Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Billman · 11th December 2010, 02:07 PM

Hi

Recently joined the forum, and trawling through some old blogs... My area of expertise is the billhook, and as a working tool, as well as a weapon, I class a khukri as a form of billhook (note many other types of curved billhooks and sickles also exist in Nepal as well as the more commonly known 'military' khukri).

The terms full and partial tang occur above as well as tapered tang... For billhooks the most common method of fitting is the full length, tapered tang, with the end bent over at the butt of the handle, or better still rivetted over a washer. Socketed handles, for a wooden insert, and scale tang handles are also found - as are socket handles where no wooden insert is used - and materials other than wood, e.g. antler, horn, bone, leather, are used.

In Japan the common method is a partial tang, about half the length of the handle with one or two lateral rivets, and an iron ferrule... Cheap imported billhooks, from India and China, often have a short tang with a lateral rivet passing through the ferrule.

In most countries the use of a metal ferrule to prevent the handle splitting is common when a tang is used - handles without are less common, and khukris (with a knife type of bolster on the shoulder of the blade) would appear to be an exception. In other countries when a ferrule is not fitted, the handle often thickens at the entry point to strengthen it..

If there is no tang passing through the handle, there must me some method of preventing the handle coming off in use - sometimes they are glued on with resin, occasionally barbed to dig into the wood - but a lateral rivet is most common.

The fitting of a ferrule and a rivet is thus a common method of fitting a handle, and although uncommon on a khukri, would seem an original feature, rather than a later repair. I guess as in most other countries, regional variations in blade profile, thickness, type of handle etc of nepalese khukris, especially pre standardisation of manufacture would not be as uncommon as it seems...

Note in the UK, France and Italy hundreds of regional variations in shape of billhook blades are found, often available in range of sizes - in a 1930's
catalogue, one French maker, Talabot, boasted they held patterns for over 3000 shapes, and would make any other upon receipt of a paper template...

11th December 2010, 02:07 PM	#25
Billman Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 129	Hi Recently joined the forum, and trawling through some old blogs... My area of expertise is the billhook, and as a working tool, as well as a weapon, I class a khukri as a form of billhook (note many other types of curved billhooks and sickles also exist in Nepal as well as the more commonly known 'military' khukri). The terms full and partial tang occur above as well as tapered tang... For billhooks the most common method of fitting is the full length, tapered tang, with the end bent over at the butt of the handle, or better still rivetted over a washer. Socketed handles, for a wooden insert, and scale tang handles are also found - as are socket handles where no wooden insert is used - and materials other than wood, e.g. antler, horn, bone, leather, are used. In Japan the common method is a partial tang, about half the length of the handle with one or two lateral rivets, and an iron ferrule... Cheap imported billhooks, from India and China, often have a short tang with a lateral rivet passing through the ferrule. In most countries the use of a metal ferrule to prevent the handle splitting is common when a tang is used - handles without are less common, and khukris (with a knife type of bolster on the shoulder of the blade) would appear to be an exception. In other countries when a ferrule is not fitted, the handle often thickens at the entry point to strengthen it.. If there is no tang passing through the handle, there must me some method of preventing the handle coming off in use - sometimes they are glued on with resin, occasionally barbed to dig into the wood - but a lateral rivet is most common. The fitting of a ferrule and a rivet is thus a common method of fitting a handle, and although uncommon on a khukri, would seem an original feature, rather than a later repair. I guess as in most other countries, regional variations in blade profile, thickness, type of handle etc of nepalese khukris, especially pre standardisation of manufacture would not be as uncommon as it seems... Note in the UK, France and Italy hundreds of regional variations in shape of billhook blades are found, often available in range of sizes - in a 1930's catalogue, one French maker, Talabot, boasted they held patterns for over 3000 shapes, and would make any other upon receipt of a paper template...