Newbie Puukko fan reports.

Thanks for the information, the above description of a puukko is what is commonly used for any knife made in that manner regardless of country. Though it is usually just attached to the style of grind no-bevel. Which as you noted ironically isn't the case in Finland where the term comes from.

-Cliff
 
this discussion is becoming more and more intriguing...
 
I'm so sorry if I disappoint you with my answers, Cliff, but since English is my second language, maybe I'm not always able to explain things clearly...
Maybe for you Puukko is just a way to grind the blade but for me it's totally different thing. Maybe for you there are no big difference with Swedish or Norwegian knives comparing Finnish Puukko. Maybe it's just question of "nuance".
Lots of maybes...

Juha
 
sajuma :

Maybe for you Puukko is just a way to grind the blade but for me it's totally different thing.
Click to expand...

Just to clearify, I didn't invent this defination of puukko it isn't my viewpoint. I was introduced to it I think back in 97 by Mike Swaim who was writing about single bevel vs double beveled knives, though I had used such knives long before then.

The point I found of most interest was that over here (US and Canada) puukko is commonly used to refer to a particular type of grind (single bevel) when the roots of the word are for a knife which commonly has a secondary edge bevel.

-Cliff
 
Tell Cliff about the Tommi Knife of Finland, who was Tommi,
and how the steel is known as Silver Steel. This knife is a speciality of Jukka Hankala, who has won many awards for his skills in this area.

Be well
Floyd
 
Been there, done that.
I think I wrote something in Rec.knives months ago...


This is how the story goes...:
Tommi puukko got it's name from Englishman Thomas "Tommi" Woodward who
was teaching tempering in Fiskars factories. He was manager of fine forgeing in two factories. He died in Nurmes, Finland 1874.
Mr. Kalle Keränen leared to temper steel from Thomas and took the knowledge back home in Kainuu and gave the name "Tommi" to his puukos to honor his teacher. It is said that when Kalle Keränen took few drinks, he could say: "Me, I'm a Tommi too!".
Tommi puukko has allways been pure "work puukko". Tommi's profil looks
bit like puukko of "Härmä". Handle is evenly oval with thin bolsters.
Crossection of the blade is bit diamond like and the back of the blade is strait.
There is no ricasso and no fuller.
Model of Tommi puukko is typically clear lined and bolsters are modest, but often used root burl of willow gives the puukko it's exeptional beautifull looks.
The black sheath with red ornaments has become the symbol of Tommi puukko, even though earlier sheaths were natural colored.


Juha
 
I am so glad I found this thread. It answers questinos I have had.

For years I have had four knives I always thought of as puukkos:

1. Saber ground with primary and secondary bevel" with 4" blade and 4.5" handle (of some sort of matt micarta of all things!) and brass bolster and flat butt plate: :Hackman Finland Tapio Wirkkaka";

2. Saber ground w/secondary bevel with 3.5" blade and 4.25" handle of birch with white metal bolster: "IIASSKI"

3. One of yout "Tommi" shapes - 3.5" blade and 3.75" handle of stacked birch (?) w/ fuller 1/3 way below spine, narrow copper bolster and rounded copper butt cap: Iissaki ????paa [fist two words inscribed in the fuller] Made in Finland"

4. Another "Tommi" - same dimensions and fuller w/ wood handle like those on Marttiini fileting knives: two unreadable words in fuller and "Made in Finland."

The thing about 3 and 4 is that they are definetly thickest just below the fuller - diamond cross-section, and all four had secondary bevels.

Until bought a cheap Mora, I had never seen what people have been describing as the Scandnavian bevel - no secondary bevel.

My sample really got in the way of communicating.

(On British Blades, it is apparent that everyone there considers a "Puukko" to have no secondary bevel.)

Very educational!
 
FWO. Ironically I just received an email from Jukka Hankala answering a quetion I had on the compostion of "Silver Steel" as I have one of his Tommi puukkos as well as one of his "Lastu". Jukka sent this data: Silver Steel (finnisch hopeteras) Composition is C 1.18, Cr 0.7, V 0.1, manufacturer Bohler K510 Germany. I believe that the K510 is the manufacture code for the steel. If I undrstand the rest of the email correctly Jukka starts with 12mm thick round bar stock. I have been very impressed with Jukka's work and carry and use his Lastu model on a daily basis. My only regret is that local laws do not permit me to carry the Lastu except in the woods or at home. Jukka says the same applies in Finland.
 
Juha, I have been planning to get some of these Scandanavian knives for some time. Would you recommend that I get a puuko, a leuku and some Finnish blades as well.

They are not the same, are they?

Which are the best places to look for them over at your place?
 
Originally posted by golok
Juha, I have been planning to get some of these Scandanavian knives for some time. Would you recommend that I get a puuko, a leuku and some Finnish blades as well.

They are not the same, are they?

Which are the best places to look for them over at your place?
Click to expand...

