Okay so some of you might remember my experience with Grohmann. Well that's water under the bridge but to get over that loss I ordered a Jarvenpaa Puukko & Leuku combo from Ben at bensbackwoods.com (no affiliation, etc, etc, blah, blah).

I picked it up today at the post office today and felt like sharing my first impressions...I'll also post a review here once I've had a chance to use it a bit.

When I first pulled it out of the box, I thought the set looked even better than the pictures on the internet. The sheath is simple but well put together and holds both knives very snugly. The belt loop is a straight loop so wearing it around the neck is a possibility.

When I picked it up I was surprised at the heft. Heavy for it's size over all...which isn't a bad thing.

Both are in Carbon steel and unpolished. Both have the traditional curly birch handle. I've never owned a scandi like these but so far I was impressed.

The handle on the Puukko is about the right size for my hand and the blade is just long enough. The handle is hand shaped and it shows. It's not perfect but that's fine by me. Neither is the blade. It's hand ground, slightly uneven from one side to the other and has a rough secondary bevel. This surprised me a bit. I was expecting the single bevel scandi grind but based on my readings considered it a possibility. I'll very likely sharpen off the secondary bevel as is recommended at Ragweed Forge. The knife wasn't terribly sharp out of the box but for a hand crafted knife I wasn't expecting perfection. The spine is rough and the fit and finish is what can only be expected as 'rough around the edges'. This knife is much more function than form but makes up for lack of fit and finish with the nice handle and the shiny hammer pommel. The final touch which some might find ugly but I like is the hand engraving on the side of the blade. I can only assume that it's the name of the guy who made the knife.

The Leuku is pretty much identical only bigger. To me it feels like the missing link between knife and machete. I definitely think it will serve as a machete just fine. The handle on the Leuku feels especially good. It's very thick and feels very secure in my hand. The unpolished wood is going to feel great come winter.

Sorry no pictures yet...soon though.

I'm open to any advice on care of the birch handles or sharpening. I've never had to remove a secondary bevel before.

Sounds nice, I just looked it up and it looks nice too!

Almost all the Finnish knives come with a secondary bevel.

If these were mine I would be tempted to take the puukko to a zero grind but not the Leuko. That I would simply convex the edge on a Hoodoo hone.

Removing the secondary on the Puukko can take some work. I have almost got my IJ 1244 the way I want it (after several years of owning and using). I took most of the secondary off on diamond and waterstones (keep the primary grind flat on the stone and work and work and work). I then stropped on loaded leather that is backed with felt to give me near mirror polish and a very slight convex to the edge. Otherwise the zero scandi is a bit too thin for my use. Many times the flats on scandi knives are actually shallow hollow ground...so that can take even more work to make flat.

I think a bit of oil on the birch might be all you need to do every-once-and-a-while. Take a look at the join between steel and birch...if there is much of a gap you may want to fill it with epoxy. I have been meaning to do that on my IJ....

There really is nothing wrong with the secondary bevel, but for superior woodworking taking the Puukko to zero with a tiny tiny convex will likely improve it a ton on wood.

These should serve you well. A bit of a project set at first but once you set the edges like you want they should become old friends fast.

Good luck. This is the set?



I like it.

This is the slight hollow grind I have observed on my IJ knife.

This is the IJ 1244 after my latest efforts to flatten and zero grind it. I did this work on the Fallkniven DC4 diamond/ceramic stone and loaded leather strop.

You can see the small area near the plunge that is still hollow. It will take a few more sessions (or years) to work to an absolute flat. You can also see a nick in the very tip…sort of making it a stronger point so I have not worried about it.



You can also see the slight gap with the tang enters the bolster. Thin epoxy would be a good idea...just one that I have not yet got around to.

The other side hollow is actually a bit bigger.



My IJ came with a slightly hollow “flat” and a secondary edge. I had worked it to a nearly flat scandi on water stones and ceramics long ago, but this session on the DC4 really revealed that it is still far from flat. It is smoking sharp now though with a slightly convex edge done on the green compound loaded leather strop.

This quote from Sigurd Olson always seems right when a fellow gets a finely made traditional knife.....



I own an old Finnish knife or puukko, the blade made from an old file, the handle and molded case of birch bark. I have carried it for thousands of miles and it has never failed me. The well-tempered steel is hard enough to open a tin and still sharp enough to fillet a fish without needing retouching. Not long ago I dropped it while at Listening Point, and traced and retraced my steps without avail....Since it was early November, the smell of snow was in the air, and we knew if we did not find it then, it would lie outdoors all winter.

"Let’s go back once more," Al said before dusk settled down. "We might just be lucky." Back we went.....Then, with a shout of triumph, my young friend ran over and placed the knife in my hand. Before he left, he took a picture of me standing by the cabin turning the knife over and over. Far more than a tool, the knife to me a symbol of the spirit that went into the cabin, the canoe, and all things made by men proud of their work and of what they had learned to do.

