The Puukko

[kamagong]

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

View attachment 2132240

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 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

The maker is puukkoseppamestari Mikko Inkeroinen. Per his notes, the wood is arctic willow.

He made the sheath as well and as you observed it is very well made. I have no issues with it, save one. I'm not a fan of the traditional Tommi's sheath belt attachment -- two slots, cut into a piece of leather. Simple to make, but not the most durable of designs. Only a matter of time before the leather rips.

One question about your sheaths. Are they lined? The liner is my favorite feature in Finnish sheaths. We are advised that knives should not be stored in their sheaths, prolonged contact of a steel blade with leather eventually leads to corrosion. That's not an issue when a sheath comes with a liner.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

The maker is puukkoseppamestari Mikko Inkeroinen. Per his notes, the wood is arctic willow.

He made the sheath as well and as you observed it is very well made. I have no issues with it, save one. I'm not a fan of the traditional Tommi's sheath belt attachment -- two slots, cut into a piece of leather. Simple to make, but not the most durable of designs. Only a matter of time before the leather rips.

One question about your sheaths. Are they lined? The liner is my favorite feature in Finnish sheaths. We are advised that knives should not be stored in their sheaths, prolonged contact of a steel blade with leather eventually leads to corrosion. That's not an issue when a sheath comes with a liner.

Thanks for noting the maker, he certainly deserves recognition.

My sheaths are by design, not lined. That said, the blade shouldn't come in contact with the leather. Instead they are cased and hot waxed and made of a much thicker gauge leather. I have been using them for 2 years while keeping my carbon steel knives stored in them 24-7 and have yet to notice any corrosion.

If you're interested, there is a write up in the give away thread you won explaining my rationale behind the design (link still in my sig). I believe them to be much more functional in actual use than traditional scandi sheaths. Looking forward to hearing your feedback once you've put it through it's paces.

 

[baxtrom]

I realise I may need to purchase my first puukko at some point. My preference would be something classical, perhaps Will Power et al could provide guidance? Kiitos from a neighbour

 

[wickettedge]

View attachment 2132361

Here’s my vote

 

[Arathol]

The maker is puukkoseppamestari Mikko Inkeroinen. Per his notes, the wood is arctic willow.

He made the sheath as well and as you observed it is very well made. I have no issues with it, save one. I'm not a fan of the traditional Tommi's sheath belt attachment -- two slots, cut into a piece of leather. Simple to make, but not the most durable of designs. Only a matter of time before the leather rips.

One question about your sheaths. Are they lined? The liner is my favorite feature in Finnish sheaths. We are advised that knives should not be stored in their sheaths, prolonged contact of a steel blade with leather eventually leads to corrosion. That's not an issue when a sheath comes with a liner.

Not a big fan of the slotted tab either, except for the ones that have a center position that allows you to put in on the button of a coat pocket. Generally if I'm going to carry a knife, I'd rather have a brass ring on it with either a belt loop or a spring hook to fasten it to a belt loop.

Not all Finnish sheaths are lined. That seems to have started as more of a regional thing from the Kauhava area. The wood liner is more structural as most traditional pukkot sheaths with wood liners were made using very thin leather, thin enough that a sharp blade would easily cut right through.
Makers from other parts of Finland don't use liners. Marttiini for example uses either simple leather pancake or tube sheaths.

 

[Will Power]

I realise I may need to purchase my first puukko at some point. My preference would be something classical, perhaps Will Power et al could provide guidance? Kiitos from a neighbour

Hej! Paradoxically I'm not much use here...the national knife is just a working tool to me and I would never want to spend much money on a custom one That's for foreign knives and mainly folding ones. Naturally, there are good artisan makers here but I content myself with modest offerings from Marttiini or Kauhavan puukopaja, they're good and they don't cost too much either.

mvh, Will

 

[EngrSorenson]

the national knife is just a working tool to me

… he says with a swagger.

 

[Will Power]

… he says with a swagger.

 

[kamagong]

Hej! Paradoxically I'm not much use here...the national knife is just a working tool to me and I would never want to spend much money on a custom one

I understand your point Will. But you deserve at least one artisan made puukko. They're wonderful.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

I understand your point Will. But you deserve at least one artisan made puukko. They're wonderful.

