Recently I purchased an 18" Ang Khola from Himalayan Imports as a blem that was listed as having a cracked handle. As I was already planning on rehandling something with stacked leather washers and the price was right, this seemed like the ideal candidate for a conversion. I also figured that I'd rework the scabbard while I was at it, document the entire procedure with photographs, and present it as something that would (hopefully) be helpful to others.
Of course my luck being what it is, the handle featured some fairly nice horn, the cracks were barely worth mentioning, and the karda and chakmak were both rather good. The entire rig was considerably improved over what I'd been used to and was actually better than some of my non-blems from the past few years. I went on with my project regardless.
First of all, here's a pic of the lucky khukuri:
Let's get started. Before we do anything else, we need to take care of that edge! As a wiser man once put it, "Remember where that edge is. It will not forget where you are." Since I'm not the remembering type I'm going to tape the entire thing off in copious amounts of masking tape. Go heavy. Not only will this protect us from incidental contact, but it will also allow us to literally grab the blade when doing other tasks. (For example, working on the handle.) Be thorough. Tape is cheap. Fingers are expensive, and painful.
Right. Now, we're going to remove the handle. It is affixed to the tang with laha, a mixture of God knows what that melts at around the boiling point of water. The tang is also peened over the buttcap. Before we do anything we need to remove that peen; otherwise we'll mangle the cap while getting it off, regardless of how soft the laha is. Use a bench grinder or a Dremel to buzz the end off. If you don't have power tools a bastard mill file will do the job just fine, although it'll take a bit longer. Try not to remove too much material from the keeper but be sure that you've removed enough of the peen. In this picture, I've removed a nearly perfect amount for most handles.
Next, we're going to need some tools. We need to apply heat to the handle and bolster of the khukuri; additionally, we're going to be wrestling with hot pieces of metal and horn and possibly doing some light prying. In my experience what I've got laid out is generally adequate. I'm going to be using boiling water because it's cheap, it's easy, and it's pretty safe. Others choose heat guns and there's nothing wrong with that. A hair dryer probably doesn't produce enough heat for this, and I'd be very careful if using a propane torch or something like that. Boiling water is fine. (Some folks won't do this out of concern for rust. Twenty minutes of boiling water won't rust 5160, or whatever it is that these are made out of. You'll get a bit of tarnish at worst and the thing will tarnish even more heavily the first time that it's actually used. Rust won't be an issue unless you're using it as a dive knife. The people who say otherwise either sell or like stainless, and generally don't use knives much in the first place or else they'd already know this. OH SNAP!) Regardless of what you use, melting laha stinks like an ass sandwich on fire and the smell will get into your possessions and possibly linger for days. You have been warned.
Heating it up...
The keeper fell right off. Ideally everything will fall right off but that never happens. At least, not with me. The keeper heats up quickly and will come loose first. Because I removed the entire peen there was no wiggling involved in this case.
Still heating. It will take a while to get the tang hot through all that horn, and it's the tang's heat that will ultimately loosen the laha. While not strictly necessary it's very handy if the water level covers the bolster as well; there's a lot of space and laha between the bolster and the tang, and it will take a long time to get it off without it being heated directly.
Heat and wiggle, heat and pull. Do it in small steps. Here, you can see that the handle is just starting to let go. Rather than monkeyfist it off and possibly hurt it (or myself) I'll just heat it a bit more. Water's already boiling, right?
Success! This is what it'll look like after it's broken down. Don't lose anything, we'll be using it all later. I'd recommend using a shitty knife (as in my Winchester multitool pictured above) to scrape off as much laha as possible while it's still warm and gooey. We can remove it when it's hard, or heat it up later, or even ignore it entirely, but we'll get the best results if most of it is gone when we're gluing up and it's quickest and easiest to do so now, so at least scrape off the worst of it. I generally use a MAPP Burnz-O-Matic to burn/melt off whatever didn't scrape off easily, and then I sand with #100 sandpaper afterwards. This probably isn't necessary but epoxy sticks to steel better than the laha does, so I want steel showing.
Here it is after some cleaning. It's hard to see in my lousy photograph but note the stepped shoulders at the transition between the blade and the tang. This is the first and only time I've seen this on an HI. I'm not sure what to make of it.
