The Puukko

marchone said:
I picked up a good condition small one on eBay for $250 a few years ago. As shown in the pic above it was produced in Finland in the 1960s by Hackman to the design of Tapio Wirkkala. An example is in the Permanent Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Brookstone sold them in their catalogs and stores in 60s and 70s.
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Wowza! And to think my grandpa probably just used it to dress deer and whittle tinder. Haha

He's 93 now, and while still in very good health, his hunting and camping days are behind him. I am so glad to have received his hunting rifle, purchased in about 1947 and used until the late 2000s or so, along with a few of his knives. They are some treasured items for me.
 
nbp said:
My only puukko. One of the old knives my grandpa gave me from his decades of hunting, fishing and camping. I polished it up just a bit with some Flitz but the blade shows its many years of faithful service. It is a beautiful style of knife. I would love one with a traditional curly birch handle.

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I was going to say the puukko you've got is much coveted, but that's been demonstrated.
I want one, too.
 
nbp said:
My only puukko. One of the old knives my grandpa gave me from his decades of hunting, fishing and camping. I polished it up just a bit with some Flitz but the blade shows its many years of faithful service. It is a beautiful style of knife. I would love one with a traditional curly birch handle.

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vGlTopz.jpg
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Treasure that knife! I carried one daily overseas years ago that my father gave me, and lost it in a move. I loved that knife.
 
nbp said:
My only puukko. One of the old knives my grandpa gave me from his decades of hunting, fishing and camping. I polished it up just a bit with some Flitz but the blade shows its many years of faithful service. It is a beautiful style of knife. I would love one with a traditional curly birch handle.

mrgcr04.jpg


vGlTopz.jpg
Click to expand...
I've always been sooo curious to see how one of these feel in hand during extended use.

RayseM said:
One more from me this month but that's it for a while - I have real work ahead. :rolleyes:

This one a HELLE blank with bronze/teak/stacked leather. Have to find time to make a sheath.

View attachment 2096672

I threaded the tang and set the nut and washer in the teak portion, then tapped the bronze cap so that it could be spun on.
Cut and peened the bit of tang left. Pretty solid assembly. 👍

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You always do really clean stacked handles ;) I'll be doing a sheath GAW soon, I hope you enter it.
 
Thank you guys for the kind words! It is definitely a joy to have rescued this Wirkkala from some possible garage sale down the road (or a loser cousin who doesn't value it ). 😂
It will remain with me for a long time! So as not to derail this thread, here is a thread I started a while ago about these few items I got from grandpa if you are interested in more stories.

On topic, some of these custom puukkos are absolutely stunning! Heathenhymnal Heathenhymnal your blades are fantastic! I can't seem to find a good use for big thick heavy fixed blades, but the puukko has such a pleasing handle shape, size, weight and blade geometry that seems to make it ideal for so many camping/hunting/backpacking tasks. I might have to do a little more prowling around the forum for a cool one for my hiking pack. I have like 30 more pages of this thread to read. Haha
 
nbp said:
Wowza! And to think my grandpa probably just used it to dress deer and whittle tinder. Haha

He's 93 now, and while still in very good health, his hunting and camping days are behind him. I am so glad to have received his hunting rifle, purchased in about 1947 and used until the late 2000s or so, along with a few of his knives. They are some treasured items for me.
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Your grandfather had good taste. And he used it as intended.
 
Well, I have now gotten through all 43 pages of this thread, and what a ride! Absolutely stunning knives in here from so many makers across the world as well as those right here on BF showing their skills. I am almost tempted to get a puukko blade and try a stacked leather or birch bark handle of my own after seeing many of the great home builds posted!

I really appreciate the comments of all the native Nordic members here too, sharing their knowledge and history. My great great grandfather was from Finland, if I have the story right. I should check again with my grandpa, but I believe he was of Swedish heritage and spoke Swedish but lived in what would be considered Finland. Probably this was not uncommon since Finland was part of Sweden for centuries. His surname was Haggblad, in case that helps any of our Finnish members. He was born in 1871 and in the early 1890s he and his sister left and moved to the USA, settling in Escanaba, Michigan, in the upper peninsula. The terrain there likely reminded him of home! He got married, bought land, built a house by hand (probably with the help of neighbors too) and made his living as a farmer. The house was completed around 1913 or so. It still exists and is owned by just the second family since its construction! On a camping trip to the area a few years ago we were able to connect with the owners and they kindly showed us around so we could see the original house, which has naturally been added onto since. My grandpa recalls spending summers there as a kid in the 30s and 40s. It is now a horse farm, and they board and train horses there.

Anyways, as I read through the thread I could not help but wonder, if perhaps in his trunk of a few important items to bring across the ocean to start a new life, Erick had brought with him a puukko. Perhaps he did, and perhaps it was used to hunt, fish and farm as he worked to provide for his wife and four daughters. I guess we can't know, but it is sure fun to think about. :)
 
HEADS UP PUUKKO LOVERS -

If you haven't noticed there is a puukko knife (scandi style) sheath GAW being offered by the very excellent sheath maker SwissHeritageCo SwissHeritageCo .

In the GAW subform. CHECK IT OUT

I can say for certain that his sheath work is most excellent and he has a unique style.

I'm intending that I will win ;) and get a new sheath for one of these.

February-puukko-handles.jpg

Still - it would be more fun if there were a crowd of us looking to win. Let's show off some great puukkos and other scandi grinds in his thread.
 
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RayseM said:
HEADS UP PUUKKO LOVERS -

If you haven't noticed there is a puukko knife (scandi style) sheath GAW being offered by the very excellent sheath maker SwissHeritageCo SwissHeritageCo .

In the GAW subform. CHECK IT OUT

I can say for certain that his sheath work is most excellent and he has a unique style.

I'm intending that I will win ;) and get a new sheath for one of these.

View attachment 2112891

Still - it would be more fun if there were a crowd of us looking to win. Let's show off some great puukkos and other scandi grinds in his thread.
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I'm going to post, but I'll have to decide on which knife I want to enter. Malanika, Hackman, Marttini? I'll decide tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

Zieg
 
The Zieg said:
I'm going to post, but I'll have to decide on which knife I want to enter. Malanika, Hackman, Marttini? I'll decide tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

Zieg
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Whichever knife you choose to enter in the giveaway... if you win you won't regret it ;)

Thanks for giving the puukko lovers a heads up RayseM RayseM !! While not technically a puukko per say, this thread needs some action:

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This little gem from kamagong kamagong arrived today, he won the sheath giveaway.

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Not certain who the maker is but it's a cleverly designed package, and although I'm making a new sheath for it the original is one of the more functional I've come across. Couldn't capture it in photos but it has a single sided "[" shaped wooden insert with deep sides that provides a nice amount of clearance. The handles are non-stabilized wood which make for such an improvement in balance. Very practical traditional tommi, a proper user.

Handle is a barrel shaped so the retention point of the handle is low which leaves a lot of handle sticking out, I plan on bringing it up and unfurling the mouth of the sheath so the retention should hit around same point while leaving less of the handle exposed and a wider opening to guide the knife in.

Beautiful knife, look forward to posting the finished results :)
 
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