'The Talon' Giant Khukri

This is "The Talon" Giant Ghurka Khukri, one of the largest blades I have designed yet, with a linear length of sixteen inches, and a blade drop of five and a full recurve profile. For better edge support and also to enhance the natural beauty of the blade, I designed it with a convex grind that extends beyond the top of the blade, giving it a sleek profile and eliminating the flat.

I named it "The Talon" because of its appearance and the shape of the blade.

In some FEA Simulations I ran using Inventor, a smaller version of the design took a bending force of 4050 pounds-force concentrated on the belly of the blade, with the handle fixed in place before reaching the yield strength of the steel, or approximately eighteen Kilonewtons. Going with a safety factor of two this yields quite a satisfactory rating of at least nine Kilonewtons, more than enough to separate a limb.This design has been scaled up, and should be even more powerful and more durable.

The blade is balanced for heavy cuts but can also be thrown, although given its size I do not recommend it.

I chose Vacuum Arc Remelted AISI 5160 steel for the blade material, with a double-tempering process that I've written out myself that incorporates cryogenic hardening to remove retained austenite, strengthening the edge while not losing too much of the elasticity on the spine. The design of the grips and the furniture have been borrowed from (but are not common to) the grips and furniture seen on the Zac Bowie; with cast and polished 6061-T6 Aluminum fittings and the same linen-impregnated West System LM-105 thermosetting resin. The handle design is similar as well, using a full-length 3/4" x 5/16" tang that terminates in a 1-1/4" rivet, eliminating the weakness of a cable tang or a tang nut.


Blade Material: Vacuum arc remelted AISI 5160, double-tempered and cryogenically hardened
Blade Length: 16" Linear, from point to crossguard surface
Blade Drop Height: 5" from spine to point
Construction: Full 3/4" x 5/16" Tang, solid 1-1/4" Rivet
Handle Material: Linen-Impregnated West System LM-105 thermosetting resin
Furniture: 6061-T6 Aluminum Alloy, cast, MIL-A-8625 Type III Hard Anodize applies (polished fittings shown on the model)
Grind: Convex
Coating: Plasma Nitride (Not shown on this model) or Cerakote in USSOCOM Flat Dark Earth.

Dimensioned drawings and heat treatment information will not be released for this model.