Many of us don't like habaki-style bolsters. There's nothing wrong with them functionally but they're not traditional, they're less pleasing to look at, and they waste potential handle space that we may need later when rehandling. For these reasons they have to go. I use a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to buzz the habaki portion off and clean things up with a file. After that, I test fit it. Usually the fit will be less than optimal after all this work. As you can see, I have some gaps here.
However, it's just brass and its fit can be adjusted easily. I'll be using a rubber mallet for this. Leather or plastic mallets, or perhaps other soft-faced tools should also be useful. Remember when I said not to throw anything away earlier? You were probably saying, "Well, I won't need the handle," and you threw it away. If you didn't, kudos to you. We'll be using the old handle to back the bolster while we clamp it in a vise so that we can hammer on it. Dig that old handle out of the trash, stick the bolster on it, and clamp it as such. If the handle is already gone you're assed out -- you can still do the job but you'll need to be much more careful.
With the bolster on the handle and clamped tightly in the vise, start tapping on the angled surfaces on either side. Don't go wailing on the thing, light taps are sufficient. Try to hit directly on the flat so as to angle it further inward without creasing or bending it. Tap either side once or twice, remove, and test fit on the blade. Keep going until it's a good fit. You could simple install the bolster on the blade, then the blade on the handle, and clamp it like that, but you'll need to be more clever than me to do so. I can never get the tang back in. (And yes, I've tried. How many times? Every time, actually.) If you can do this this would be the easiest way to get consistantly good results as you could simply hammer the flats right onto the blade.
There we are. What insignifcant gaps still there will be filled later with epoxy or glue. We just need to get rid of the larger ones, and actually, even large gaps are just cosmetic anyway as we will soon see.
Closeup of the tang, sanded, degreased, and ready to go. Note those shoulders. What's up with that?
The next step is to install the bolster. My idea of good engineering is when every component can stand on its own, independant of every other component. This is not always efficient but it's seldom ineffective and is never less than durable, and durability is what we want here. With that in mind, while the bolster could technically be retained by the handle, we're going to attach it well enough so that it will stand on its own.
You could tape the gaps between the bolster and blade extremely well and use a liquid epoxy but I've always had to spend a considerable amount of time cleaning up afterwards, no matter how well I taped or shaped. These days I use epoxy putty. The particular brand is probably not important, as I only ever buy what's cheapest and I've never had a failure here. What's more important is to clean as much laha as possible out of the bolster, thoroughly degrease the interior and the blade's tang, and mix the putty properly according to the instructions. The bolster will probably be a tight fit; that's good, force it on and line it up. If it's not, use superglue to temporarily attach it in place. Pack the cavity with epoxy putty. (Many of these have a five minute working time, so set everything up ahead of time and be swift.) Roll the putty into columns or balls to get it all down into the bolster and tamp it firmly. Check the bolster's alignment frequently and adjust it if it shifts. Go a little higher than flush.
Wait a few minutes. You should have some left over that you didn't use, so check that for "doneness." When it's kicked over and firm (but not yet hard) use a sharp knife to gently shave the excess off the back of the bolster. Ideally you want a completely level and flush surface there. You could always do it later of course but you'll need a file or a sanding drum; this is much easier. Go slow, be careful, and make it clean. If you don't feel up to it or don't get around to it, don't worry about it -- you can use a file later. Be sure that it's fairly level at some point between now and when the leather washers are glued on, though.
Next, get your leather together. If you already have a side or such laying around you can cut that up; otherwise, use what you've got. (This is a good way to recycle scraps.) Tandy Leather sells bags of scrap for various amounts of money. Now, the trickiest part of this entire process: cut your leather into appropriately-sized pieces. There's a tradeoff between waste and safety margin: go too large and you're wasting a lot of leather, go too small and you're wasting even more. (Entire spacers need to be thrown out.) Eyeball the bolster, eyeball the buttplate, and cut your pieces to those sizes and everything in-between. If in doubt, go larger. (Note though that if your pieces come out smaller than the buttplate, you could always grind the buttplate down with them. If your pieces are smaller than the bolster you're assed out, it can't be ground significantly smaller.) If this is your first one go larger than you think that you need to and waste the leather. You'll have a better feel for it next time.
