Vintage Puukko

[kootenay joe]

I only discovered Puukkos a few years ago and now they are big part of my knife collection which previously had been limited to folding knives.
Many of the vintage Puukkos were custom made. Finland had many knife makers ("Smiths") each making slight variations according to traditions of their local area. The Smith's name is usually etched in the fuller if present, or on the blade flats. But writing in Finnish involves 'loops', lots of loopy loops, such that no none Finnish person can read it. I have not found any text that shows or discusses these knives. So i don't know what i have got. I might have some Puukkos by highly regarded Smiths that are rather valuable because there is a collector market for these. (stronger in Europe/Scandinavia/Finland than in N.A.)
Here is a very fine example because it appears unused. Unused vintage factory Puukkos are common, but vintage custom ones are almost always used examples. They were bought by locals as a needed tool.
So this one is a bit special. It does look to have been cleaned superficially with something like Flitz because the writing on the front flats has been partly removed.
OAL 10" which is large for a Puukko
There are gold colored letters on the back of handle that say: "G Myers --?"
There is loopy writing in the fuller and on blade flats both sides.
Pictures of this are slightly easier to read than by trying to read it on the blade itself, but still not very clear.
If anyone can shed any light on this knife, age, maker, "G Myers",etc. please post.

[gmusic]

Very nice.........love that sheath!

[knife7knut]

Nice ones! I would venture that G. Myers was likely the owner and his name was hot stamped on the handle. The name on two of the knives is Jarvenpaa(last name). I have a couple of puukos with that name. I agree;they are hard to read.
Here are a few of mine. The black handled one I don't believe is a puuko but rather a sloyd possibly from Sweden;there are no markings on it.The blade polish is unbelievable and the pique work(the silver pins in the ebony handle)is beautiful. The sheath is engraved silver. The minis are kind of neat.The puuko in the pic of 5 knives is the only one I could find of that knife.

[kootenay joe]

Nice knives !
The black handle knife with metal scabbard is a Staskniv from Norway. It is a dress up knife worn on Sundays and special occasions. These usually show little to no evidence of use even though they are fully capable knives.
The second one down is a Finnish Boy Scout knife. Scouting came to Finland in 1929 and i believe this pattern has been the same since then.
Puukkos are very good user knives particularly for woodcraft. I field dressed a whitetail this past Fall with a custom Tommi puukko, very slick and quick. Tommi = rhomboid in cross section, thickest part is a ridge running length of blade that tapers slightly to spine and tapers fully to zero at the edge. i.e. no edge grind needed.
kj

[keithw]

I love this thread.

I only have one puukko, but I always look at them at shows (when I find them). They're very interesting.
I really like that Sunday-go-to-meetin' sloyd.

Mine had some corrosion on the blade when I bought it, so I was using simichrome on the blade, when the part between the blade and the handle (bolster?) just came apart.
It had some sort of crumbly white stuff in it.
I can't remember the name of what I bought at the hardware store, a sort of wood filler in powder form, that I experimented with and finally repaired the section.
I didn't pay a lot for it, so it wasn't a big deal.

Do many puukkos have that white crumbly stuff in them, and what is that stuff?

[knife7knut]

I love this thread.


Do many puukkos have that white crumbly stuff in them, and what is that stuff?

Keith: It may be a version of what Bernard Levine calls "cutler's cement" which for him meant a mixture of brick dust,rosin,and beeswax. Sounds like that might have been it less the brick dust which usually gives it an orange tint.

[tongueriver]

I only have one puuko and, oddly enough, it was made in Boulder, Colorado by Western States. It only appears in the 1941 catalog and I think they are pretty rare. I have seen 3 go up for sale in the last several years. This one is available.

[Colonel26]

Very nice knives everyone. I've never owned a pukko but I've looked at several. I can see why they're so popular. Y'all have some real good examples.

TR, that's one fine fine fine looking Western!

[kootenay joe]

Sunday go to Meeting Staskniv, not Sloyd.
The white cutler's cement BRL describes is from vintage Sheffield of about 150 years ago. I doubt that is the "white crumbly" stuff referred to above. I have about 75(?) Puukkos, nearly all vintage and none show any white crumbly stuff. Whatever it is might have been specific to that maker, not something usually used in smithing a Puukko.
kj

[knife7knut]

Nice knives !
The black handle knife with metal scabbard is a Staskniv from Norway. It is a dress up knife worn on Sundays and special occasions. These usually show little to no evidence of use even though they are fully capable knives.
kj

Thank you for the clarification on the name kj;I shall update the info in my files.

[kootenay joe]

You can also use "Staskniv" to search ebay. Maybe i shouldn't be giving away my secrets ? but that's what a knife forum is for, helping each other.

[TripleF]

LOVE that knife Joe!!!!

PS - Just searched ebay for staskniv and found nothing live or completed.
Are they rare and only show up rarely?

[kootenay joe]

Staskniv = uncommon but not rare. Usually at least 1 will be found. Try "Puukko" and "Finnish knife" or "Finland knife". You can scroll through quickly and likely will spot a Staskniv or 2. If not, try again in a few days. There have been hundreds of Puukkos listed in the last few months.
kj

[Cookyboy1]

Hi there, I have just 2 pukko knives in my collection, 1 which is a quite ornate one with matching sheath which is made by who appears to be Lisaki - Javenpaa and the other one is a bone handled pukko dagger with an engraved sheath, thought you might like to see them,

[doglegg]

Both very cool.

[doglegg]

Both very cool.

[lentuk]

I am a big Puukko fan also but I only have one vintage Puukko, this is a Luomanen & Kumppanit, Kauhava, Model 2, from the 1930s that my Grandfather purchased in Finland in the late 1950s. When my Father gave this to me 20 years ago it started my Puukko collecting.

[orvet]

Somehow I missed this topic for 6 years!
I will have to post pics of my Puukkos when I get home and get caught up from the trip.

Nice knives guys!
Hopefully we get some more people posting on this topic as well. I have become a fan of the Puukko in the last few years. The more of them I get, the more I like them!

[tongueriver]

Looking forward to seeing them, Dale!

[lentuk]

Here are some of mine, Puukko and Leuku.

[jmh58]

John

[kootenay joe]

lentuk, WOW !
What a great group of custom puukkos. I bet everyone of them has a hair-poppin' edge.
Who made the knife second from the top on right side ? has a long brown handle and a shorter blade.
Perhaps you can post a picture showing just this Puukko ?
thank you, kj

[tongueriver]

Here are some of mine, Puukko and Leuku.
322.jpg

All great ones! The two, right and left, second from the bottom, the stacked bark Malenika and its friend, the (Jelio?) blow me away!

[Eustace]

I don't understand anything about these knives. This one sells for about $ 150. What do you think guys?
https://www.olx.bg/d/ad/avtentichen-sta ... bserved_ad

[tongueriver]

Classic horse head with stacked birch bark handle made in Kauhauva, Finnland by major respected maker. Looks to be in nice shape. I would pay $150 USD for it if it caught my eye. It's a good knife.