Please help me identify the Puukko

Big Dave

Big Dave

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 18, 1998
Messages
545
Aloha,

A friend gave me this knife 6 or 7 years ago. The maker or owner of the knife company gave it to him at one of the big knife shows. I think it was a semi production type of knife. I'm not sure though.

My friend left it out in his closet here in Hawaii and the blade rusted. He gave it to me and I cleaned it up.

I've forgotton who the maker was. His initials are AK. I'd appreciate any info on the maker / company that created the knives and the model.

I would love to use the knife. It is sweet and the ergonomics are outstanding. Plus, it's probably the sharpest knife I own with that mean flat grind. The sheath is great too. All and all I would think that the Puukko is a great fixed blade. Since I don't hunt it's only speculation. But, I assume those Scandinavian's figured out how to make a good knife with all those big nordic deer.

Thank you very much.
Dave
 

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Hey, Big Dave. Sit down. Take a deep breath. And check out this knife on the Kellam Knives website: Moose Tommi Special. You got a beauty there, all right. Whoooo!

By the way, the puukko is a specifically Finnish version of the Scandinavian style. It was developed as a utility knife and excels at woodwork and bushcraft. And I'm sure they can take apart a reindeer with it, too, although I believe the Sami (Lapps) who herd the deer use the leuku, which is more like our camp knives for that.
 
Thank you Esav. Yes, it looks very similar including the stamp on the sheath. But, the initials stamped on the knife blade in your link are "VK".

This text is found on this retail site:
http://www.kainuunpuukko.com/
These special finnish knives are called Tommi Puukko. Our smiths and their ancestors have been producing these quality blades dating back to 1610. That's almost 400 hundred years of accumulated skill, knowledge, expertise and craftsmanship. At the present the blades are hammered by knife smith Veijo Käpylä (VK). You can recognize the official and real KP-Tommi Puukkos from the knife smith's initials that are smitted into the blade. The only three initials are AK, OK and at the present VK.​

Does anyone know who AK is?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Wow. Just wow.

I have long admired the Wolf Pack line of Kellam knives, but this just takes the cake.
 
Congratulations...The "Tommi" knives are excellent knives in every way. As Esav mentioned, if you call Kellam, they can give you info on the various smiths that have created these knives.

Each of the smiths does all of the work on each knife from forging the blade to hafting the handle and building the sheath. The silver steel takes and holds a very nice edge.

Here's a look at my "Rugged Tommi" which I've owned for several years:

orig.jpg
 
"AK " is for Alpo Kemppainen from Kuhmo-Finland and " OK " is for Olavi Kemppainen from Kuhmo too.

ELDE
 
While I was at it , "MKT" is for Marko Tihula from... Kuhmo !

ELDE
 
Thank you, Elde. I think I have that written down somewhere but had forgotten the full name in the interim. :thumbup:
 
Thank you Elde. Do you have any links to webs sites that have more info on AK's knives? I appreciate your help.
Dave
 
Very nice knife indeed. That shape of knife is a common user pattern in sweden to, and most often hancrafted like yours. With some training its very useful for life in the woods, from starting a fire to fielddressing a big moose.

Its not easy to do what happened here in this traditional knife forum just now.
You ask a question about a handcrafted knife from the other side of the world and within a short time the name of the smith/custommaker is tracked down, WOW.
 
Credit for that goes to Kellam Knives for their excellent (and tempting) listings.
It makes it easier to remember the patterns when they are so clearly pictured.
 
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