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