Tibetan style bladed kukri.

spiral · 18th July 2007, 08:14 PM

A little whats usualy termed as Chainpuri or Limbu villager style kukri turned up today , That a fellow forumite was kind enough to point out to me recently, after it caught his eye as different from the norm.

So after a quick hefting & glancing at the blade in sunlight I decided to do a quick & dirty 10 second bleach spray, a 5 second wipe of lemon juice & a quick rinse rinse in boiling water just to see what i had, it revealed this rather course but lovely blade.

I am sure the handle {cast zinc probably from old batteries & toothpaste tubes.} & the steel bolster are replacments, . Clearly this was a well used kukri at some time in its past, the spine has been well beaten for splitting firewood but luckily someone still liked it enough a few decades ago to re handle it so its life could continue.

I am rather left wondering the age of the blade... When did the Tibetans &/or Nepalis stop doing this style of lamination?

Spiral

Lew · 18th July 2007, 08:55 PM

What I find interesting is that the laminations are only found in th foward area of the blade they do not extend down the rest of the blade?

Lew

spiral · 18th July 2007, 09:12 PM

Yes thats right Lew, it seemed unusual to me as well & leaves me wondering the reasons why?

Perhaps they only had thin bar stock so had to laminate to get full depth of belly?

Or perhaps it was done to be purely decorative? I dont know.

I have been told old bright steel Knitting pins were often used as one of the laminate materials in such work? But how accurate that is I dont know but it would be a source of thin rods of good high carbon steel, I would think.

Spiral

Bill M · 18th July 2007, 10:06 PM

Neat! It went to the right guy!

Mark · 19th July 2007, 04:05 PM

I see just a hint of darker color at the base of the blade (unless its just a stain on the lighter steel. Perhaps the pattern comes from the middle layer being thicker than the others (the thickness of the base, in other words)?

josh stout · 19th July 2007, 05:12 PM

What a fascinating knife. I have been looking at allot of Tibetan pattern welding, but I have never seen a kukri with hairpin folding before. There are a couple of unusual things that the smith did to adapt a technique for long straight blades to this knife. Either the hairpin rods were placed backwards pointing away from the tip, or it is a rare double-ended pattern. To me it looks it bit more like the former. At the tip it looks like the rods thin out and come together without really joining. It would take a very close look at the tip to know for sure. Then around the hairpin rods is the typical frame of high carbon steel. What I see at the base of the blade is the last rod of darker iron extending down into the base of the blade and probably forming the tang. This would give the tang good shock absorbing properties. Then the high carbon frame that extends around the entire blade also surrounds the darker rod that extends to the handle. To add thickness to the blade at the base, the bright steel frame partially covers the central darker portion.

You did a great job with a very quick etch, but the color looks a bit unusual. Is it really as green/yellow as it appears in the photo? Would nitric acid make a more traditional dark and light pattern? It is not an area I am experienced in.
Josh

18th July 2007, 08:14 PM	#1
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Tibetan style bladed kukri. A little whats usualy termed as Chainpuri or Limbu villager style kukri turned up today , That a fellow forumite was kind enough to point out to me recently, after it caught his eye as different from the norm. So after a quick hefting & glancing at the blade in sunlight I decided to do a quick & dirty 10 second bleach spray, a 5 second wipe of lemon juice & a quick rinse rinse in boiling water just to see what i had, it revealed this rather course but lovely blade. I am sure the handle {cast zinc probably from old batteries & toothpaste tubes.} & the steel bolster are replacments, . Clearly this was a well used kukri at some time in its past, the spine has been well beaten for splitting firewood but luckily someone still liked it enough a few decades ago to re handle it so its life could continue. I am rather left wondering the age of the blade... When did the Tibetans &/or Nepalis stop doing this style of lamination? Spiral

18th July 2007, 09:12 PM	#3
spiral Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,712	Yes thats right Lew, it seemed unusual to me as well & leaves me wondering the reasons why? Perhaps they only had thin bar stock so had to laminate to get full depth of belly? Or perhaps it was done to be purely decorative? I dont know. I have been told old bright steel Knitting pins were often used as one of the laminate materials in such work? But how accurate that is I dont know but it would be a source of thin rods of good high carbon steel, I would think. Spiral Last edited by spiral; 18th July 2007 at 09:44 PM.

18th July 2007, 08:55 PM	#2
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	What I find interesting is that the laminations are only found in th foward area of the blade they do not extend down the rest of the blade? Lew

18th July 2007, 10:06 PM	#4
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	Neat! It went to the right guy!

19th July 2007, 04:05 PM	#5
Mark Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 987	I see just a hint of darker color at the base of the blade (unless its just a stain on the lighter steel. Perhaps the pattern comes from the middle layer being thicker than the others (the thickness of the base, in other words)?

19th July 2007, 05:12 PM	#6
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	What a fascinating knife. I have been looking at allot of Tibetan pattern welding, but I have never seen a kukri with hairpin folding before. There are a couple of unusual things that the smith did to adapt a technique for long straight blades to this knife. Either the hairpin rods were placed backwards pointing away from the tip, or it is a rare double-ended pattern. To me it looks it bit more like the former. At the tip it looks like the rods thin out and come together without really joining. It would take a very close look at the tip to know for sure. Then around the hairpin rods is the typical frame of high carbon steel. What I see at the base of the blade is the last rod of darker iron extending down into the base of the blade and probably forming the tang. This would give the tang good shock absorbing properties. Then the high carbon frame that extends around the entire blade also surrounds the darker rod that extends to the handle. To add thickness to the blade at the base, the bright steel frame partially covers the central darker portion. You did a great job with a very quick etch, but the color looks a bit unusual. Is it really as green/yellow as it appears in the photo? Would nitric acid make a more traditional dark and light pattern? It is not an area I am experienced in. Josh