Rajkumaar's Fighting Sword and Amar Singh Thapa Knife for 8/19

Every ASTK I've seen has the "Villager" finish and was made by Lacchu, trident kami mark.

Referring back to what Yangdu said about the ASTK that Jens bought:

18 inch 33 ounce villager fit and finish Amar Singh Thapa Knife by Lachhu.
 
Shore nuff, we got a bingo right there. Villager fit and finish. No high polish. Still drop dead gorgeous, I don't care who you are.
 
I like my AST, even with a few tiny kinks.
The handle of the AST feels perfect to me. It's nice long and doesn't have poky brass at the bottom.
The blade itself is a bit on the heavy side. I can see myself getting tired much much faster than with my Ang Khola which is only 2 inch shorter. But then the added weight might help that I don't need so many cuts to chop through a given branch. Therefore I might not even get tired if because of its weight I don't haven to swing it as often.

I will work on the finish. I don't need fancy shiny stuff but if it helps to cut down on rust, then why not.

What's with the Kami mark. Is the rising sun Lacchu's or does he have a trident?
Thank you.
 
I like my AST, even with a few tiny kinks.
The handle of the AST feels perfect to me. It's nice long and doesn't have poky brass at the bottom.
The blade itself is a bit on the heavy side. I can see myself getting tired much much faster than with my Ang Khola which is only 2 inch shorter. But then the added weight might help that I don't need so many cuts to chop through a given branch. Therefore I might not even get tired if because of its weight I don't haven to swing it as often.

I will work on the finish. I don't need fancy shiny stuff but if it helps to cut down on rust, then why not.

What's with the Kami mark. Is the rising sun Lacchu's or does he have a trident?
Thank you.

All of my Lacchu knives have the trident.

Maybe he changed his mark?
 
I don't recall ever seeing a non-villager finish ASTK. I think being non-polished is part of the design.
 
The rising sun mark used to be Sher (the Tiger)'s kami mark. Last I knew his nephew Young Sher was using it after the tiger left us due to family obligations.
 
I like my AST, even with a few tiny kinks.... I will work on the finish. I don't need fancy shiny stuff but if it helps to cut down on rust, then why not....

I don't think polished blades rust less than satin. If they're kept oiled neither will rust. If not, both will rust.

However, if you like the polished look it's not hard to polish a satin finish. Start with progressively finer grades of sandpaper and then work up to polishing powders. There's "red rouge" and a white version that will leave your blade highly polished. Watch out for the edges and point of the blade. Fingers don't grow back and deep cuts take a long time to heal.

The main trick is don't start with the higher grits of sandpaper (600 grit and up). If you start too high it won't take out the deeper scratches that are part of a satin finish. You'll end up with a highly polished finish that makes the deeper scratches stand out more than if you left the blade at satin. I learned that the hard way.

-- Dave
 
...I don't need fancy shiny stuff but if it helps to cut down on rust, then why not...

I recall that some people on this forum have stated a preference for the satin finish as they claim it helps the oil coating adhere better and therefore prevents rust better than on a mirror finish.
 
I don't think polished blades rust less than satin. If they're kept oiled neither will rust. If not, both will rust.

However, if you like the polished look it's not hard to polish a satin finish. Start with progressively finer grades of sandpaper and then work up to polishing powders. There's "red rouge" and a white version that will leave your blade highly polished. Watch out for the edges and point of the blade. Fingers don't grow back and deep cuts take a long time to heal.

The main trick is don't start with the higher grits of sandpaper (600 grit and up). If you start too high it won't take out the deeper scratches that are part of a satin finish. You'll end up with a highly polished finish that makes the deeper scratches stand out more than if you left the blade at satin. I learned that the hard way.

-- Dave

I've never had my blades rust but the handles are different because of the skin on metal contact. I am one of the people that has very corrosive skin oils, I tarnish everything. My "villager" knives have needed a bit of rust removal here and there but my polished blades have not. To me this is the only downside of the Chiruwa handle.
 
My villager had rust from the box the polished once hadn't.
The polished once have less surface area and therefore less exposure to the elements. Oil sticks less good to a polished blade? Then food, liquids etc stick less to polished blades too and a polished area is also easier to polish again in case you did get rust there. So far I only used an eraser and there's still rust in the grooves of the satin finish. I hope once I get some flitz that it will be able to get into the tiny scratches of the satin surface and remove rust from there as well.

True polished or not if oiled shouldn't rust. But sheaths remove oil where they touch the blade. Also in the field we might not have proper oil and use a piece of butter or acidic olive oil. In any case polished will rust less and will be easier to clean and repolish than unpolished.

I like the look of Satin blades. They are also less reflective and therefore a wee bit more tactical. Also new scratches show less and a scratched Satin blade will look better than a scratched shiny one.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top