Balinese Blaka

[apan]

I just wanted to share with you my newest go-to edged tool for the woods
As I spent most of this winter in Bali I happened to run into a (at least for me) new type of blade. I must admit it took me a while to get used to the meat cleaver look and was hesitant to buy those I found on various markets. Also because the quality didn't seem to be that impressive. But I managed to get in contact with a good pande who made some really nice blakas so I couldn't resist buying a couple. A Balinese pande is more than just a blacksmith. To become a blacksmith in bali you must belong to the pande caste, which is also a clan. They only marry within the clan and they consider themselves to be as high as the priest caste (or even higher). So every pande is at proud NN generation pande. Blacksmithing in Bali is both old and highly regarded/respected and one can say (look at the balinese kris) some do know the art.

I took the liberty of giving it a less traditional look by giving it a quick bluing. The blade is a bit curved and 170mm and 7mm thick, handle is 190mm giving it a total length of 360mm. The balance is very close to where the handle meets the blade giving it, in my opinion, a very good and centered balance. As the circumference of the handle gets less, and is tapered towards the blade you can choke up really well on the handle, close to the blade and get a very good control for precise but still powerful cutting and carving. Speaking of the blade it is chisel ground. I was a bit worried that it would make straight splitting and cutting harder but so far it has turned out working really well.
I gave it a couple of hours work on saplings, splitting some wood and carving and I must say I am impressed with the steel. It is made out of used car spring steel and is tempered to somthing I would guess be the upper 50 HRC. So far I have seen no chipping or rolling on the edge and after using it for hours most of the blade was still shaving sharp. The long handle give the blade good momentum and the weight of 610g gives it the cutting power of a small hatchet with the ability to still use it for slicing and carving like an ordinary knife. The more I use it, the more I like it.

Please excuse my spelling and grammar

 

[crosslandkelly]

That certainly is an interesting looking blade. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mrcharly]

I'm confused. Has a post been deleted?

 

[Toddy]

No idea what happened but the opening post was labelled for Moderation and wouldn't show until one of us had OK'd it.

I have, and I'll go and check the rest of his posts to see they're clear too.

M

 

[crosslandkelly]

There was a photo of a nice heavy multi use knife/hatchet.

 

[Amy Turner]

Can you repost it ?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Something strange going on. I saw this thread this morning and Approved the opening post. Just now I opened the thread and the OP showed it was awaiting approval again. I have approved it again...should only need for one of us to do that once.

 

[apan]

Seem like my original post disapeared!

The post opening post was about my new favourite tool; the balinese Blaka.
I spend this winter in Bali where i found this, at least to me, new blade. I found some on the local markets, but neither the meat cleaver look or the quality impressed me. But I managed to get in contact with a pande who was said to make really good blakas and visited him at his forge. The pande caste is highly respected and since the pande caste also is a clan, they only marry within the caste/clan making every pande something like 15th generation blacksmith or so...

I did not like the polished blade, so I gave it a quick bluing. The handle measures 190mm, blade 170mm and is 7mm thick. Due to the long and quite heavy handle, the balance (as shown in the picture) is very close to where the blade meets the handle giving it, in my opinion, a very nice balance. Since it is rather heavy @ 610g it works really well cutting and splitting if you grab the handle at the end. As the handle is tapered towards the blade it is easy to choke close to the blade/edge and get fairly good precision when making small cuts and carving.

The edge has a chisel grind which I was worried would have some limitations making straight splitting and cutting harder. But to my surprise it works very well without a centered edge even though the blade is quite thick. I have given it a couple of hours cutting saplings, splitting seasoned firewood and some carving. So far the edge has held up impressingly well with no rolling or chipping and was still shaving sharp on most parts of the blade after the day had finished. I would guess, from using and giving it a small touch up with the diamond stone, that the steel is hardened to upper 50 HRC (used car spring steel). So far the blaka has worked very well and the more I use it, the more I like it.

Please excuse my spelling and grammar.

 

[mrcharly]

That is an interesting blade. Very thick!

Is the edge hollow-ground?

 

[apan]

That is an interesting blade. Very thick!

Is the edge hollow-ground?

It is convex on one side, flat on the other.

 

[Janne]

So similar to the Japanese knives?
Interesting knife. Made for a right handed person.

 

[apan]

So similar to the Japanese knives?
Interesting knife. Made for a right handed person.

Yes, similar to the Japanese Nata but less front heavy. Most knifes i could find on Bali had chisel grind, for right handed use.