uddha sword breakdown (adding a gaurd)

Cabbit said:
Just because I'm not an enabler and have respect for the craft of HI's craftsmen does not make me rude.

Yes, he does own it, but that doesn't make what he's doing right.

When a craftsman spends the extra time to make something nice, it's common courtesy to respect that and not tear it apart.

There are a lot of people that wanted that Uddha as it was. The Carving was beautiful! This was also rude to them, essentially shoving it in their face.

If you wanted one to tinker with, it would have been better to ask Ms. Yangdu for a plain one, or better yet, see if she could have one made with a guard.


you know, i completely agree with you. but then, to be absolutely honest, i would probably do it again were i to want a blade that came up for sale that had the carvings. i would take it because it was available at that time.

i understand your views of why that makes me a bad person,and yes, i am indeed a bad person for it. i agree with you. but then, that doesnt change what i've done, or what i will do in the future in this regard.

what you've said about doing bura an unjustice by changing his work is true if bura beleives that his work should be left as is when sold to the buyer, and essentially for the duration of its life.

what you've said about someone wanting the etched handles not getting it because i purchased this instead of a standard model - and them deserving it more then me because of that one feature not commonly being available, and me just removing it is also true.

however, the second point is true to almost any knife brand, and anything that is desired. take busse combat for example, wich is the other company i frequent. there knives are not really readily available. there are collectors on this board and in the world of busse combat, and there are users. there are serious users - people in the military, people who will depend on that one knife as there only knife and they will use it to its very limits and get every last drop of performance out of it. yet, much of what has been made isnt available, and is sitting in a safe.

are the people who take a straight handled battle mistress that is desired by a soldier who will use it to save lives - and put that shbm in a safe never to see the knife again bad people for doing so? ya. but it happens, and will continue to happen. sure, i'd rather see every soldier who wants one and will use one have one - but i wont fault the person who hoards as many as possible and never uses a single one for taking them. right or wrong, its simply how it is. they followed the rules of the market to get the market to get them, and thats just the way the world is set up in that regard.

to change it, you would have to force them to give them up, and thats just a different set of wrongs being commited. for me life is a choice of evils, during wich you try to cause as little major harm as you can, and pick up the peices when you cant.
 
Seth, doing something you wanted to do, to something you own does not make you a bad person. We are fortunate to live in a country that allows freedom of choice, in regards to material things you can do anything you want, period. If someone else does not think thats right, then they don't have to do it. They have the right to voice that opinion, but that's all, not belittle what you are doing or why.
IMHO.

Dick
 
Seth, I didn't understand your sentiment at the beginning as to whether this was an appropriate thread. I was very interested to see the insides of the sword, and how you handled the project. I never expected this type of reaction. My stance hasn't changed, get'r done. Its yours, and you may do with it as you wish. However you mod a Udda sword doesn't make you a bad person or a good person.

At a base level, if Seth destroys his Udda and buys another then he has benefitted HI and Bura. And by posting the project here he has surely benefitted us all.
 
Well... I made the Khowboy Khukri Kismet posted. Hey, the sheath took 18 feet of cord to sew.:D
 
aproy1101 said:
Seth, I didn't understand your sentiment at the beginning as to whether this was an appropriate thread. I was very interested to see the insides of the sword, and how you handled the project. I never expected this type of reaction. My stance hasn't changed, get'r done. Its yours, and you may do with it as you wish. However you mod a Udda sword doesn't make you a bad person or a good person.

At a base level, if Seth destroys his Udda and buys another then he has benefitted HI and Bura. And by posting the project here he has surely benefitted us all.

actually my initial hesitation comes from breaking down a model of any company that uses a hiden tang or hiden parts, or anything of the sort. it just feels like i might be letting go of some secret that the company would rather not have made public. i know this isnt the case at all, it just felt like it a little.

what i do, and in this case what i've done often makes one or a few people feel bad in regards to my actions. any time i cause harm or distrust or negativity, i have done something wrong. but i know that these things are innevitable, and to some degree you go through life doing this at all times, and you have to at least try to maintain the quality of life you desire, in order to keep yourself happy enough to help maintain the ambience of the rest of your life.

for the reasons given, that i am possibly destroying a peice of work that the maker would have liked to see whole, and that i have taken away something bueatiful from people who would have enjoyed it and desired it (and consequently felt cheated seeing it taken down), when it didnt need to be that way: i have caused some one to feel bad about the situation. i have caused harm (on some level).

not going to stop me from continueing, or from doing it again, but i understand that what im doing has a negative effect on some people...



i have this thing, where as long as the person fully understand the wrong they're doing - i respect them for it. i may also hate them for it, and desire them to be stopped at all costs, or feel that they are less then human, or feel any number of negative things as a result of there actions - but if they understand what they're doing, and know what effects its causeing, i'll respect them for what they are. when a person does something unknowingly and continues to do it, or does it with the intent of hatred or lust, or anything that clouds there understanding of their own consequences - then i have a problem with it.

this just isnt one of those cases. if anyone chooses to dislike me for what im doing - know that im doing it with understanding in my heart - and dislike me without any hesitation or apprehention to your own feelings.
 
