Here is a small update on testing parangs made by myparang.
A few weeks ago some of us had the opportunity to go off in the the bush nearby to test the parangs made by myparang. These were some of the newer versions, which include the Bidor 123 , 135 , the Duku Chandong 12″ , and the Duku Chandong Heavy 12″. The main reasons to do this test was to find out how well the handles held on . I was also curious to know how well the handle would feel like after a few hours of heavy use. I have a similar handle on another parang, and I find the shape extremely comfortable. But who knows, perhaps the weight , dimensions or shape may be slightly off. I know that I find it comfortable, but what about others? That’s why I brought some friends to help out.
It was a hot day but we did some hard work on the parangs . Small twigs, bigger branches, Dry and live branches, dry bamboo and even at batoning , no task prove to be too hard while we were testing these parangs from myparang. At the start of the test, we were determined to create some failure , ie handle loosening or cracking , but we failed and the parangs won. Beautifully .
Below is the video we took while we were testing them out. We will be adding more videos on parangs and their usage later on . Please don’t hesitate to comment on the video if you have any.
Here is a simple video on how to cut open a young coconut I made some time ago. It shows how the parang is choked up for close up work or when you don’t need too much chopping power.
I’m sure many of you have heard of the Bidor Blacksmith by now. There has been many blog writings on them and their blades are sold worldwide. From a small family shack, they are now one of the leading parang / agricultural tools in Malaysia. Their expertise lies in their heat treatment – their blades are easily sharpened and able to hold an edge for a long time.
Recently on our last trip, we took some pictures of the workshop and this post will be pretty picture heavy .
Here, they earn their living from making agricultural tools – from sickles to kitchen knives , and most things in between. Hence to live of this , their setup is pretty much bigger and is a stark contrast with the traditional makers. Here you can see half a dozen power hammers and tons of steel stock.
This post on the Bidor Blacksmith will be less wordy and will be mostly pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words, therefore I won’t bore you much with lengthy explanations.
Signboards showing you the way to the factory
The factory main entrance
Some of the various agricultural tools you can find made there.
Late 2013, they purchased two gas forges, as you can see in the picture below. Apparently they have been having trouble sourcing for the right type of coal, and the gas forge is a very much welcome upgrade. Gas is much easier to obtain and more consistent in supply . They however, do not use it to heat treat their products. This is because the gas forge heats up the whole blade, and not only the cutting edge. This is true, since you only need to harden the edge only.
Brand new gas forge next to the charcoal forge
Their stockpile of charcoal. Ah Pin once told me if I can source this particular type of charcoal, he’d buy any amount I can supply him.
The plastic handles everyone seems to hate. Waxy, Slippery , obnoxious colours , but hey, it’s practical and easily seen on the jungle floor!
One of the tools they make – a betel nut cutter. You don’t see them much anymore.
The steel stock they use come directly from the steel mill, and not from the recyclers. Recycled steel ( ie. leaf springs ) differ in composition and will result differently after the heat treat.
Here is a stockpile of scrap steel which they used back then. There are various files , chainsaw bar guides, recycled leaf springs etc , which are not used anymore.
Here workers pound the hot and soft steel into a shape .
Some of the blacksmith’s tools hanging . Some are made by themselves.
Some of the semi finished products left to cool on the factory floor
A worker rough grinds the worked steel into its final shape
A Parang blank ready to be sent for heat treatAh Ming firing up the forge to heat treat some blades. Note that he uses the charcoal forge and not the gas.Heat treat done in Oil .
Heat Treat done with water
Mr. Pin showing how it’s done – hardening a parang blade in water.
I asked Ah Ming when he was demonstrating the heat treatment if there was any difference in using water or oil. He said no, but he mentioned that the oil is much messier , as it leaves a greasy surface on the blades.
After treat, the blades are left at the side of the forge to temper.
A worker sharpens the blanks – in this case a rubber tapping knife .
Here Mr. Pin showing the ability of his hand – hardened blades. Chopping steel pins with ease.
The packing center. Where orders are packed and kept for customers.
The picture below shows the old address of the Bidor Blacksmith. Beware, as there are fakes make now days which uses this old address. When I spoke to Ah Ming, he mentioned that he knows about the fakes. He said they started when customers requested for Bidor made parangs , but the shops and their suppliers were too lazy to get them from Bidor itself, so they asked their blacksmiths to copy to name and stamp it into their products. Really , anything can happen in Malaysia!
edit 5/11/2014 : We have added a good video by the cool guys at ” Bush Channel ” on you tube.
Parangs and Goloks have been in our culture for ages, so it’s not surprising to have many skilled parang and golok makers in Malaysia. It is a thriving cottage industry and I must say there are some really good craftsmen out there. Each of the different states in Malaysia will have at least a dozen makers, from part time hobbyist to full time craftsmen.
Some makers only concentrate on making the blades, while some specialize in making wooden sheaths and handles only. Most do both, as it is a convenience to their customers. Some people do buy and create in stages, ie they may commission a parang or keris blade this year, and when they have some excess funds, they will then make the sheath and handle. The price of custom parangs vary widely, from rm 50.00 for a rough and bare one to rm 500.00 and above for more exotic ones using special steel and fancier wood.
While these craftsmen are many , so are blacksmiths who make agricultural tools. A lot if not all the tools used in palm and rubber plantations are sourced locally . They are much cheaper and easier to access. These blacksmiths who make agricultural tools vary in size, some are smaller backyard ones, while some are factories on their own , and can churn out hundreds of pieces every week.
Common Malaysian parangs which you can find are of different brands like A1, Cap Mata ( eye brand ) , 201 and Sam Lee. There are more, and I will add them in once I have found them. Most of them are similar to the Bidor made ones, but one stands out quite a bit.
