Hand crafted Native Knife

S

SanitySource

Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
165
After viewing everyone's beautiful knives I thought i'd show off one of my better quality knives. These pictures aren't that great.

You probably wont think the knife is too great either but its the best i can afford. I got it as a souvenir on vacation to Manitoulin island. It was made by a native Indian. Here it is.

I'm not sure what the blade steel is. Can anyone tell me?

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.p...3987&saved#/photo.php?pid=758665&id=511633987

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Miles%20Papineau/Desktop/Knife%20pics/IMG_2008.JPG
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Miles%20Papineau/Desktop/Knife%20pics/IMG_2014.JPG

im not sure if those pictures will upload correctly, sorry if they dont.
 
Mike that looks like a very functional knife! Certainly the kind of think I wouldn't mind taking into the bush with me.
 
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http://s409.photobucket.com/albums/pp173/sanitysource/?action=view&current=IMG_2008.jpg

thanks for the instructions Esav
 
Nice pictures!

The puukko is a general purpose, personal utility knife from Finland rather than Sweden or Norway.
But many Scandinavian knives are similar, including the simple and inexpensive Swedish Mora.

Check out Ragweed Forge (for example) and Kellam Knives for more examples
of the puukko and the related leuku, a larger northern camp knife.
 
If the knife is handmade it would not be surprising that a Finnish design was chosen given the large Finlander community spread out from Sudbury west to Thunder Bay.

George
 
The sheath is also typically Finn but the reindeer design looks suspiciously stamped, so I think it's mass-produced. Not what I'd expect with a hand-made knife.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
The sheath is also typically Finn but the reindeer design looks suspiciously stamped, so I think it's mass-produced. Not what I'd expect with a hand-made knife.
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The tang stamp also has a reindeer antler design in the middle, with what looks like the letters TP on either side...in a kind of Runic style. The blade has a Scandi grind, like what we see on Moras. But it's not stamped "Made In Finland."

We have a member here who specializes in puukkos, I'd like to hear him weigh in on it.

At any rate, it's a darned nice knife. I own several puukkos, I'd be happy to own this one :D
 
oah, thats very interesting, im glad to hear some history on it. Coldwood, thanks and do you think you could tell me the name of this member?

it sure serves well as a camp all purpose knife, yeah i might be wrong about it being hand made, i bought it at a suouvenier store , so its typical of the worker to tell some travelers its hand made but it feels nice and performs well so im happy either way.

and fits perfectly into the sheath, if i apply a little pressure it will not come out without a lot of force... well not too much, but a good reasonable amount of force is needed to remove it from the sheath if it is pushed in well.

here is a link off that site coldwood to some more pukkos.
http://www.ragweedforge.com/LapinPuukkoCatalog.html
 
SanitySource said:
oah, thats very interesting, im glad to hear some history on it. Coldwood, thanks and do you think you could tell me the name of this member?

it sure serves well as a camp all purpose knife, yeah i might be wrong about it being hand made, i bought it at a suouvenier store , so its typical of the worker to tell some travelers its hand made but it feels nice and performs well so im happy either way.

and fits perfectly into the sheath, if i apply a little pressure it will not come out without a lot of force... well not too much, but a good reasonable amount of force is needed to remove it from the sheath if it is pushed in well.

here is a link off that site coldwood to some more pukkos.
http://www.ragweedforge.com/LapinPuukkoCatalog.html
Click to expand...

Well, SS, in one of those pictures you've got the knife in backwards to the sheath, that's probably why you're having a problem.

Otherwise, go to the Ragweed Forge page, you'll find there all the basic information for a beginning puukko collector. Good luck :D
 
SanitySource said:
haha, yeah, I later realised that after taking the pictures.

lol , well the sheath is a really odd shape.
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It is an odd design. I believe that style is called a "Kauhava" type sheath, Kauhava being an area of Southern Ostrobothnia, in Finland.

SS, you may have been mislead and done a disservice by whoever represented this knife to you as being native Indian. That person also misrepresented and did a disservice to real native Indian artwork.

What you have is a modern representation of a knife that celebrates an old and traditional culture in Finland. Finland has a rich and colorful history. Since you now own this knife, you have an opportunity as a collector to investigate that history and culture :)

Cheers, Don
 
oh thanks coldwood, so its a finland cultural knife, i might look into it. its nice but weird handle. Seems all the pukkos i've seen have weird handles.

Yeah , its weird how it keeps getting broader.

Its been a month since i've taken these pictures and the wood is drying a little bit and aging. Is it mineral oil i should put on it?
 
Mineral oil will do nicely. I use it on high carbon blade steel as well. Food grade mineral oil is inexpensive, available at phamacies, and is safe on food preparation knives.

That style of puukko has a broad pommel because it is used for draw cuts.
 
You are supposed to put mineral oil on high carbon steel blades? lol clearly im new to the knife world. I'm gunna buy some of that for the handle and maybe the blade. Not too sure if it is high carbon but it cant hurt.

I understand about the broad handle now that you mention draw cuts. Thats probably why it has so much slope at the tip of the knife.
(I think thats the right word? slope? when the knife has a curve near the point?)
 
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