Those washers don't have to be circular, square, or any other shape -- they just need to be large enough to do the job. Any excess can be cut off now, while the epoxy's curing, or ground off during final shaping. Go with whatever is easiest. Stack them up as you cut them. When the stack reaches from the bottom of the bolster to the very tip of the tang, cut maybe 10% more. True, the handle will not be as long as the stack, but we will be compressing the hell out of those washers a little later and it's far better to have too many than too few. Any extras can be used for further handles or glued up into a block for testing purposes; either way, they won't go to waste.
Punch a hole roughly in the center of each. We'll be needing this for the next step and it will make later steps just a bit easier.
Place them in a container. Soak them in warm water until they stop bubbling, or about fifteen minutes. This doesn't just make them more pliable; this also forces a change in the structure of the leather, making the result harder and more durable. This is a good thing. Trust me.
Now we need to compress the washers, not only to help remove the water but also to increase the density of the leather. Various entities sell devices to do this. As I'm a notoriously cheap bastard I constructed my own out of threaded stock from Home Depot, wing nuts to fit, and two pieces of spare Corian with holes drilled in them. Metal, wood, or other plastics would work. Just make sure that they're thick enough that they won't warp, and it's a bonus if they're not affected by water. Run the threaded stock through the holes you punched and clamp the pieces down. Note the amount of water that runs out. You don't need to squeeze the life out of them, but apply some force. I'll take pliars to the wing nuts to make sure that they're nice and snug.
Allow some time to dry and settle. One day is probably enough. Afterwards, lay them out seperately until you're ready to use them, just to make sure that all excess water has evaporated.
Now's a good time to start on the scabbard. Remove the frog by sliding it down towards the scabbard's tip. It should come right off. The chape can sometimes be removed by wiggling; if not, apply some heat and pry the sides up a little.
While the karda and chakmak are undoubtedly traditional, most of us carry better alternatives. If these tools aren't needed there's little sense in carrying them, and if they won't be carried, removing their pockets from the scabbard decreases its bulk considerably. I've opted to go this route.
The pockets are reinfoced by a wooden wedge and retained by a triangular leather strip and some small tacks. There will be at least one at the "point" of the strip (normally covered by the frog) and probably some more underneath. Removing them is easy enough -- pry at the edges until there's enough exposed to grab with needlenose pliars, then simply pull them out straight. Not much force is needed.
Try to pull them out straight without damaging them, as we will be able to reuse them later. If they get bent or warped (particularly at the tips) you can easily straighten them out by laying them on a flat metal surface and tapping them with a hammer. They're made out of iron or very mild steel and are easily bent, so take care with them.
With the strip removed you'll have a better view of the two leather rings that hold the karda and chakmak in place, and also the wooden wedge underneath. The loops can usually be pulled right out, taking the tacks with them. The wedge may or may not be tacked on, but is not glued. Remove them all.
You should now be able to see how the scabbard's leather covering is stitched together. Remove the stitching at this time. Resist the urge to just yank them out as this may tear the leather and we'll need that later. Take a few minutes and do it correctly. The covering is not glued on and should come right off.
Here's a view of the back of the scabbard opened up, with the triangular strip and wooden wedge visible. Note the single tack at the bottom holding the wedge on.
Here is the entire scabbard, broken down to parade rest. We'll be keeping the two scabbard halves, the leather covering, the chape, the frog, and possibly the tacks. The karda/chakmak retaining loops, the triangular strip, the wedge, and the lacing can all be trashed.
The sarkis cunningly assemble their scabbards without glue. The two wooden halves are held together by the tension in the leather covering. While this minimalist approach has a certain charm and doubtless requires much skill, I lack either quality and tend to just use glue; not only is it far easier, but it's also a bit safer in my opinion as there's more than just a very thin piece of leather preventing the halves from seperating, and if those halves seperate I have a good chance of being cut. So, a bit of extra reinforcement here is certainly not a bad thing, particularly if it saves me time.
Use a good glue. A decent epoxy will work, as will better wood glues. I'm a big fan of "Gorilla Glue" for jobs like this. If you're using GG, be sure to lightly moisten all surfaces before applying the glue as it requires water to cure; also, go very light on the glue because it expands quite a bit.
With the glue applied, clamp it up and let it cure according to the directions that came with your adhesive.