If you look closely at the one made by Sam Lee, it looks like it has been made in a factory. Like super mass produced. The blade is stamped off a large sheet of metal , as you can see the sheer marks on the side of the blade.
You can also see the edge grinding is probably made by a machine as the grinding marks are very evenly spaced and even. They even have a micro bevel at the edge.
It would be nice to check their factory out one day, but I will need to do some research as the parangs they make do not come with any address or contact no.
Here is a sneak preview of the first batch of Goloks from myparang.
Completed goloks waiting to dry on the hangar
We have finally started assembling the parangs after much delay. The delays are not much due to components or manpower, but mostly due to some fine tuning of the process. The colour for the parang handles needed to be consistent – so we had to make up some colour samples, the copper rings needed polishing , and not to mention the creation of many jigs that is very much needed. Sometimes we need to think, make and rethink again a few of the jigs so they work better and give better consistent results. These all take time, but it is very well spent. We’d rather spend time now to make things right rather than keep spending time reworking as we go.
The polished copper rings. as bright as gold!
This post will be pretty short, but there will be lots of pictures. It takes quite a few steps to make one complete parang, but the final results are much what we were expecting, actually even better. As you can see from the pictures, here is the first batch of goloks from myparang . The blanks get a ride on the belt sander to smoothen the spine and clean up the side surfaces.
The Beech wood handles fitted with the blanks, ready for the copper collar and first round of epoxy Copper collar inserted waiting for the “drill”
I know some of you will be asking – ” but they are stick tang , the blades will fly out when I use them” Actually no, as we do not take shortcuts. We grind the tangs to bare metal, clean it up with solvents and use industrial strength epoxy. We do not use commercial bought epoxy as we do not have the necessary technical data to make us decide which is the best. We narrowed down two types of epoxy and finally chose one with very high specifications. To add to that, we also have added a 3.0 mm brass pin under the copper collar to add further security and a peace of mind. So IF the tang does come loose, no way will it “fly” out. The brass pin will never fall out as well, as it is held in between the copper collar . Good luck trying to loosen the tang anyway.
The collar installed and the hole for the brass pin being drilled.
This is how it looks after the first round of epoxy. We do not skimp on the epoxy in terms of quality or quantity
And this is how it looks once we’re done.
Here they are fresh off the second round of epoxy , and waiting the QC check.
The picture below are some of the coming models which we have fixed up and will be going for a field test very soon. For the time being, we have the golok 125 and 135 done, but there will be many new ones coming soon. If you are interested to purchase a Golok 125 or a golok 135, you can click on Outdoor Dynamics and it will take you straight to the myparang page.
We’re really happy that we have finally completed the first batch of goloks from myparang. We have sent some samples out to our international dealers, so if you want to be a potential dealer, drop us an email soon!
Yes, they are out there , beware. Some say imitation is another form of flattery , but unless you know it is a fake, you can be easily be cheated when buying a parang. Fake Bidor parangs should be avoidedas they may be made of inferior quality steel, I’ve even heard of some using rebar ( construction steel ) and their heat treatment may be of suspect as well. If you buy a fake Bidor Parang, you may end up with a piece of useless metal.
The genuine Bidor Blacksmith workshop
When I first went to the Bidor Blacksmith many years back, Ah Pin mentioned to me that there are many fake Bidor parangs out there. Initially I thought not much out of it, until recently when I went around looking for various types of Parangs sold here in Malaysia. Whenever I had the time, I would drop by a hardware shop and get whatever parang brands I could find. And much to my surprise , many have the word or name “BIDOR” stamped or stuck on them , despite not being made in Bidor.
Mr. Chin Pin Yon ( Left ) and His Son in law – Foo Yong Ming ( right ) with the magazine article
As far as I know, there are two parang blacksmiths in Bidor, and they are just about 100 meters from each other. One is Chop Kwong Yuan Loong and the other newer one is Mak Heng Seng . There may be a few other small traditional makers around, but I have not seen them. Chop Kwong Yuan Loong is the authentic Bidor parang maker and they have been featured in the Tactical Knifes Magazine ( July 2012 issue ) , as you can see in the picture above. Outdoor Dynamics Sdn Bhd gets their parangs from Chop Kwong Yuan Loong . Outdoor Dynamics also supplies parangs to Machetespecialist.com , so yes, they do sell authentic parangs from Bidor. As for the other Blacksmith in Bidor, we did attempt to meet them some time back, but they were cold and uncooperative. Authentic Bidor Parang Stamps – The Crossed swords and BIDOR are their trademark. The Crossed Swords and BIDOR MALAYSIA are these made specially for Outdoor Dynamics.
Bidor is a town in Perak, Malaysia , so if the parangs are not made there , it would be wrong to put the name “Bidor” on it. Imagine a knife with the word “Seki City” but made in Iwata Japan. That would be misleading and not right. Some red flags that these are fake Bidor Parangs are: Stamped BIDOR , but the factory address is in another state , has the Bidor Stamp, but use a different Logo , ie instead of the crossed swords, they have the picture of a Bear or 3 stars. One even copied the sticker but had a different address ( in another state of course ) and another just stamped “BIDOR” without the crossed swords.
Below are some pictures of the fake Bidor parangs. I am not sure of the quality , but if they need to copy someone else, then that from the start is not good.
So if you are looking for authentic Bidor Parangs, keep and eye for the red flags. In my opinion, a brandless parang is better then a fake Bidor parang. To be sure, buy your parangs from a reputable dealer.
All about Malaysian Parangs, Goloks and Duku Chandongs
