Puukos

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
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OK<

So in the thread about what is missing from the knife market, James mentioned puukos.

What defines a puuko?

I am asking because I am going to convince a friendly american knife maker to make me one, now I just nedd to know what one is.....

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

An interesting business oppurtunity... http://www.geocities.com/selouss

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
I believe you will find some at Chai Cutlery's website. www.ChaiCutlery.com

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AKTI Member #A000934
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."-TACITUS (55?-130?)



[This message has been edited by AlaChoctaw (edited 27 December 1999).]
 
Puukko (in Finnish pluralis is puukot) is a Finnish word and means traditional Finnish knives. Main diffrence to many American knives in that puukko has a thinner blade, and is suitable for prying, and mostly (with exceptions) is not meant for chopping. Over here puukko has been used as a general household, work, camping etc. tool for centuries; it's use ranges from an eating utensil to a weapon.

Here are two links for makers of traditional type Finnish puukkos with English pages: http://www.roselli.fi/eng/welcome.html http://www.marttiini.fi/puukot/english/default.htm

Some knives in Chai Cutlery's homepages look like puukkos as well.

Ossi
 
I grew up hunting with a very old friend of the family who had a puukko he had been given as a small lad in Finland. It was, and still remains, the sharpest knife I have ever seen. Thin, hammered, razor sharp blade. Wooden handle. Simple leather pouch sheath with some nice tooling on it. As I remember it, the blade was no longer than 3-3.5 inches, and was relatively deep (for its length) from spine to cutting edge.

Kellam, Martiini, and Roselli all make similar knives. The Wootz (damascus) puukkos now being made are very close to what I remember.

Keep us posted on your project. There may be quite a few of us who would like to follow in your footsteps re: having a puukko custom made.

AJ
 
I love my Tom Nelson custom puukko!

nelson.jpg


Curly birch handle with Finnish san mai blade.
 
What I have learned about pukkos in american magazines , and disscusion forums , all scandinavian type of knives are named pukkos , but there are some differenses between the knives from Finland , Norway and Sweden .
As far as I know , without beeing an expert , the finnish pukko have a longer and
not so deep blade as the one on Brians picture , this one looks more like a swedish or norwegian blade . The norwegian " pukko " is more decorated on the handle and / or have silver decorations .( also depending on from part of Norway it is coming ) The finnish pukko have brass decorations and on the butt-end also some sort of carving ( a horse head is a very well-known butt-end )
The swedish version of this scandinavian utility knife don´t have so much decorations as the other knives , but they are all about the same size and shape ( in general ).
I´ll get some photos of different knives and post them here later , i hope they will give you some help about the " pukkos " .
( The real Pukko is the finnish knife )
Happy holidays / Anders Johansson , Sweden http://www.scrimart.u.se
 
Try www.kellamknives.com I just bought one of their Birch Grandad knives (R150) by Roselli for $67.95. It has a forged 3"-4" blade and a gorgeous birch sheath and hilt, trimmed with leather and reindeer hide. The sale ends 1/10/2000. They have a wonderful selection of beautiful user and/or collector knives, and their service is great!

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller

[This message has been edited by FullerH (edited 27 December 1999).]
 
Hi folks,this is my first post on this forum.There are numerous types of Scandinavian knives,including Lapp knives(Leuku),Norwegian "Tollekniver",and of course puukos.In fact there are different types of puukos as well,varying in style from region to region.I think it is safe to say that as a rule the puuko is a more slender knife overall than most other Scandinavian knives.
 
Find a Finn and show him the knife. He can tell if it is a puukko.
smile.gif

Generally that works.

There are several puukko regions. The most famous come from Lappi(Lappland)(puukkos and leukus), Kuusamo(e.g.Tommi puukko), West Finland(Kauhavalainen puukko).

If I should show a foreigner only one puukko and that shoud define puukko for him/her I would show one of Martiinis Lynx puukkos. Either the one with 115mm edge or Janne puukko (which is lynx with hand forged carbonsteel blade with out of bloodgroove that is in stainless steel lynxs blade).
Reason for this choise: both are puukkos
wink.gif
(and my mothers family is from Lappland where marttiini factory is located).
Good place to look for a puukko is Marttiinis page. Puukkos that I mentioned are 138010 and 131018 although my favorite puukko(not leuku) is 230018(lapp series)
http://www.marttiini.fi/puukot/english/default.htm

You must also note that puukko is Finnish knife swedish and norwegian knives are not puukkos although they are the closest relatives to puukko.

[This message has been edited by Tommi (edited 29 December 1999).]
 
As Tommi says the word "puukko" is Finnish. In Swedish knive is "kniv" so that word (like many others) has probably come to the English language from the Vikings.

AJohansson is right in that many Scandinavian utility knive are quite similar, and in Finland people generally call them "puukko" as well. One of the most popular knives in Finland has been a cheap (about $10) red-handled Swedish Mora knife w/ plastic sheath, and most call it "Mora puukko" here.

Ossi
 
This question probalbly belongs in the Shop Talk forum, but while we are on the subject of puukkos I thought I would ask:

In his book "Knifemaking" Bo Bergman refers to using "rivet washers" on his full tang puukkos. What are rivet washers and where can I get them?

In addition, if you are interested in the making of Scandinavian knives, Bergman's book is excellent. Making blades is not covered, but handle and sheath construction are covered in great detail. Also, there are many excellent photos, both color and B&W.

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Travis Autry
My knives are just like rabbits---they keep multiplying!!

[This message has been edited by TAutry (edited 30 December 1999).]
 
Hi there folks , Happy New Year !!
TAutry , is it not on the stick tang (through-tang , I´m not sure if my spelling is wright ?)that Bergman refeers to " rivet washers " ? It´s plain washers that supports and strengthen the material on the butt end of the knife when you peen the tang .
In Scandinavia most of the knifemaking is what you may call " handle and sheet making " .
Traditionally you buy a blade from a bladesmith and then make the handle and the sheet . This way to make the knife is slowly changing towards making the complete knife yourself . But this is why Bergmans book don´t deal with the blademaking .
Best wishes / Anders Johansson , Sweden http://www.scrimart.u.se
 
Anders,
Great knife pics on your site!
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Thanks for your reply on rivet washers. I used the term "through tang" to indicate that the tang runs completely through the handle material. I think we are talking about the same thing. The handle and sheath method is great for guys like me who have a small work space and a few hand tools.


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Travis Autry
My knives are just like rabbits---they keep multiplying!!
 
TAutry,
If you like to try the handle and sheat method you have a source of genuine Finnish blades in USA. James Mattis(www.chaicutlery.com) sells Veikko Hakkarainens blades without handles and sheats. Price for blade only is about 1/3 of the price of finished knife with sheat.
 
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