While our glue is curing, we can return our attention to the handle. Hopefully the washers are dry by now. If they're not, give them more time. We want them completely dry or nearly so before we continue.
Here, you can see that I've laid out my washers roughly in order according to size. A khukuri's handle is narrowest at the bolster and widest at the butt, so we want the smallest washers up top and the largest ones at the bottom to ease our work later. You may notice that I've also numbered them with a marker. I strongly suggest that you do the same. When we actually glue the handle up we'll be racing the clock so it pays to do as much prep work (and remove as much guesswork) now as we possibly can.
With our washers organized and dry (or nearly so) our glue has probably cured by now. Next, we simply glue the leather covering back on. Start at the tip of the scabbard and work slowly. Go in sections if you have to. I like to do about a third at a time, using clamps, my vise, and even surgical tubing as necessary to minimize any wrinkles or air bubbles.
Remember, we removed a considerable amount of bulk from the scabbard and we're going to have some excess leather now, particularly up at the scabbard's throat. Go ahead and fold the extra over the top but do not glue it down. When the glue is dry we can simply trim off the extra leather and call it good.
You might be thinking right now that the frog will go on very loosely without that extra bulk to retain it. You are correct but that's a simple fix: merely unlace the frog, snip off the extra leather from one side (losing the lacing holes there in the process) and punch new lacing holes. How much to remove is a matter of eyeballing, but if you're not sure cut less than you think you'll need to. You can always cut off more later. Adding it back is another matter.
If you're lucky, the scabbard will have enough natural taper to retain the frog -- but I'm never lucky and you probably won't be either. You can glue a strip of thick leather or wrap twine or some such around the wood underneath the leather to provide a "bump" for the frog to catch on, or you can go the quick and easy (and lazy) route that I use: simply lace the frog tightly enough that it's snug and glue it on in the appropriate place, using those tacks we salvaged (remember them?) for additional reinforcement. Either way is fine. You can even combine them if you're a belt-and-suspenders kind of person.
One final note about frog placement: HI's sarkis normally place them far too low on the scabbard. The result is unbalanced and will usually try to swing inward, pointing the chape at your legs and inviting disaster the next time you take a knee in a hurry. I like my frogs to be right up at the throat of the scabbard so that the weight of the blade keeps the entire rig pointed downwards. Where you put it is up to you, so don't be afraid to experiment a little.
If your "bead" where the leather edges join on the back of the scabbard looks bad, black it out with leather dye or a Sharpie.
Glue the chape back on. If it's pointy, consider fixing that. You can round or remove the point with a file, or even drill a hole through the tip and into the scabbard to function as a drain hole. Some people leave it off entirely. How you handle it is up to you, but consider that chapes were invented by people who spent lots of time carrying scabbarded weapons around outdoors and once adopted, the design never went away. They may have known something that we don't but the choice is ultimately yours.
Here's a shot of the finished rig. Note how much thinner it is than a stock scabbard. What you can't see is that it also hangs much better now.
Back to the handle. Gather up those washers, get your hole punch ready, and start punching holes. You're looking to create a slot in the middle of each washer so that the tang will pass through when we assemble the handle. How many holes, what size, and where are a matter of personal judgement. If you're not sure, start small and work up. Again it's a lot easier to remove more leather later than to add it back on. Also bear in mind that the slots will be smaller as we progress towards the butt due to the taper of the tang. For this handle, I was punching five-hole slots by the bolster and single-hole slots near the butt.
The slot should be large enough that the tang will pass through fairly easily. Don't worry too much if it's a hair too large, as this will give you some wiggle room to make sure everything is lined up properly and the epoxy will fill any gaps.
With your holes punched, let's do a test fitting. Put all your washers on in order. If a slot is too small or oriented improperly, make adjustments now. You may find that a few washers just don't fit properly. Either renumber them to another spot or set them aside for your next rehandling project. (You did cut a few extra like I told you to, right?)
When you have everything set up like you want, remove each washer and set it on a flat surface near your work area in order, oriented the way you want it. What I mean by that is, make sure that they're all facing the same way so that you don't have to guess which end of the slot goes to the front and which to the rear. As I said earlier we'll be working quickly and we won't have time to fool around with adjustments during the glue-up, so get everything sorted out now.