Joonas was the very best of the best in my opinion, his sheaths were equally stunning too.

If that is yours I'm officially jealous.

 

[kamagong]

Joonas was the very best of the best in my opinion, his sheaths were equally stunning too.

If that is yours I'm officially jealous.

That was my knife. Past tense.

I let it go because it was a little too small for me. I sold it, with the intention of ordering another from Joonas. Alas, he stopped making knives and I was left empty handed.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

That was my knife. Past tense.

I let it go because it was a little too small for me. I sold it, with the intention of ordering another from Joonas. Alas, he stopped making knives and I was left empty handed.

Ouch.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Knife as tool- purest form of knife appreciation.

 

[Barbababa]

View attachment 2132361

Here’s my vote

That’s a really nice looking knife . But not really a Puukko with the slightly dropped point?

 

[EngrSorenson]

That’s a really nice looking knife . But not really a Puukko with the slightly dropped point?

I dunno if that’s enough to discount it as a true puukko. If you look at Arathol’s example from Martinni above, you’ll notice a clip point. Not all puukko are straight-spine skinner shapes.

Mora’s classic #1, 2 and 3, while Swedish and not Finnish, resemble puukko as well, but I’m curious if they are considered puukko. The main differences being a steeper grind, a drop point and country of origin.

 

[Rich S]

Mora not "technically" Puukko - puukko is a Finnish word. But Mora, Swedish, Norwegian knives (and Finnish) grouped as Nordic knives.

 

[wickettedge]

But not really a Puukko with the slightly dropped point?

This one has a slight drop point, so I don't think that's a qualifier.

understand your point Will. But you deserve at least one artisan made puukko. They're wonderful.

The picture I posted is a knife made by Finnish knife maker, Jari Liukko (http://www.liukkopuukot.fi/).

There are other good photos of his work on BF, like this one:

Who made your favorite puukko?

Anybody have experience with Helle Knives? I want a good puuko that is a step up from a Mora but not a custom. Can any of y’all recommend a knife like that? Have a look in the Educate me on the Puukko thread both for further explanation of why @kamagong said neither makes puukkot and for a...

www.bladeforums.com

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[Barbababa]

I dunno if that’s enough to discount it as a true puukko. If you look at Arathol’s example from Martinni above, you’ll notice a clip point. Not all puukko are straight-spine skinner shapes.

Mora’s classic #1, 2 and 3, while Swedish and not Finnish, resemble puukko as well, but I’m curious if they are considered puukko. The main differences being a steeper grind, a drop point and country of origin.

I was under the impression that the straight spine was the "trade mark" of a Puukko (and from Finland). In Sweden knives like the Mora are just called Classic. The natives knives are usually in a style like the one *Arathol posted, we call them Samekniv, Same being the name of the native people of the north

 

[EngrSorenson]

I was under the impression that the straight spine was the "trade mark" of a Puukko (and from Finland). In Sweden knives like the Mora are just called Classic. The natives knives are usually in a style like the one *Arathol posted, we call them Samekniv, Same being the name of the native people of the north

I like the Swedish naming convention- Mora? Morakniv. Knife of the Sami people? Samekniv.
EngrSorenson makes a knife? EngrSorensonkniv.

Edited to add: I understood what was meant by "Same", but here's more of an explanation.

In Norwegian and Swedish, the Sámi are today referred to by the localized form Same.

 

[Barbababa]

I like the Swedish naming convention- Mora? Morakniv. Knife of the Sami people? Samekniv.
EngrSorenson makes a knife? EngrSorensonkniv.

Edited to add: I understood what was meant by "Same", but here's more of an explanation.

Yep, we keep it simple Mora is the city where they are made. I use to call my SAK-builds "Baba-messer", not kniv in this case, since the SAK is a Swiss knife (Baba means Dad in Arabic so I am all over the place when it comes to names ). I went with the German name for knife in this case Of the options spoken in Switzerland, Messer, Coltello, Couteau, Cuntellar I am a Messer kind of guy