The Puukko

So I received this knife as a gift from a friend on another forum, and I want to make sure it gets treated right. Per the photos there are a couple cracks in the ferule, but otherwise this puuko is beautiful!

My question is, should this be sent to some sort of knife repair person to fix/replace the ferule? Or would putting some epoxy in those cracks at home work to stabilize it? I definitely will wait to hear back from any experts before attempting anything. Also if you know any repair people this could be sent to, please let me know.

This is my first nicer puuko after only having Frosts and Moras until now.

Lastly if anyone has info on this specific type/make of puuko, I would be very grateful as I love learning about knives!


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The ferrule is a thin sheet of formed brass that was originally filled with whats called brimstone, or molten sulphur, to secure it in place. Thats going to be hard to fix without destroying the knife. You'd need to pull the handle apart, and with a knife as old is this chances are some of the stacked bark pieces will crumble. The cost of getting it fixed would probably far exceed its value anyhow. Best bet might be to mix up some epoxy and brass dust, and fill it in as best as you can. Or, just leave it as is.
The maker is Luomanen & Kumpp in Kauhava
 
Arathol said:
The ferrule is a thin sheet of formed brass that was originally filled with whats called brimstone, or molten sulphur, to secure it in place. Thats going to be hard to fix without destroying the knife. You'd need to pull the handle apart, and with a knife as old is this chances are some of the stacked bark pieces will crumble. The cost of getting it fixed would probably far exceed its value anyhow. Best bet might be to mix up some epoxy and brass dust, and fill it in as best as you can. Or, just leave it as is.
The maker is Luomanen & Kumpp in Kauhava
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Thank you for the advice and information! I may go the epoxy route then.
 
I ended up doing a good amount of maintenance on my puuko I posted yesterday. I epoxied in and around the crack and where the tang meets the ferule. I also sanded the peeling lacquer off the butt of the knife and finished it with a few coats of mineral oil. Lastly I sharpened and stropped the blade, sadly this wore away a bit of the Kauhava mark.

I also replaced the broken hanger on the sheath and cleaned and waxed the sheath to protect it.

This little project has turned out what is now one of my favorite fixed blades!

Thanks again for the help!

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The first batch of 2026 !


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PenisMightier said:
I ended up doing a good amount of maintenance on my puuko I posted yesterday. I epoxied in and around the crack and where the tang meets the ferule. I also sanded the peeling lacquer off the butt of the knife and finished it with a few coats of mineral oil. Lastly I sharpened and stropped the blade, sadly this wore away a bit of the Kauhava mark.

I also replaced the broken hanger on the sheath and cleaned and waxed the sheath to protect it.

This little project has turned out what is now one of my favorite fixed blades!

Thanks again for the help!

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You did a good restoration!
 
I do not want to take away from Valken Valken (because I cannot get enough of their work!), but could someone weigh in on this sheath? It appears to be from two pieces of birch, steamed to fit the knife. Likely not original to the knife itself but crafted by a clever owner, is this sort of sheath common? Before buying this knife from a member here I had never seen a sheath like it. (I don't think I have seen one in Anssi Ruusuvuori's book, but I need to look again.)

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The Zieg said:
I do not want to take away from Valken Valken (because I cannot get enough of their work!), but could someone weigh in on this sheath? It appears to be from two pieces of birch, steamed to fit the knife. Likely not original to the knife itself but crafted by a clever owner, is this sort of sheath common? Before buying this knife from a member here I had never seen a sheath like it. (I don't think I have seen one in Anssi Ruusuvuori's book, but I need to look again.)

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You are not taking anything away ! This isn't my thread lol. And please, publish more photos of that kind of knives, this one is magnificent and exactly what I am trying to recreat, especially in my Nordic Collection !
 
The Zieg said:
I do not want to take away from Valken Valken (because I cannot get enough of their work!), but could someone weigh in on this sheath? It appears to be from two pieces of birch, steamed to fit the knife. Likely not original to the knife itself but crafted by a clever owner, is this sort of sheath common? Before buying this knife from a member here I had never seen a sheath like it. (I don't think I have seen one in Anssi Ruusuvuori's book, but I need to look again.)

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I'd say the sheath was factory. Special edition maybe? I would guess steam as well, it's completely unique. Something about the process could have prevented the sheath being stamped.

Most of the wood used for that model is regular birch, yours is curly.

Is there any grain on the inside of the sheath?

Love that knife!
 
The Zieg said:
I do not want to take away from Valken Valken (because I cannot get enough of their work!), but could someone weigh in on this sheath? It appears to be from two pieces of birch, steamed to fit the knife. Likely not original to the knife itself but crafted by a clever owner, is this sort of sheath common? Before buying this knife from a member here I had never seen a sheath like it. (I don't think I have seen one in Anssi Ruusuvuori's book, but I need to look again.)

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I don't think thats a Jarvenpaa sheath. I've seen a few like this, not sure who the maker is. Pikkusaari though was known for various all-wood sheath designs.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
I'd say the sheath was factory. Special edition maybe? I would guess steam as well, it's completely unique. Something about the process could have prevented the sheath being stamped.

Most of the wood used for that model is regular birch, yours is curly.

Is there any grain on the inside of the sheath?

Love that knife!
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Interesting idea that it might be a special edition. There is some pattern inside, but just barely. The maker certainly chose the more patterned side to face outwards. There also appears to be a shim glued to the outside slab to keep the blade snug. This is still doing the job as the knife does not shift in the sheath. I have applied some beeswax to the body of the sheath to give it a bit of shine and to keep it from drying out too much in out Colorado air, but it is old and seems brittle. The belt loop is thin and delicate, not trustworthy. It needs a SwissHeritageCo SwissHeritageCo sheath if I'm going to carry it.

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After photographing the old puukko this morning, I am going full frugal and carrying the Mora 510 as a reality check 😄.

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