Consider how you want to lock everything together. The entire handle can be constructed with nothing other than good epoxy and likely last a lifetime, but we can do better than that. The kamis glue up their handles and then peen the tang; this would work for us, but again, we can do better. If we thread the tang we not only have a very convenient method of applying compression during gluing, but we can also adjust tension later if things come loose. This is what I've opted for here. It's quite a bit easier than you think.
You're need a threading die and a handle. The correct size to use depends on the size of your tang, and they vary quite a bit. If you have one of those cheapie "Made in China" sets like I do you'll find at least one that fits. For this one I used a 10-32 NF, although I generally go larger and coarser.
If you're familiar with these things then you've already noticed that I'm not attempting to thread a rod, but rather a cone -- and one with flat sides no less. Indeed. Never fear, every tang that I've ever worked on was quite mild and no particular challenge, even for my shittiest-of-the-shitty dies. Because of the tang's taper our threads initially will be too shallow to be useful, yet by the time we cut our way down to where they'll work it'll be hard to turn. No sweat -- usually we can simply muscle the die far enough to give us what we need, as the tang is soft enough that the die will swage it down considerably. If we really had to (and I have) we could always use a file to dress the corners up a bit and such and make the portion we're threading a bit more rodlike but this often isn't necessary.
A more technical solution would be to weld a piece of threaded stock onto the end and use that, but I don't trust such welds to keep a handle together. Others have made it work and I probably could too, but I've never bothered. Simply threading the tang itself removes a lot of the guesswork.
There are numerous resources online and off on how to properly thread a rod. In short, back up a quarter turn frequently to break off chips and use lots of oil. Keep going until the resistance is so severe that you're worried about damaging your die, handle, or both. You can't actually go too far if you don't break anything; even if the entire tang were threaded it would still do its job. You absolutely need to go far enough to leave an eight of an inch or so of good, deep threads.
The finished product. I stopped a bit earlier this time than I usually do because it looked like enough. As it turned out later, it was not. Go further than this.
Okay, the tang is threaded, your washers are numbered, in order, and all facing the same way, and you're nearly ready to assemble the handle. Read the rest of this procedure before you begin.
You'll need some method to compress your washers. The simplest way would be to simply use a nut of the proper size on your tang and a metal plate or somesuch to spread the load. (I use whatever's handy; in this case as you'll see later, I used a few spare washers.) Do not use the buttcap. It's relatively weak brass and will flex under the load, leaving you with an "interesting" but probably unappealing result.
You'll also need glue. Epoxy is probably best for this job, and if you're using epoxy then West System is the best that there is. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it. (Get the dispensing pumps.) It's quite thin as mixed which is a good thing here, as we're looking for penetration of the leather. If you're using another brand be sure that it has at least a thirty minute working time, and more is better. Think thin consistancy and long working times and you should be fine, and follow the damned directions while you're mixing it -- but don't mix it yet.
Since I realize that mistakes will happen and I don't want my epoxy kicking over while I'm halfway through the job, I'm going to cool it down. Epoxy cures by a thermal process and cold temperatures will slow or even disable it, at least until it warms up. I mix my epoxy in half of an aluminum can and set it in a bowl of cold water when I'm not using it to give me a few extra minutes of working time. West Systems will still set up fine when doing this, although it will take a little while longer. You're on your own if you're using something else.
Rough up the tang and the cured putty in the bolster with #100 sandpaper and clean and degrease both thoroughly. Make sure that everything needed is within reach, and dispense your epoxy. Mix according to directions.
Apply epoxy to the surface of the putty inside the bolster, slide your first washer on and press it down firmly. Apply epoxy to the top of this washer and install the second one. Continue this way until the last washer, which doesn't get epoxy on top. (You'll see why later.) How much to apply? Enough. Depending on the sort of leather that you're using and how well you compressed it it will absorb a little or a lot of the epoxy. If you use too little the joint will starve and the bond won't be optimal; if you use too much it will squeeze out of the sides under compression. If in doubt, use a little extra. We can clean up the mess but we can't fix a bad bond after the fact.
When they're all on, lay a plate of some sort (not the buttplate) over the top, install a nut, and torque it down to compress the washers. Clean up any spills that reach the boslster or blade now as it only gets more difficult later. Between the thinner epoxy and the pressure, the washers will tend to absorb a lot of it and become almost a leather micarta. This is exactly what we want. Leave the handle under compression until the epoxy is completely cured, probably a day or two at least.
