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
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
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but the opening post was labelled for Moderation and wouldn't show until one of us had OK'd it.
