The Puukko

[Rich S]

Arathol
I read somewhere that Jarvenpaa was recently sold and bought by some sort of holding company. You heard anything about that?
Rich

 

[Bigfattyt]

Bigfattyt -
Nice blade shape and good sheath, but what is all the black stuff on the blade? Fire scale?
Rich

Yes. Forge scale. I tried to leave it on the majority of the knife blade. But much of it came off in grinding.

I removed it in about 5 minutes.

 

[Arathol]

Arathol
I read somewhere that Jarvenpaa was recently sold and bought by some sort of holding company. You heard anything about that?
Rich

I think that a few years ago the company was sold to new owners from Finland, but other than that no....

 

[Campbellclanman]

I will clarify what I meant by the two Knives have the same name..

The smaller Early Scout Knife also has the name: Iisakki Järvenpää
1859 - 1929. Interesting reading about Iisakki that it was he who started using Fullers in the Knife Blades where others followed suit!

The smaller Knife ( shown directly below )has the name only in the Fuller of:Iisakki Järvenpää

The Larger Knife shown ( Directly below ) from the 70's has the exact same name of: IISAKKI JÄRVENPÄÄ with the addition of KAUHAVA.( Provence of Finland)

Here are the close ups of the Fullers of these two Knives to show they are the same...

Then a attempt to get the two Fullers together in one shot, so these two are the Knives that I stated had the same name- which they do identically....

.
I realise that the later 1960's and 1970's knives weren't made from a man who died in 1929, but stated they have the same name in the Fuller.

The Other Larger Knife has the name K. Lammi ( Kussta Lammi ) in the Fuller.

 

[Arathol]

Not sure what you're getting at, but Iisakkii Jarvenpaa Oy is the name of the company that made the knives, and that name is on almost every knife made there from the late 19th century until now. Many of the knives made in the mid-20th century had the name Iisakki Järvenpää in identical writing because the same person, Elli Lindholm, did much the engraving for decades.
Kustaa Lammi was another knife maker from Kauhava, and his father, Juho Kustaa Lammi, was a cousin to Jarvenpaa.
Jarvenpaa started using fullered blades because he realized that America was potentially a huge market, and a blade with fullers was what Americans wanted.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Hi Arathol? Ok, this is getting confusing Twice now you have said you aren't sure what I mean, or getting at? I will quote you your first statement ...

So I will explain.


Before my Thanks to you in post #457, I had a closer look at the bigger Puukko and found the same name Iisakki Järvenpää.
So I said that "the Knives had the same Name on them" - then you came back with...

"Not sure what you mean by the same name is on both of the knives? Iisakki Järvenpää is the maker of the smaller knife, and Kauhava is the name of the town in Finland where it was made. Järvenpää died in 1929, and his family has used the name and run the shop ever since.
( photo deleted)
The first knife was not made by Iisakki Järvenpää and is of recent production.

So I took the extra Photos to show you- that indeed - the Knives DID have the same name on them! I was referring to the Knife posted in Post #454 ( 1st Knife shown in that post ), and also the 2nd Knife shown in post #455.
Then after the photos and explanation to you what I meant about the same name on them, you said this....

Quote "Not sure what you're getting at .."

I may have added confusion by adding in my last post the older Scout Knife again ( originally posted in post #453 - the very first Knife shown ) made by Iisakki Jarvenpaa. I think that Older wee Knife is such a nice Knife!

I hope this clears up what I was meaning, and again thank you for your help.

 

[Arathol]

Yup, ok, I wasn't really sure which knives you were referring to in the posts...

 

[Arathol]

To answer a previous question about sheaths, yes, there were shops that made sheaths for various makers, but some puukko makers also produced their own. The shops supplied the basic leather sheaths, then the knife makers would embellish them with decorative metal collar bands and tips, putting on silver or brass hanger chains etc.
This video shows how the sheaths are made towards the end-

 

[RayseM]

From Romanian knife maker @BogdanS.

I love this knife - came with a perfect hand made leather sheath by Mrs. Bogdan.

Called FIREBUG

 

[Campbellclanman]

Ray, I am a fan of the older styled Puukko's with the Birch Spacers etc, but.... when you see the later custom Puukko's coming out in recent years- such as this gorgeous example- it's TOTALLY understandable! Modern with the old and outstanding!
That's a beautiful Knife! Well done on a nice purchase!

 

[RayseM]

Thanks Duncan, it was a work of art difficult to resist AND it's a very cool KNIFE too, that cuts like the dickens and is a wonderful fit in my hand

 

[Campbellclanman]

Wow! that's a nice balance!

 

[Jolipapa]

Arrived this morning from Finland, a mini puukko that looks magic, with its silky, shiny handle, including a few bobs (all dating of my year of birth ) for a pinta and Nils Holgersson's family at rest picture .
Thanks Will, it will do much more than opening letters!

 

[robinpeck]

Does this count as a Puuko? It has a flat pommel like a Leuku...and a bronze finger guard.

J. Marttiini, Finland hunting knife, dated "70"
Excellent condition. Factory edge.
Diamond section blade 5.5 in. OAL 10.25 in. It's a big knife.
Curly Birch handle. Bronze finger guard. Flat steel pommel.
Original leather sheath.

 

[Rich S]

Yes, it's a hybrid sometimes called Lapp Puukko by Jarvenpaa. Currently listed in Marttiini catalog as Lapp Knife although I think this is an earlier model. I have one similar. Nice knife.
Rich

 

[Will Power]

The word puukko in Finnish is often just used for any fixed knife-but that's because most of them here are puukkot Leuku is big chopper style puukko or Sami knife (from Lapland)

 

[Arathol]

The word puukko in Finnish is often just used for any fixed knife-but that's because most of them here are puukkot Leuku is big chopper style puukko or Sami knife (from Lapland)

Not all leuku are big.....
This is an older Lapinleuku from Marrtiini is smaller than a traditional Kauhava style puukko...

 

[Arathol]

A couple more Lapp style puukkot-
From Järvenpää

And a small one from Martiini

 

[Will Power]

Well no, not all Leuku may be big, but ideally they should be Their primary task was as an axe/hatchet substitute, for butchering Reindeer and whatever the size, the blade should be relatively wide. Compared at least with an Ostrobothnian Puukko. How big are Puukko? Well these vary a lot but usually 8-11cm blade. Leuku would be 16-30. there are some Machete types around 45 cm i believe Smaller versions can be more gift minded or touristpuukko types. The pocket Puukko I recently sent Jolipapa is small around GEC 15 size. But then, how big is a Laguiole? 'Usually' 10-13 cm closed but there are much bigger ones and smaller types too but they follow a style. The Puukko style is more ambiguous, to an extent, but the Leuku looks different by having a broad blade and thus is usually larger. But not always no

 

[robinpeck]

re: The flat steel pommel.

I saw a film of a Lapp hunter use a Leuku to dispatch a wounded moose downed in deep snow (no waste of valuable ammunition on a second shot), aligning the blade on the spine between the shoulders and smacking the flat pommel hard with the heel of his hand. I assume they use the same technique on their reindeer.

I see nothing like my Puuko/Leuku crossbreed in the current Martini catalog. Mine is just an older pattern I guess. (It is dated "70".) Its like an older version of their current "Lynx" knife crossed with the flat pommel from their "Lapp Knife".

It is a fairly big knife with a thick diamond-section blade. I have large hands and yet you can see there is still plenty of room on the handle.