Bushcraft knife evolution

I am increasingly fond of the style of the traditional Finnish puukko as opposed to other Scandinavian knives and as far as I know no one has tried to incorporate the rhombic cross-section of this kind of knife into a full tang design. Plus, I am constantly playing with shape, balance and style of a knife suited for all the everyday kinds of work you can encounter when using a bushcraft knife. And while there are a lot of really fancy tactical designs (I spare you the rant, I hope you appreciate it ;-)), what works for me, i.e. "the knife that feels right", is a rather compact design with no crosspiece, a high Scandi or convex bevel (which screams "puukko" on top of its lungs, by the way), and a handle that is rather short. 

I seldom work with gloves, for I find they compromise my ability to feel where I am headed ;-), so this is not a problem. Also, if you use a knife with no guard the way to go when stabbing e.g. at a piece of wood in spooncarving or prying at an arrow stuck in wood in archery is to put the pommel end of the handle into your palm, which is very secure no less. I like my balance point on the knife on my index finger. Hollow rivets or better, pins, give you the ability to put the knife on a stick when harvesting fruit or mistle twigs with a length of paracord. Carving is facilitated by a slender tip design. To aid in durability, I prefer spring steel that is selectively tempered and thoroughly normalized. It is a simple steel, that also can be re-tempered with simple methods if the need arises, and makes for very durable knives. The handle is dyed yew. The knife needs some work still, of course, and I have to make a sheath for it yet, but as is, it represents my thoughts on the quest for the "perfect" knife as they stand for now. But since there is no such thing as a "perfect" knife, this quest will not end so soon... ;-)

A crossover design... for a Puukko

 This is something I have in the works at the moment with some thoughts on knife design. The lecture on Puukko design by Anssi Ruusuvuori had my mind racing, and having looked at some modern Puukko designs I find they bear a striking resemblance to Japanese Tanto or Aikuchi designs.

These characteristics are mainly the simple handle and the diamond shape of the blade. Differences include the lack of a Habaki and the rarely upswept point of the blade with Puukko designs.

I forged the blade from some Wootz steel I found in the woods... 110mmx5-2mm blade, selective temper, for technical data.

The grind is "hon zukuri", convex to zero, not that clean, to be quite honest, but I lack experience with a belt grinder. Next time I´ll stick to my trusty files! :-)

For the handle I adapted a shape from the Novgorod knife finds with an octagonal shape from bog oak. This has quite an interesting history. A loose acquaintance of mine and the magic troll´s we meet at re-enactment fairs from time to time had the wood for cheap. The corporation he worked for was being restored, and under the foundations of the building they found an old house from medieval times. The wood was conserved in the soil and was salvaged by him-he had made entire stools from bog oak!

The design is a bit dark to my liking, so I guess I´ll do some fittings from silver or bronze for´t. As is, it´s really sharp and well - balanced.




 

Puukko parade

Now here they come: Puukkos, the woodworking wonders of the North. From the top: Roselli carpenter, and on the expo, I got myself some lovely Wood Oy Wood Jewel knives, and I must say these knives certainly inspire me. In the picture below you can see both of them and the knife I made recently.

To the right there´s a small whittling knife, and the knife in the middle is a slightly bigger build. Now these babies come at an outright bargain. They are not quite meticulously finished, but made sturdy and well enough for a knife that sees actual use. The tang goes all the way through the handle and is peened over a disc, even on the small knife. The blades are selectively tempered (some 58HRC in the edge and 45HRC in the spine). When I tried to test them on the hair on the back of my head, I accidently got me a haircut, they are just hair-splitting sharp out of the box. The sheaths are fitting very well with use in mind: They will eventually loosen up a bit and be perfect. They offer a plastic liner inset that adds safety against penetration. Plus, they are dead beautiful. I have been craving these since I knew they were existent, some 10 years or so, but did not know where to get them. I can absolutely recommend this combination to anyone who would be satisfied with a natural-looking bushcraft knife and does not necessarily need a full-tang knife, they will do everything and beg for more, and you will be pleased by just looking at them. I am.

But now this is somewhat more of just a plain review. I own several Puukkos and I always wondered why it is that they offer so much atmosphere and function. First and foremostly it might just be that they are just following an ideal shape for a blade. The general layout makes this style of knife very dexterous for woodcarving. The blade is in line with the general working direction of the hand, and yap, the ergonomics are spot-on because there simply were hundreds or even thousands of years of refinement in the layout. Knives from the Finnish Viking age look no different from nowadays´ blades for a reason - because they work. But there is more to it. As with every nation I have so far encountered, the Puukko also had some ethnological and mythological functions... I am planning to do a feature on that soon. Just have to find this bloody manuscript ;-) in my attic again to give some real references...

In the meantime, I should say I will try to make myself a real one, maybe with a Damascus blade or stuff... I´ll keep you posted!

Historical puukko blade with a new handle

 So, I had this blade lying around for ages. I have this from the last producing smithy in Solingen, and it was courtesy of Mr. Rudolph Broch, one of the best bladesmiths in Solingen city in his time. As is customary in Solingen, you get to know someone (and mean it) and he or she tells you to go to someone (who is informed) and then you get to know this person (and mean it) and so on, and this was the manner I was being introduced to Mr. Broch then. I would not have found the smithy in the first place, it is quite hidden, and Mr. Broch welcomed me when he learned that I was interested in learning some tricks of the trade and enthused when I said that I really loved those old styles of Solingen knives. So, some ten years ago, he not only welcomed me to his smithy and showed me some tricks, but also showed me around his garage, which was brim full of knife blades and blanks that either were discontinued in production since at least 50 years or were never produced at all. It was a knifemaker´s wet dream come true, and it was like wonderland. Amongst the blades I found there were trench knives from WW I and II, hunting knives that would have made Horace Kephart envious... and a whole dispatch of puukko blades. Mr. Broch did not quite know for which corporation they were made, for it was way back then, too, put assumed they were made either for Iisakki Järvenpaa or Puronvarsi. What I can safely say is that they are made from stainless steel, and they were all Rockwell-tested with nine cone imprints along the whole length of the blade, with groups of three. The imprints were marked with a pen. The hardness varies from 57-59 HRC according to the markings, and, from experience with testing blades I can say that this is most certainly true. The temper is even, and the tang was tempered through, so I gave the end of the tang a bit of an annealing. The blade has a characteristical diamond shape, which is common with the Finnish type of woodworking knife. I fitted a nickel silver bolster and a handle of reindeer antler and birchwood burr.

 The tang was peened over a flower buttcap I filed from bronze (still has some engraving work to be done to;-)...

To make for a more durable edge, I gave it a tiny secondary bevel. The blade is now razor-sharp, and will be a personal item... I´ll give it a classic simple sheath or maybe even something more fancy, we´ll see...

The Puukko has fascinated me as an everyday tool, but also as a cultural aspect, and I hope to be doing more on the mythology and history of this great style of knife.