In this line of work you meet the most fascinating people with the most fascinating stories. Today in Brewster at the Historical Society Farmer’s Market we were sharpening knives, minding our business, like we do. Up walks an English gent with a basket full of knives with this beauty among them. He tells us that over 20 years ago he lived in Nepal for 20 years. He watched a blacksmith forge this out of a truck leaf spring. It has been his constant companion ever since. It was in need of sharpening and the handle was split in two and held together with duct tape that looked like it had been holding it together for 10 plus years.
This knife is fascinating. I have a bit of a thing for Khukris and this is only the second one I have seen with a traditional partial tang. Most of the military and tourist trade Khukris you see are full tang and many of them are not hand forged by real craftsmen. The balance and taper of the blade is nice. The fuller line was not made with a fullering tool but created by hammering the sides of the top edge down and over so that there is a cool bevel to the spine. The entire blade is actually very shallowly fullered to lighten up the blade and push more metal toward the blade edge and spine. It is a brilliant piece of work. A copper bolster was made to support the handle which fits tightly down inside the copper. I am going to probably replace the handle with a piece of Teak. This wood I think will be up to the job. Often I see them handled with a dark wood resembling walnut. The original wood was more maple in color. I think the Teak will be a nice in between compromise and a wood from Southeast Asia that gives it a bit of regional plausibility.
