A couple of new bushcrafters

[Hesparus]

One for me:

(it'll be paired with a leuku that I haven't quite finished yet)

And one for my girlfriend:


Both are 1084 steel with dymondwood handles.
Thanks for looking.

- Chris

[JV3]

very nice! i like how you ground the edge all the way against the knife handle and the no lanyard hole on the first one. i want to see the 2nd knife's blade with the 1st knife's handle too.

[facablade]

hi I´d like to be your girlfriend to receive this gift ;-)
Both knives are awesome.

[Talfuchre]

I am particularly attracted to the top knife - I think the handle design is VERY well thought out.

Care to share some specs on these knives - and some top down shots so that we can see the contour?

TF

[Hesparus]

Thanks guys!
Both are 1/8" thick with ~25º bevels. The scales are attached with epoxy, nickel pins, and steel machine screws (hidden under epoxy).
The puukko is 8-1/8" long overall with a 3-5/16" blade. The blade is 29/32" wide at the base. It's a hair under an inch thick at the thickest part of the palm swell and 13/16" thick near the base of the blade.
Here it is from the top:

I wanted this to feel and work as much like a traditional puukko as I could. One thing that has always struck me about puukkos is the unusually large ratio of handle size to blade size, so it has a pretty beefy handle. Having pretty small hands, I'm not sure how much I like it yet, but I'm generally very pleased with the ergonomics of it. The way it narrows/thins right before the angled/flared base is especially nice IMO. I think it will make drawing from the sheath very nice, too. I put a larger version of this handle on the leuku that is its mate — I posted an in-progress shot of it in the puukko thread.

My girlfriend's knife is 8-7/16" overall with a 4" blade. The blade is 1-1/4" wide at the base. The handle is 3/4" thick at the base of the blade and 14/16" thick at the butt.
Here it is from the top:

It's basically a modified Kephart stye knife. Since this will be my girlfriend's first knife of this sort, I designed it primarily with aesthetics in mind. I wanted to make her a knife that she'd like to look at as her first knife, then if she gets more into bushcrafting I can make her one that is more suited to her tastes function-wise. But the design that we arrived at should be very functional. I actually like this one so much that I may make myself one a lot like it but with a full flat grind.

- Chris

[lightleak]

I really like the scandi style one - wouldn't mind one of these . Great work.

ll.

[wabakimi]

Man, that puukko is fierce! Great work on both of those.

[Brian Sargent]

Is the 25 degree bevel inclusive or single sided?

[Hesparus]

Thanks guys!
Brian - It's 25º inclusive.

[Brian Sargent]

Sweet, right on the money. Great knife!

[Talfuchre]

Hes,

Wow - I REALLY like that Pukko. There is only one change I would make for it. I would make a sheath for it - and put it on MY belt!

NICE

TF

[fmajor007]

I really like the 2nd knife - and as JV3 mentioned - with the 1st knife's handle!!! Both are very well-done.

[Hesparus]

Wow, guys, I didn't expect to get so much positive feedback on these. I really appreciate it! I have designed other knives with the handle of that puukko, but I hadnt thought about putting it on the one for my gf. I'll have to think on that.
Hoping to give them a try this weekend - I'll report back on how they perform.

Chris

[thrillbilly]

Both are very nice...I really like yours though, that filework is 100% stellar!

[Robs92XJ]

Lovely and well thought out puukko. I like a thicker handle on these, but I prefer them to taper down significantly in thickness from the palm swell to the blade (like 5/8" or less). It really feels good that way with a chest lever grip. Also it creates a more rectangular section at the front of the handle (instead of round or square), which I think aids fine control for certain tasks.

On your GFs knife, how is the balance? I ask because I am mulling over some designs I've created, and some of them have quite wide blades. I like scandi grinds, but on a wide blade its going to leave a lot of steel in the blade. I imagine it would help chopping somewhat.

[DerekH]

Those are some good looking knives! Keep up the good work!

[mtnfolk mike]

very nice work.. i really like that top one.. i bet it is way comfortable in the hand..

[Hesparus]

Robs92xj - he balance is just at the front of the first machine screw. Broad Scandi grinds do tend to make better choppers, but this one is really too small for that.

[Riverwarrior]

Both of those are super nice! Awesome job.