From Tradition, Reflections of the North Country 1976

wow that was a really powerful quotes... siged

That is the set Schwert. That picture doesn't do the little subtleties of a hand made blade any justice. As soon as I can get my digital camera hooked up to my computer, I'll upload some close ups.

I think you're right about the secondary bevel on the Leuku. It's a work knife specifically made for chopping wood and Reindeer bones. Rounding the secondary bevel will really make the edge axe like and better suited to it's role. At the very least I'll leave the secondary bevel to keep the edge from rolling under the stress of chopping.

The secondary bevel on the Puukko is very very slight. Almost as if they ran it over a coarse stone or a belt very very briefly before shipping. There is also a burr I've noticed which makes me think that all the more. I also picked up a set of EZE Lap diamond stones from Ben so I should have the edge sorted out by the weekend at least to the point where it's good and sharp.

You might even just try stropping the Puukko on leather before you work it on the stones. If it is a very tiny secondary it will melt over to a convex on a strop and that can work quite well on all sorts of uses.

Get that camera setup...I am sitting on the edge of my seat

Took a few pictures and let them upload while I oil the handles and clean up the blades ready to be sharpened a bit. The following are the least blurry:

Nice all around. That birch looks great and the edges look pretty good too.

Have fun with these. Ben is a good one eh?

I have carried a Järvenpää Aito Puukko for a couple of years now. I love it. They make great knives judging from my experience.

My set grew legs a few years ago :O( Treat the sheath with a good beeswax dressing and the birch with tung oil. These blades have very subtle handling advantages. Reverse grip the little puukko with the blade pointed down and edge facing you. Your thumb will find a natural purchase on hte butcap. This makes for controlled scribework, such as grooving wood for arrow fletches, gaff hooks etc. The Lueko is best handled with draw cuts, or pushing into material from the buttcap again. These are superb blades to use with mittens.

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to pick up some Tung oil at Lee Valley Tools...seems like good stuff for a lot of applications. I'm sure it's more durable than what I used which is designed for sealing and protecting high quality cutting boards. Very light and leaves no taste...not an issue on a knife handle.

I cleaned up the blades but didn't polish off the black...just the grease and such. I gave the blades a good dose of Fluid Film and ran the Puukko over my kitchen steel. The burr poppped back and it's quite sharp now.

Hope these knives work much better for you than your last order. ;-)

Time to field test them and report back!

"...Hope these knives work much better for you than your last order..."

Ditto...

Man those are some sweet lookin' knives....i'm jealous...lol

I wish there was a home test for Rockwell hardness. It would appear that in my attempt to eliminate the secondary bevel on the Puukko, I've removed all the diamond from my center EZELap credit card stone.

I didn't want to buy a bench stone but these small pocket stones aren't cutting it for major work like this. I have 2 small DMT stones too. They're holding up much better but are too small for anything more than touch ups. I've already stabbed my thumb by accident LOL.

The steel is also the least stainless I've ever seen. Just while running is across a diamond stone for a little while, the blade rusted a little. I didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

"...I wish there was a home test for Rockwell hardness..."

There are. A quick google brought up a bunch, this is just one. Might be a tad pricey tho...

I think I have worn out a couple of the smaller DMT stones doing this sort of thing. There is a lot of metal on a scandi to remove to keep it flat. I mostly use traditional stones and water stones to do this reprofiling....I have also found you can keep at it for years before you have it just right.

I'm not too concerned with getting it perfect...it wasn't from the factory and likely never will be. It's a workin' knife and not a show piece anyhow.

I think I may go to lee valley tools and invest in some water stones. I've had my eye on some for a while but have always gone with the space age portable fanciness.

I guess old style school deserve an old school sharpening solution. Big stones are also nice because they can be used to hone my axes.

Last night I picked up a full set of Norton combination stones from Lee Valley in 220, 1000, 4000, and 8000 grits. Overkill I'm sure but you can't go wrong with yet another way to make things sharp!

I also picked up some Japanese pocket water stones in 1000 and 6000 grits. Perfect for edge maintenance.

Wow.

220 grit fixes ANYTHING.

Define "fix."

Well in the case of these knives it removed the secondary bevel on the puuko in no time. Before I tried the Jarvenpaa blades though I tried an old knife with a nick in it and it melted away in no time.

It's a good thing 220 is only rarely needed...the stone melted away fairly fast too...but that's how water stones work.

The Leuku had a bit near the handle that looked like it was an oops on the grinder. I ran it over the 220 only for a handful of strokes to make sure the bevel was in line with my regular sharpening stroke (I decided to keep the 2ndary on the Leuku). It almost disappeared right away.