Bri in Chi said:
Well... I made the Khowboy Khukri Kismet posted. Hey, the sheath took 18 feet of cord to sew.:D

its crazy how much cord/string/thread certain things take. any time i make a d-gaurd out of paracord or wrap a handle, im amazed when i get to the end of the 30 feet i laid out in the beggining and i realize im only half way through, and have to start over with more cord
 
It's a thing Seth, and you paid for it and are trying to make it better in your eyes. I am all attention! and hope to learn from you. That's why I said you had plenty of guts to try it!

Cabbit, you have made great contributions here, so I just don't understand your negative posts. I don't want to be told again that I just don't understand you or am hopeless, but what's it to you? Are you the keeper of the HI covenant with it's buyers? By your logic I'm desecrating Bura's work if I refinish one of his handles, or etch a blade.

I had a Bura CAK in a smaller 15" size that had a pretty bad handle. It wasn't really one that I think represented anywhere near what Bura could do. It was frankly a disappointment, although the blade itself was great work.

I sent it to Dan and he put that desert ironwood subhilt on it for me, and now it's one of my prized knives. Guess I dishonored Bura for not respecting his creation. (?)

I'll bet if Seth finishes this and gets the guard on, and Bura were to stop by and see it, the first words out of his mouth would be "Hey! Cool!", or the Nepalese equivalent.

Thanks,

Norm
 
Yep the

Khowboy Khuk

was crafted by the soft-spoken, but big stick (hee-hee) carrying

Bri of Chi.

and he made the holster/sheath/scarbbord as well.


Ruined it, didn't he?:D


Ah, hell, by my standards it is marvelous, and even if I didn't like it so much, is was HIS to do with as he chose.

As it happens, he has some artist mixed in with his artisan-ship.

Enough. I almost felt like arguing with Seth, thus putting me in the uncomfortable position of opposing BOTH sides of the discussion.



Be well and safe.
 
Kismet said:
Enough. I almost felt like arguing with Seth, thus putting me in the uncomfortable position of opposing BOTH sides of the discussion.
Be well and safe.
Me too, Kis. I think I just did. Arguing on both sides, that is. As I said, I wouldn't mess up somebody else's work unless I was pretty sure I could "improve" it in some way.
Hey, can't you guys take a joke?
 
gaurd is cut out, and SIDE PROJECTS!!

my work space (you can never have enough ballistol :) )
work_space.jpg



the gaurd in its first stage. the small gouge in the center will be filled with epoxy, and covered by the bronze ring. i just need to grind down the top curve a little and bevel all the edges till there round, and sand it down so the black cover layer is off and evened out.

it fits so that it rests on the spines bevel, and the forward section of the blade. so theres no way that the gaurd would slip up onto the blade, but it is possible for the gaurd to get knocked off, sent backward and go up onto the spine should it come off. but it will continue to protect the fingers even in that compromised position.

gaurd.jpg



the d-gaurd khukuri. the flaw in this was the handles heigth, considering how thin it was. its initial heigth was that of what you see near the pommel, and it made it so that when you swung it forward, the spine would roll into your forearm, and if you did it hard enough, completely out of your hand. it was an extremely dangerous set up for actual use, unless you taped it to your hand.

but, grinding the top and bottom down a little makes it much, much more managable.

i know that this is desacrating another carved antler handle - but i use everything i own. the bueaty of these khukuris to me is how they handle in use, and what they are capable of; and i need them to be safe to use. ya, i probably should have just ordered one with a smaller handle, but i'll take the blame for not doing so.

d_gaurd_handle.jpg



side project #2 - khukuri house Jung Bahadur

i got this because it looked interesting, and its not something thats readily available elsewhere. it basically looked cool, and i wanted to try it. 3 issues about it once i had it in hand though, the handle was small, metal, and painted with latex paint, wich had not yet dried.

being small sucks, but not much i can do about it other then wrap it in grip tape. being metal sucks, but theres no much i can do about it other then wrap it in grip tape, and i bought it knowing it would be metal. being covered in latex paint that wasnt even yet fully dry was something i could remedy.