No Golok, they are not the same thing. Leuku is not for carving, it's for hitting mosty. There are differend kinds of puukko's depending witch region you go but to get a normal puukko is easiest to get something in "Tommi" style. Leuku is for Lapland and for cutting small midget birch for fire and shelter. It's also good for breaking reindeer bones for their marrow. One can also use it as a skinner.
It is quite handy knife. Lapps use it to replace axe in many cases.
Blades geometry is traditional convex but these days one can find also flat grind blades.

Good places to get ready puukko's (and leuku's) is Kellam or Roselli if you are in USA.
If you are looking for "Makers Kit", go for Brisa.fi or Roselli.fi for the blades.

Juha
 
Originally posted by Thomas Linton
I am so glad I found this thread. It answers questinos I have had.

For years I have had four knives I always thought of as puukkos:

1. Saber ground with primary and secondary bevel" with 4" blade and 4.5" handle (of some sort of matt micarta of all things!) and brass bolster and flat butt plate: :Hackman Finland Tapio Wirkkaka";

2. Saber ground w/secondary bevel with 3.5" blade and 4.25" handle of birch with white metal bolster: "IIASSKI"

3. One of yout "Tommi" shapes - 3.5" blade and 3.75" handle of stacked birch (?) w/ fuller 1/3 way below spine, narrow copper bolster and rounded copper butt cap: Iissaki ????paa [fist two words inscribed in the fuller] Made in Finland"

4. Another "Tommi" - same dimensions and fuller w/ wood handle like those on Marttiini fileting knives: two unreadable words in fuller and "Made in Finland."

The thing about 3 and 4 is that they are definetly thickest just below the fuller - diamond cross-section, and all four had secondary bevels.

Until bought a cheap Mora, I had never seen what people have been describing as the Scandnavian bevel - no secondary bevel.

My sample really got in the way of communicating.

(On British Blades, it is apparent that everyone there considers a "Puukko" to have no secondary bevel.)

Very educational!
Click to expand...

If you have Hagmans Wirkkala Puukko in mint condition keep it in that way. It's quite valuable and I have been trying to find one for long time...They dont make that any more. Mr.Wirkkala was one of the Great ones in Finnish design and even he said that it was difficult to find any thing to improve in Finnish Puukko.

The other puukkos, no.2&3 have been made by Iisakki Jarvenpaa and they still make those. It is said that the diamond section comes form using old files. They were already in diamond shape so little hammering was needed and steel was exelent.

The filleting knives are not puukko's any more. They are too specialised to be puukko's. There is a old story how these filleting knives were born. Dont know if it's true...
In Norway they have these big fish factories where one can make a nice pay filleting fish. Hard work but it pays well I hear...
One day one of these factories sended an knife order to Finnish puukko factory to make filleting knives. The boss of the factory did not know the model and there were also some problems with language...
So the Norwegians sended some old worn out knives to Finland and Finns made them the exact same knives...
Originally the knives were something like big long chef knives but in time they were so worn that all there was left was just the spine and little blade. Finns did not understand that it was an old worn out knife so they made these long slender filleting knives and what happend... The norwegians liked it so much that the model stayed like this to our days...

Juha
 
Sajuma, I have three "Hackman" knives: the puukko (Alas, not mint but very good); a "butterfly" knife with red nylon handles and a puukko blade with up-turned tip; a "survival knife" monster designed by Ken Warner and improted by Garcia in the 1960's. They all take and hold a nice edge.

Thank you again for the information.
 
Originally posted by Thomas Linton
Sajuma, I have three "Hackman" knives: the puukko (Alas, not mint but very good); a "butterfly" knife with red nylon handles and a puukko blade with up-turned tip; a "survival knife" monster designed by Ken Warner and improted by Garcia in the 1960's. They all take and hold a nice edge.

Thank you again for the information.
Click to expand...

If you have Wirkkala's Puukko and Hackmans "Vietnam Knife" you are one lucky son of a gun. I saw one of those survival knifes in a finnish hunting fare and the prize fro that was 150$ but this was ten years ago.

Juha
 
The Hackman ["Garcia"] "survival" knife is pictured and described at pp. 79-83 of Warner's The Practical Book of Knives. It was made during the Vietnam War era, but I never realized it was called the "Vietnam Knife." I bought it in a pawn shop without a sheath. I had been looking at the Randall "Attack/Survival" but that one was WAY out of my budget at the time. Comparing the two knives, the Hackman is superior in strength of construction and steel. The later version of the Garcia Survival Knife was from Brazil and is junk by comparision.
 
A great source for Juuka Hankala Knives is www.brisa.multi.fi
Are they as good as the Kellum Knives ? Oh yes, and then some. Dennis Holmbaca at Brisa is a source for these and other kits and pieces. The Hankaka blades are sold on order, as a completed knife and take a few weeks. I have a 3.7, 4.5, 6.0 and 7.5 . I have never been disapointed with sevice from Dennis, or the ultra high quality of the Hankala knives.

Floyd
 
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