How to Fix Tapio Wirkkala Puukko with Loose Handle

E

eogie

Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
8
Hi folks,

This is my first post here and I'm looking for someone with more knowledge to help solve this problem. I have a Tapio Wirkkala puukko with a slightly loose handle. This is a knife I'd love to use but the loose handle is extremely annoying, as you might be well aware of. I found that the handle is made of nylon so I'm afraid soaking it in oil will have no effect. Is anyone familiar with how this knife was constructed? I'm sure it's very similar to many other puukkos. Is there a way I can take it apart and tighten it? It's a beautiful knife and I'd love to put it to use.

This is not the actual knife but it looks identical. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

HS_TW_HF_Puukko_4_l.jpg
 
If the handle parts are just stacked and pressed onto the tang then you should be able to wrap the blade with heavy leather or rubber and clamp it in a vise. If the parts can be pulled apart just a tiny bit you might want to fill the gaps with super glue. Then using a 1" oak dowel with a hole drilled in the end for tang clearance you should be able to tap the parts down tight using a small hammer and re-peen the tang to hold it all together tightly.
 
Just peen the tang with a very small hammer. Stick the blade in a piece of wood, and use sharp raps on the tang. You aren't trying to drive the knife into the wood (but you will,) you are trying to use the inertia of the knife as resistance.
If you don't feel capable, things like this are what I do.
 
Thank you so much for the information. How do I avoid marking up the bottom of the tang with the hammer head or is that unavoidable? It's a fairly collectable knife so I'd like to keep it in good shape. I suppose I could sand it again after the hammering.
 
Some distortion is inevitable. It can be filed smooth and polished.
I would use a very small ball peen hammer and try to just hit the steel.
 
That's what I was thinking ^. Peen it and then clean it up, must be how it was originally done.

A little bit of flare goes a long way.
 
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