The Puukko definitely isn't hollow ground but it isn't perfectly flat either. It feels like the angle changes as it gets closer to the tip...and I think the angle isn't the same from one side to the other either.

I'm just going to use it now and give it a proper sharpening on the water stones when needed and I'm sure it will come around eventually if I'm careful about how I run them across the stones. It's got a single bevel and it's damn sharp...so mission accomplished.

I'm going fishing this weekend so between casts I'm going to knock the rust off of what little bushcraft I know and see what it can do. If it needs a touch up, I have the pocket water stones. I'll just soak them in the river and they'll be perfect for it. My wife will be trying to show me up and catch the big one so I'll try to get her to take some action shots.

IJ's have a Rockwell of 57-8. The angles do change as you move up to the point. If you try to change them the point will disappear.The rusting is best eliminated by pickling the steel through use. Dice up some potatoes, or with the puukko impale a spud and leave it overnight once the major edgework has been done.

Just got home from a weekend of casual camping and put the blades through as much as I could given that I was in a provincial park.

Pictures will follow as soon as Flickr has digested them.

general purpose work
For all around camp tasks like cutting paracord to put up the tarp, getting into the weenies for dinner or cutting hot dog buns the Puukko performed just fine. Having it on my belt it was easy to get out even though I had to wear it blade forward to suit my left handedness. The knife was easily wiped off on my pants and didn't rust or tarnish all weekend despite a bit off rain and some VERY high humidity.

weenie sticks
I'm in love with Leuku's! Despite park rules I wiggled my way back into the deep bush to cut myself some nice fresh green sticks for cooking dinner. The Leuku made short work of them. One whack was all it took. The branches were removed easily and very cleanly. It functions much like a machete in this way and I was happy with the feel, heft, and cutting power. It seems to work best when you cut as a very steep angle. Even though that's cutting through more wood, it's less 'against' the grain. Chopping them to length across the grain on the splitting block was no problem either and none of the work did any damage to the blade at all. It's still as sharp now as it was when I left home on Friday. Thinning down the tips of the stsicks with the puukko was easy as pie of course. The final touch was straightening the sticks over the fire...but that had nothing to do with scandinavian knives and everything to do with me showing off to the DW a little

arts and crafts period
Over the course of the weekend I whittled on everything I could and by Saturday evening the Puukko was noticeably dulled. I was expecting some edge rolling or even a nick or two but saw none. The knife was still plenty sharp for general work but wouldn't shave anymore and wouldn't push through the wood like it did Friday...quite a bit off force was required. Switching strategies to more of a slicing motion worked great as the knife would cut great if you sliced. By slicing I could still sever finger thick wood with little effort. This prevented only the most detailed work from being done. I'm sure once I get the hang of sharpening it, it will last a bit longer...but these knives aren't designed to hold an edge for ever and I'm fine with that. Because I knew I'd be home by noon on Sunday, I didn't try my new pocket water stones. I'll just sharpen them today.

The Puukko makes an awesome draw knife! Holding the handle in one hand and the tip of the blade in the other, I could take as little or as much wood as I wanted and the effort required was minimal as best. I've never felt more in control of a blade. It also works well one handed with a reverse grip but my bushcraft skills aren't quite at that level yet.

I also found an alternative use for the Leuku. It works great for peeling bark. I was able to remove the bark from one of my projects whole using the broad curved section of the blade to pry the bark away from the wood in large sections like a big putty knife without damaging either the wood or bark. I was going to use the Puukkko to cut the bark into strips and try to make cord out of it (Mors Kochanski style) but I put it down too close to the fire and it went dry like a potato chip before I got back to it.

making fire
The wood in the park was provided by a local for $7 a bundle and because off that all the pieces were already perfect burning size. I did use the Leuku to baton some kindling and it worked fine. It was nice to have a big hand hold and a large target for the baton.

On Saturday I used the Puukko to make feather sticks. It worked better than expected despite the edge not being quite as sharp as when I arrived on Friday. I supplemented with some twigs and the Leuku harvested them handily. That was enough to get a full fire going without any more splitting.

Neither knife will lift sparks from my firesteel. I used the saw on my Leatherman instead. I'm sure they will both spark off of a flinty rock but I didn't try to find out for sure.

conclusion
What more can I say? These knifes compliment each other perfectly and excel for bushcrafty tasks. They were both easy to use and very forgiving. I didn't mind wearing both on my belt, the extra weight was negligible. With a saw and a small axe, there isn't much you couldn't accomplish.

Thanks for the detailed report Hacksaw, sounds like a fun weekend.

Mike

I wish there were more action shots or video but my wife isn't nearly as interested in this stuff as I am