Field work with the GK 16" Bonecutter

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Sep 22, 2003
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When I saw that the GK Bonecutters were once again available in the exchange I thought I would try one out.

I bought one of the first ones maybe 10 years ago and bar none it remains one of my favorites.

I have several of the sizes and the 16" model has to be my ideal khuk.

The weight to chopping power is great. The balance is near perfect and the tempering has been great on nearly all specimens I have handled.

In general with khuks they tend to make them either a little too soft, or a little too hard. So you either get bending of the edge (not bad) or chipping (bad). To sort of make up for this they tend to make the edge a bit too thick to chop really deep.

Not so with the bone cutter which has a very fine edge.

Another weakness in khukuris is the handle. Often the handle is either too fat or the butt cap digs into your hand. However there are not sharp rings on a bonecutter. The handle flares so it keeps the butt of the khuk from digging into your hand.

This will be an ongoing review, but I got the blade as a rough finished villager. I got a discount because the sheath was very crude.

OK, so with the recent snow melting it was time to start working on the pine that came down on my electric fence in the front yard.

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Here's the spine. A nice distal taper and thickest is about 1/2"

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Here's an "in hand" shot. The flare of the handle at the end and the lack of a butt cap allows you to snap the khuk before impact to get more force and keeps the butt from digging into your hand like other khuks do.

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Here's a shot showing the keeper that holds the blade in place

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First cut. I didn't use too much force. One angle cut, one straight in.

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Further along. Normally with a khuk I have to spend long hours tweaking the edge to get it to cut smooth. Not so with the bone cutter. It came SHARP and the edge retention is on par with my GB Hatchets! Haven't done anything with the edge.

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Here's a close up of the handle. You can see no sharp ridges like some khuks although you can see the "villager" nature. Notce the file marks on the handle:

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Once I've got the main notch done I like to come in from both sides and usually the branch will crack off.

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Here's some shots of the chips to give you an idea of the depth of cutting once you get going.

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Another nice smooth cut. I'm mainly showing the medium duty chopping but with cutting up something like this there is a lot of cutting the smaller branches off in small pieces. On a lot of khuks they are so heavy or steep edged they can't be used well for this, and you tend to wind up "beating" the smaller branches off. The bonecutter you can swing fast and the very acute edge will usually sail thru it. Also the edge bevel tends to be the same all the length of the blade so on areas where you can't swing because it is too tight you can use the tip and make short swings to cut off small branches.

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Got most of the main limbs cut off that are on the fence. That's my goal today is just to get the tree off the fence.

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Here's the same area as the first pic but with the stuff I cut off. I put the thicker stuff in one pile and the thinner in the other.

bc12.jpg

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More later but these newer models seem to have all the positive attributes that the old ones had.
 
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Thanks for the review Hollowdweller. These are one of the best khuks I make. They are true villagers made for use and abuse. They don't look pretty but they are the most primitive khukuries you can buy. These khuks are very hard to copy. You can copy the shape but unless you are extremely experienced there is no way you can copy the balance, feel and weight distribution.i am glad that you like it.
Thanks again.
Pradip and praj.
 
The generous bevel height + hollow forged blade + balance might have contributed to the fantastic performance of this chopper?

Jay
 
Yeah I think that's part of it. But if the bevel went down to that fine of an edge and it was brittle or weak it would have been bad.

Wanted to add that this was not shaving when I got it. Yet after I used it yesterday I stropped it, no sandpaper or anything and it came up to shaving so very little dulling with that chopping.

Now given that was a pine so it was softer than like an oak but still pretty good.
 
Nice review! What's the weight? The 1/2" spine is a bit scary, yet a distal taper can make a huge difference. It's also very rare nowadays. I handled Leathermans old GK Bonecutter and it was nice and a very usable size. It's good to see these again. Thanks.
 
I have a GK Panawal kukri that is my favorite user. It is a great chopper, and holds an edge even after going through lots of small pines. I also have had this model for at least 10 years. Is GK back in business again?
 
Nice review! What's the weight? The 1/2" spine is a bit scary, yet a distal taper can make a huge difference. It's also very rare nowadays. I handled Leathermans old GK Bonecutter and it was nice and a very usable size. It's good to see these again. Thanks.

Hi Jdk
Weight is like 24 oz. 12 inch blade with 4 inch handle.
Thanks.
 
I have a GK Panawal kukri that is my favorite user. It is a great chopper, and holds an edge even after going through lots of small pines. I also have had this model for at least 10 years. Is GK back in business again?

Hello Arty,
Glad to know that your Gk panawal khukuri is still alive and well. I started making khukuries again, but this time I am in stealth mode, since I had to stop that time because of political problems in Nepal.
It's good to see you guys back.
Thanks.
 
Thanks for the follow-up:thumbup: These seem like very nice khukuri. I'm loving the performance per ounce aspect. A 24 oz. khukuri can perform way above it's weight class and be a pleasure to hold and use. Thanks again.
 
super good stuff :D

love the reviews.

hopefully, i'll bang one out there soon.
 
not too bad. modding up the Becker forum. rocking some Bonecutters of my own. house, tractor, stuff.
 
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