Finnish Puukko

While I was in Finland a little while back I had the opportunity to take some diversional therapy away from the main reason I was there. My mate makes traditional Finnish knives called puukko. These are the sort of thing a forester or hunter would carry on their belt years ago as they are just practical tools.

As it happens he'd made a set for Anita and I as our wedding present. Us being outdoor camping types having a knife in the pack is almost a must, so having a personally made knife is just a nice touch. Lari as it happens makes quite nice puukko. This is our two.

The basic knife billets are welded onto a stem first, then the rough shape is ground.

Lari then puts an 'edge' on the knife blade.

and then shapes the edges

to put an even slope down to the edge from the knife back

and round out the point.

.When its all done the knife is ready to be heat treated

and then the last thing to go on is of course the handle. Lari also does a very nice job of that too as personally I think the wood work is lovely.

As it happens Lari also makes the sheaths too, so the leatherwork is something included in his skill set. So it was nice to be a part of the process that was used to make our knives.

Thanks Lari :-)