Finnish pukko's

S

sniper66

Joined
Jul 27, 2001
Messages
34
Hello guys!

I need some help in identification of blade steel. I have a number of cheap "Martiini" - puukkos in stainless steel and I don't know what steel they use. It is not an ultimate cutlery steel, doesn't keep an edge very well but is easy to resharpen. I use them for lighter use only and they serve me well therefore.

Can anyone of you give me an idea of which steel they use and the steel composition and hardness?

Thank you all in advance,
Gerry
 
Hi Tuhkis!

Thanks for correcting my false spelling, as you can see it, I've already corrected it.

Hope nobody misunderstands me,..... I LIKE THE PUUKKOS!! There's a reason why I have al least 10 different ones, from the little "lynx" to the big "lapphungare" (please forgive me if I've spelled it wrong.....). And I also know how to sharpen them and it is not a problem at all to get them razor sharp again!

My question was only if someone could tell me something about the steel they use in their knives (composition and RC hardness).

By the way,.... I use these knives also to make someone I like a present, like my father, brother and friends,.... very good knives for the money...

Greetings,
Gerry
 
I agree. But I prefer the forged "silver steel" used by KP and Hankala. In fact, I just received a 6" Hankala and it's amazing.
After you hear what the Martiini steel is, I'd love to know what the "silver steel" is.
 
I am also curious as to what the "silver steel" is. I read somewhere that it is something very similar to W-2. Whatever it is, it has a great reputation.

I like puukkos a lot for a using knife, although I only have one. I like to use it for cleaning frogs. It slices right through those leg joints with ease. My next puukko is going to be one of the KP Rugged Tommis Kellam knives sells.
 
Coonskinner, I've got that Tommi! It isn't cheap, but it's a great knife! Sharp as hell, very well put together and differentially tempered. It's just a bit too short for me, which is why I got the Hankala.
There was a discussion of silver steel about 3 months ago, but i forgot where it was. I'm losing it, I think :)
 
Sniper, Marttiinis steel is speciality made for them by French steelmill Bonpertuis. Some european(ZUT ZUT or AchimW??) mentioned that it is brother to Bonpertus T6Mo or T7Mo. Well this was rumor. Marttiini now uses three steels SS, new speciality semiSS and carbon steels. I own both SS and carbonsteel Marttiinis but use only their hand forged carbon steel puukkos. There is data sheet in net of Bonpertuis steels or if you can't find it I can send it to you.

HJK I promised to look for the elemental composition but that book was sold. In silver steel there is about 1.1-1.2% carbon and some additional elements. It is a alloy steel made in German.
 
HJK, how much longer is the Hankala than the Rugged Tommi? And what is the difference in price?
I'm thinking pretty strongly about getting one soon. The Puukko is a good example of the "less is more" school of thought. Simple, yet elegant and iminently practical.
 
I custom ordered the Hankala from here http://www.brisa.fi/start3.html
It was a very satidfactory transaction.
The Hankala is about an inch and a half longer, and it does make a big difference. It looks very, very similar to the KP, and the sheath too, actually. So far it performs about the same, but I haven't yet used it alot. It is much less expensive than an equivalently sized KP, but then again it isn't differentially tempered, the blade isn't quite as clean and the sheath fit is almost perfect, not completely perfect. Still, the Hankala is a beauty by any standard. And the price difference between a 6" Hankala and a 6" KP makes it real easy to overlook what small differences there might be.
 
I believe that the SS steel used by Martinni is akin to 440C (and good stuff it is!). Silver steel is I believe a high carbon steel with a small percentage of chromium. This would place it along with 52100, A2 and 50100.
 
One Finnish source (not the book I was looking for) mentios that silversteels elemental composition is C 1.18%, Cr 0.7% and V 0,1%. This is actually Böhler K510 (DIN 115 CrV 3). I've read that Kainuunpuukkos Tommis are made of German silver steel but Böhler is Austrian steel mill...? Also Kainuunpuukko oil quenchs its steel and this K510 should be waterhardening???

1.18% Carbon is still just the amount of C that I remember...

When I find that book I've seen I'll post my findings.
 
I found the book. It mentioned that there are many silver steels. It mentioned that those steels come as round bars - drill bit billets etc. It also mentioned that in steel that could be called silversteel there is allways over 0.9% carbon and some chromium. It mentioned that in most silversteels there is also vananadium and in some cases some other elements like tungsten(W). It mentioned that DIN 115 CrV3 is the most common silversteel grade. Steel mills do have their own variations of this steel and they make some other steel that puukkosmiths call silversteel. In my last post I mentioned that DIN 115CrV3 is waterhardening steel. This book gave oilhardening recipe for DIN 115 Cr3 (but not for differential hardening) so it may after all be the steel that is used in KP Tommi puukkos. We'll propably newer know for sure if they use this most common silversteel. After quenching in oil blades are 64-66HRC. Tempering graph shoved that these silversteel blades (after tempering) are softened to 58-62 RHC depending on what characteristics maker wants. Again in range that KP uses (60-62).
 
That's the best information on this point I've seen yet. That must be some book! Thanks Tommi!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top