Finally Got My Cold Steel #35LTC Kukri Shaving Sharp

Wow, it took me years, but I finally got my Cold Steel #35LTC Kukri sharp. This is one of my favorite knives, I bought it probably 20+ years ago when they were still sold, as the knife was discontinued in 2003. You can get a thinner, machete version for a tenth of the price that this cost, in the same basic shape, a WWI/M43 Kukri shape, which I like better than the WWII Kukri's, which have the straight spine section. Either one will do the job, these things are vicious cutters, and are basically a short sword. I put it on my LC2 pistol belt as well as my Ontario 18" D-Guard GI Machete. Anyway, I was able to get it sharp using the new Spyderco 308CBN Webfoot sharpener, which did the heavy lifting, with it's rounded, radiused edges, which is perfect for the matching the complex angles of the S-shaped re-curve of the blade. The Webfoot, because of the gap in the sharpener, gives you a third rounded radiused sharpening surface, if you stick the blade through the gap of the sharpener. It should fit most blades, as it fit the LTC, and it is a very wide blade at 2 3/4" at the widest point, and it fit in the gap, which made sharpening a little quicker. After the 308CBN Webfoot, I used the Spyderco 308F Golden Stone for grit refinement, a bridging grit as you will, and then a Spyderco 204UF Ultra-Fine Tri-Angle rod to finish the sharpening. Now, along with the superb Spyderco sharpening systems I used, what also helped was the sharpening guide from the Kukri House. I basically copied the field sharpening technique with the one of the two companion knives, the one meant to be used as a sharpening steel:




and with a file:




Using that method, but with the Spyderco sharpeners, I was able to get the blade shaving sharp, FINALLY!!

So I ordered a Cold Steel Kurkri Machete #97KMS, so I didn't ruin the Cold Steel #35LTC Kurki doing yardwork, and keep it for more knife like things, like camping. I was expecting the #97KMS to be lighter in weight compared to the #35LTC, but they are the exact same weight. The #97KMS blade is an inch longer, at 13", vs 12" for the #35LTC. The weight for both of them individually is 1lb 2oz. The handle on the #97KMS has the same handle grip pattern as the #35LTC, but is made out of a hard Polypropylene material vs soft Kraton material. In an old Bladeforums thread, lots of people complained about the Kraton creating hotspots and blisters, while the Polypropylene did not. I find the exact opposite to be true. In either case, a pair of gloves solves that problem, and when doing work we're a large knife is needed, I always suggest using gloves, as most people these days have soft hands from lack of manual labor. I remember a time when I was younger when I was proud of my calluses on my hands and feet, because I used to work with my hands and hike in boots and wear boots daily. I still wear boots daily, but I only have calluses on my hand fit to play an electric guitar, as my health became poor in my early 20's, and I just entered my 50's this year. Both knives pretty much cut the same, and the quality of the machetes being made for Cold Steel out of South Africa are a lot better than they used to be, and they look presentable as a work knife vs something made by a drunken monkey, as the saying goes. I had a Black Bear Bowie Machete I ordered for similar yardwork, and than machetes blade bevel was of similar quality to that of the #97KMS Kukri Machete. Both of those machetes pale in comparison to the Cold Steel #35LTC, which is an actual nice knife, and was ten times the price of the machetes mentioned. Sheath was standard, plastic capped, nylon webbing made in China. Should work for this machete for light work, and replacement sheaths can be bought from Cold Steel for around $10USD. Given the more complex curve of the blade on the #97KMS Kurki Machete, it was in pretty good shape, with only a small burr, easily removed with a Spyderco 701M Profile rod. A Spyderco 204M Tri-Angle rod would have worked also, but the Profile rod was close, so I grabbed that. On some quick light bush trimming and some wood chopping, the #97KMS was capable at both, and cut pretty well for only a 12" blade. It has the standard slab sided "grind", with just a bevel cut in the body of the blade. The #35LTC has a Sabre grind, and a thicker spine, at about 3.5mm, while the #97KMS has a spine thickness of 2.8mm. This knife proves what Cliff Stamp has said about a Full Flat Grind all along, that it has the most efficient strength to weight ratio of any grind other than maybe a shallow convex. The #97KMS machetes have been known to snap at the base of the blade at the top of the handle, and that would make sense given the type grind, slab sided, and that it weighs as much as the Sabre ground knife, plus being an inch longer, and a lot thinner, with a Forward weighted blade, that that would be the weak point under the most amount of stress. Could be a node issue also, and that the added inch created a node problem. Who knows, I really don't have the time or energy to figure it out, and the #97KMS is inexpensive enough I could just purchase another one, it being a work knife and all, so damage and 'abuse' is going to be it's trade. Reminds me of Cliffs argument about the whole concept of a hard use knife being an expensive knife made out of high carbide steel, while it day to day tradesmen and industrial manufacturing use inexpensive, low to medium carbide, often disposable blades, except high abrasive cutting tasks, wear a higher carbide steel is used. Anyway, that is all I have for now, cheers.