If you want to save some heartache later, wait until the epoxy has kicked over and is firm (but not entirely cured) and use a very sharp knife to trim off some of the excess leather. Be careful -- once it's off, it's off. You can't put it back on. Don't go crazy here, but remember that whatever you trim off now is something that won't become dust later.
When it is cured fully, it's time to shape it. A belt sander and a fresh #50 belt is the way to go here. Go slow, keep the leather moving, and consider using a bit of water to cut down on the dust and heat. If the leather burns you're going too quickly. Slow down. Leather grinds pretty quickly as it is, there's little need to hurry.
How much to grind and where is up to you. Folks say that the trick of this is to remove everything that doesn't look like a handle. That's oversimplifying things a bit, I think, but it's essentially true.
If you don't have a belt sander, good luck. A rasp will work but you'll be at it for a long, long time. If you do not have a belt sander or something similar you probably shouldn't be attempting rehandling projects at all. Get one, get comfortable with it, and save yourself much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Here we are after rough shaping.
After rough shaping, lightly wet the leather and begin smoothing it out. Any blatant mistakes or sharp edges left over can be fixed with a rasp. Once the basic shape is good, clamp the blade in a vise and use a strip of sandpaper in a shoeshining motion to even things out.
Consider what you're going to do for the butt as well. I epoxied the buttplate and keeper on seperately, and opted to use a decorative washer and nut for final assembly. A trip to your DIY store will provide you with more options than you wanted to consider.
Next was a FeCl etch. I unwrapped the blade and degreased it thoroughly, heated it up under the hottest water that my tap could produce until it steamed, and then continually painted a 1/4 FeCl/water mix over it for a few minutes. The hardened zone darkens more than the rest of the blade. In this case, we seem to have a fairly good heat treat.
Treating a leather handle depends on what you have, what you like, what kind of leather it is, what time of day it is, what phase the moon is in, and more. There are many ways to do this and most of them work fine. I give it a few coats of Ballistol and possibly mink oil, and follow with a good half hour dunk (or less if it stops bubbling before then) in Watco Danish Oil. After the Watco cures for a few days it ought to be damned near impossible to harm. I still periodically apply Ballistol to leather handles; they usually don't absorb any but it doesn't hurt to be safe. I also like to go around and find any small gaps (between bolster and blade, between buttcap and handle, etc.) and fill them in with something, both to improve the appearance and to keep moisture out of the interior. If the gap is really small, cyanoacrylate glue will wick in there and make most flaws completely disappear for some reason. This trick is also handy with hairline cracks, misset pins, and plenty of other uses. Don't feel bad about doing it -- it was a professional knifemaker that told me about this.
I used Mother's polish to remove the oxides left after the etching and tone down the hamon. A few more etches would doubtless reveal more but I didn't bother.
You might not have noticed but plenty went wrong with this project...more than usual, anyway. I didn't cut my threads down far enough and stripped some of them out when compressing the washers; fortunately there was enough left for the nut to grab on to and I added some epoxy to the threads to be safe. I made some mistakes on the scabbard as well, one of which can plainly be seen up near the throat. It happens. Fix what you can, disguise what you can't, and ignore the rest. We all make mistakes.
There are three keys to proper adhesion with glues: use an appropriate glue, prep the surfaces properly, and follow the damned directions. If you're glue isn't working right I can almost guarantee you that it's related to at least one of these three issues. I really like the West System epoxy in spite of the cost; the metering system is excellent and convenient, one epoxy can do many different jobs depending on how you mix it and with what, and it will stick to nearly anything. (I use it for gluing Corian. No, really.) Great stuff.
One other thing that I wanted to do was to route out the fullers a bit with an angle grinder and possibly trim a few ounces off the spine. HI's are generally a bit heavier than they absolutely must be and I'm finding that I prefer lighter blades these days. Unfortunately my angle grinder has gone missing and I'm reluctant to do all the cleanup work that heavy sanding would require, so we're going to stay with the present weight. I was also going to show how to play around with the center of percussion and why we might want to do that but a quick check showed that it's exactly where it should be in spite of the new handle, so that's out too. There's already a very good thread dealing with this on Bladeforums so my help isn't necessary.