know your stuff...and do it right EVERY time!



Anyway, to answer your question....I do think that batoning would be "less bad" for it than bringing it down stuck in the wood...and I would baton it nearer the tip.

If you think about it....a lot of force was exerted on the cho/tang area of the blade...the weight of the block added to the weight of the knife....and then the torque exerted by the length of your arm + the knife. Tremendous force on the blade.

versus hitting the spine with a wood block.


Notice that there are rare failures...."clean breaks", that is....in the belly part of the blade. ;)


Dan
 
Bonkers said:
My emphasis on Sharks ... Steely, so here in the HI sub-forum, being a shark is a term of endearment, a badge of honour to be proudly worn rather than a term for dotd bargain hunters?
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...or cursed with great envy when one snatches up a DotD you had your eye on before you can even say "overdrawn". :D
 
Bonkers said:
Talking of sharking, has your Bonecutter arrived yet? ;)
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Alas, not yet. Takes them a little longer to get to Canuckistan. Takes a while for our customs officers to give up trying to get these "metal boomerangs" to come back.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
As for getting a khuk without the cho, welllll a khuk without a cho is not a khuk;) Seriously, it's a khuk-like-object (KLO). However, depending on what you are looking for in your knife, there was one dubbed the Sher Attitude Special that came in right around18" or so, maybe 22oz (lighter for a khuk), and had no cho. You can always email Yangdu with your ideas:)
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I sent Yangdu e-mail two days ago and have not received any reply yet. I think it is only natural for people to ignore inquiry which they think is silly. But when you punch a semi-finished blade to produce choil, structural integrity of the punched blade definitely will suffer, more or less.
 
Paua, i can guaranty you that Yangdu is not ignoring you. She gets many, many, many emails a day. This is a one woman operation state-side where she coordinates with the factory in Nepal. It takes time, so please be patient. Also, if you have used the BFC e-mail links to email her they sometimes get eaten. If you haven't tried, do a direct email to HIMIMP@aol.com

As for the cho, whether it makes a khuk weaker or not it IS part of the khuk. It has been part of the khuk so long, people aren't even sure why it was put there in the first place. It is the appendix of the khukuri, if you will;) These blades have been around a LOOOOOONG time. The knowledge of how to make them is passed from father to son generation after generation after generation.
 
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