Short review of a Sampo Puukko

On a recent medieval reenactment fair near my home I had the opportunity to get me a Puukko cheap. It´s distributed by Sampo corporation, and according to Klaus, whom I met on the fair, and who is the owner of the shop, is made by hand in Finland. It costs 77,00 € when purchased regularily. It´s made from beautiful birch burr and reindeer antler. The tang is peened over a brass disc and the reindeer buttcap, which shows the natural surface at the end. The blade is 90x3,5mm, made from some unspecified carbon steel, but it appears to be something with manganese in it. Even as is, it would have been a good enough buy, but the surprise came when I checked the hardness on the edge. I estimate it to have 62 - 63 HRC IN THE EDGE. I emphasize this, because this appeared to me that someone got off his rocker on a production knife and cut short on the heat - treating process, until I realized the blade gave that familiar ringing sound only selectively tempered blades have. I then checked the spine hardness, and it came in at an estimated 49-52 HRC. At this prize, this is frankly insane! Out of the box the knife came wickedly sharp. Without any work by myself, it was hair-splitting sharp, and this after being transported all over Germany and lying in the heat, and the cold, and the rain, and the cold again, being fingered by thousands of customers and such. As is to be expected, it´s a most able whittler and even should stand up to quite an amount of abuse. If you use it for light batoning, it should even handle this, but remember that no rat-tail-tang is made to be pounded with a heavy baton through knotted hardwood  burr constantly. The sheath is made from top - grain leather with a plastic insert that is actually molded into shape, not just some piece stuck into the leather as with those Roselli sheaths. One complaint is that the belt loop could be more caringly put together and drilled together. 

For most any bushcraft and camping tasks, however, this is one knife you can bet your arse on. It´s also a great first knife for beginner viking reenactors, and, last, but in no way least, it´s a beaut.

And best of all, there´s plenty more of them, including Saami sets, Leukus, whittlers and whatnot.

Sampo also sells those wonderful reindeer hides... so pay their site a visit!

Towards a serviceable bushcraft knife-Another try;-)

For a long time now I have been trying to optimize the traditional bushlore style knife. I have found that my favourite style of handle is very comfortable for the hand, even though it looks a bit thorny;-). I have also experimented with some offset to make for a more powerful position when cutting with great force or chopping. The grind is set higher, for it is made from spring steel, and has a spine thickness of some 6 mm and will get a progressive selective temper, maybe even a bainite heat treatment, who knows? As for length, it´s a good 11,8 cm long. Oh, and the drillings are no drillings, they are hot punched;-). I´ll keep you informed!

Progress on my little fully integral En - Nep

So, it has been quite some time coming, but it is getting there. I have been treading very carefully with this knife, but here it is. The blade is made from spring steel with a selective temper, the bolsters are one piece. the tang, while being a good 10 mm thick, is drilled and lathed out for balance, bolsters and buttcap are finished with a ball peen hammer. The scales are stag antler fitted with volcanic fibre inlays and screwed on with a  brass screw theat was then sawed off. Of course, they are epoxied on, too. The balance point is still a bit too far back to the rear, just behind the index finger, but as is, it´s nimble enough. The filework shows a snake that winds itself thhrough the bolster and into the tang, and I hope to be ableto do some engraving, too. I will show you more details as soon as it´s done. The blade itself has a high convex bevel, and having taken it through its paces already I can say...

:-)

I hope I can show you some testing soon.;-).

I like this one.

New Leaf -handle blades

 I finished those two knives the other day and thought I´d give you some decent pics. Both are made from spring steel, with a selective temper. This one is more of an utility design. 110 x 5 mm, edge quenched.

 The backside.

 The leaf I forged with the peen of a small locksmith´s hammer.

 This is more of a kopis design. I love to make these for the flowing lines they have, and they really feel good and dynamic when cutting. They are also great for foraging herbs and green food. Removing bark from a stick also is quite a cinch.

 I have tested this one to an extreme defree already: It supports my weight, and I´m fat!;-)

 The backside.

And the leaf. I also like the fact that they are ready to use when the forging´s done. And for an all - metal design, they are very comfortable to hold onto. They simply work, and work great even when the going gets tough. So I will make more of them...*ggg*

New Nessie design

 I was feeling inspired by my mountain man bushcraft as well as the "Flachschmieder" by Rudolph Broch, one of those people I have learned a lot from, so, when I was at the last Hammer - In of the season, I made this blade out of spring steel. 110 mm long, the spine is 5 mm thick, and the knife has seen little stock removal as is and no power tools except for drilling the holes for the tang. I will keep working on that, too;-). The handle is made from sambar stag antler I found on a flea market, wait, is that 8 years? 8 years ago;-) it is indeed, and I am an old fart!*ggg*. I really like this material a lot for its amber colour. The pins are made from copper tube. With a length of Paracord you can fix it to a stick to harvest apples, plums or herbs normally out of reach. To me, the handle is comfortable, and I like the slightly offset edge for cutting on a level, as when snacking with a wooden board. In spite of the chunky spine thickness, it really cuts well and even works great in the kitchen. Chopping onions, slicing salami and bacon are a cinch, really. I guess it has something to do with the fact that it has no secondary bevel, and the little convex part there is is virtually non-existent. It is edge - quenched, though, and I already slammed it into a mild steel bar and unmounted a tin can;-) with it, with no dents whatsoever.

 The spine. The tang will see some filing still.

I also made a simple sheath already. Wet - formed around the handle, and hot - waxed to give a firm base, almost like Kydex! (not that this would be a good thing, mind you*ggg*.

As is, I like it. It will see some refining and polishing the edge, and then I will be in for some interesting testing again.*ggg*