so out comes the jasco and carb choke cleaner :)

its not yet fully finished, and im not sure if i'll go through the steps of making it a nice patina'd satin finish or not, but for now this is what it looks like.


someone commented that the scabbard from khukuri house was better then HI, to wich i would disagree. the leather is "softer" but less durable feeling. the frog is tacked on as apposed to sewn, and the overall construction is more hollow feeling and less full/robust.

while i like the rounded bottom plate better, i've never had any problems with HI's brass work.

jung_bahadur.jpg


the gaurd was set for smaller hands then mind :) had to bend it out to accomodate my pinky.
jung_bahadur_handle.jpg
 
forgot to add this first one... KH Jung Bahadur, next to my old faithful HI sher 18" ang khola (the one i can never get rid of, as i used as the template for my tattoo)
bhadur_ak18.jpg

jung_bahadur_18ak_handles.jpg

jung_bahadur_handle_2.jpg

dsc00684.jpg
 
oh ya, i got a set of 1/4" brass studs to fill put into the tubes. its got threading, but that will be filled in with epoxy.
 
Much thanks for sharing your photos :)

I don't like the look of that metal handle at all on that KH. I can see why you were not happy with the paint job on that, that's just too mickey mousey indeed! I was looking real hard at those, but even their photos of it on the KH website made it look mediocre, so I decided against buying one. That latex paint!.................. man that looks real bad! I'm sure you will be able to get it to look "much" nicer :)

I've had quite a few KH models now, and judging them from specimen to specimen, I can see that there is not a solid consistancy in the leather and such used from scabbard to scabbard.

Oh, and for the record.......... When I recently purchased my WW2 HI, I compared it to my KH WW2 scabbard, and it just happens to be that the KH's scabbard was nicer overall, IMO. But, because of KH's inconsistant use of leather and such, it may not have been so if it were to have been compared to another KH specimen. My comparison was one particular scabbard compared to another, not a blanket comparison. One just has to keep in mind that any such comparisons should only be on a knife to knife basis.

Your work area reminds me of how I get my own place looking while involved in a project.
I always get that great feeling when I'm finally finished, but also hate that feeling I get knowing I got to clean up my mess. It's not even the clean-up so much, it's more the putting everything back where it belongs task, oh boy is that a pain ;)


Again Seth, no apology needed for you working on "your" pieces ;)
 
You need a workbench with a good woodworking vise. Then get a heavy and solid metalworking vise as well.

Buy one or make one.

It will make your life easier, and you won't set the house on fire or ruin the rug.

It will also allow you to get out of the house if there is a fire. It will be much easier on your knees.
 
My old workbench used to be our family kitchen table, until I buggered it up so much that I had to buy the wife a new dining table set (I'm no longer allowed to work on the kitchen table). I now have three more refined work areas (the kitchen countertop, my bed, and the floor) ;)

My metalworking vises are real good ones (a couple of vise grips) ;)

Yeah, Seth, I can very much relate to your improvising :)

If the Kamis in Nepal can work using whatever is readily available, so can I..... LOL! ;)
 
Seth, I like your idea and I'm anxious to see the finished product. It looks like you're doing some pretty good work so far.

The wheels are turning in my head; you could really do some wild modifications on your sword. I think you should grind the full tang down to a hidden tang, add a choil and ricasso, drop the point a little and add some swedges, fighter style guard, and an African blackwood handle :) ;) :D . But you should see some of the things I've done to my khuks ;).

Matt
 
LongRifle said:
Seth, I like your idea and I'm anxious to see the finished product. It looks like you're doing some pretty good work so far.

The wheels are turning in my head; you could really do some wild modifications on your sword. I think you should grind the full tang down to a hidden tang, add a choil and ricasso, drop the point a little and add some swedges, fighter style guard, and an African blackwood handle :) ;) :D . But you should see some of the things I've done to my khuks ;).

Matt


if i did anything to this one beyond just adding a gaurd, i would probably thin out the handles, leaving the bottom portion wide so that it would catch on the hand as it slipped down. i like the handles as they are in shape, but they are wide enough that it makes the grip akward and a little unsure. but the engravings are there, and my hands will grow a little still in girth, wich should help (in 10 or so years :) )


dang... the 3rd handle picture isnt showing up. i have it set to..... i'll see if i can get it to work.
 
Im with a few others here....no problem doing what youre doing unless theres something about the sword I dont know....its not like the engravings were 100 hours in the making and a lifelong achievement....my guess would be that anyone who could replace the guard could replace the engravings given their refinement.....mod away!
 
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