I Think The Ferrule is the Problem
DhaDha,
First, let me emphasize that I have absolutely no evidence (hard or anecdotal) that my contention is correct. That’s why I so carefully said “I believe” and “I think”. My belief is based on aesthetics alone. Some of the modern and oddly shaped cho notwithstanding, for the traditional form to have one side shorter than the other in what should be a bilaterally symmetrical design looks awkward. Graphically, I think that the center projection in the cho is meant to sit in the middle of the negative space with equal amounts of that space on either side of it.
I also have a number of khukri with uneven cho, so the question is, why does this happen. I think that the answer lies in the nature of the ferrule. Khukri ferrules are traditionally made from a flat piece of metal that is folded to shape. When complete, one end of the ferrule must wrap around the cross section of the blade and, on the other end, it must encompass the much larger cross section of the hilt. In addition, the chords of the chorded circle sections on either side of the ferrule must center on the blade while the circular segments must center on the sides of the hilt. This is a tricky little non-Euclidian geometry problem. The ferrule of your first example with its flat sections (which I have never seen before), illustrates well what I’m trying to get across.
Here are what I believe to be two plausible scenarios. One: A smith, as a highly skilled craftsman completes the blade with a symmetrical cho and, because it is more economical to do so, hands the blade off to be hilted by someone less skilled. This less skilled guy may not really know the geometry behind making the ferrule. (Maybe he has only a few patterns of various sizes or maybe he has a few ferrules that were made somewhere else or maybe he just doesn’t want to go through the trial and error of trying to figure out how to make one from scratch.) So, he chooses the one on hand that will match as closely as possible and files down the base of the blade as needed to get the fit. Two: After 20-50 yrs the original blade needs a new hilt and ferrule. Times have changed and now that the khukri is no longer a primary weapon, there are even less people that know the geometry. In this second scenario, the suppositions of the first scenario apply even more strongly.
Sincerely,
RobT
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