JT Pälikkö Medieval Knife Review

By Federico Buldrini

Jarno Pälikkö is one of the eleven Finnish certified master bladesmiths, living and working in Helsinki. This knife isn’t based on a particular specimen, it’s rather a speculative reproduction of a medieval Finnish knife. Pälikkö doesn’t craft many of these models, since they aren’t his main focus, but nevertheless forges some for Medieval and Viking festivals he attends.

This particular piece was temporarily loaned to me for the review and was shipped back to Finland at the end of my work.

blade

length – 93 mm

wideness – 25 mm

thickness – 7 mm at the base, 1 mm at the tip

steel – 52100

bevels – flat

edge angle – 16°, with small microbevel

edge hardness – ~ 60 HRC

handle

length – 113 mm

wideness – 33 mm in the middle

thickness – 22 mm in the middle

weight

knife – 110 g

with sheath – 170 g

The blade was forged with hand held hammer from 52100, recycled from a railroad axle. It has a flat section, tapered in height and thickness. After annealing and normalization it was heated in the coal forge, quenched in oil and tempered on the forge. While being dipped in oil the spine has been kept over the surface so to be softer. The all blade was then acid etched, to enhance the steel grain and tempering line. The bevels are ground at 16°, with a small microbevel.

The handle is crafted from a piece of curly birch with the tang glued in place with epoxy. The handle, sanded to a very fine grit, is slightly tapered in width and thickness, in both directions. It has a marked teardrop section, bigger proportions and fills the hand well.

The sheath is hand stitched from 4 mm leather and like normally is the case with medieval scabbards, there is no wood liner. However the leather used is extremely stiff and hard. The belt loop is a simple knotted reindeer leather strip. Retention is excellent, without being excessive.

In use

Out of the box the edge was quite rough, so I stropped it with Bark River black (#3000) and green (#6000) compound. The knife is slightly handle heavy.

Let’s start with a small owl, from a two years seasoned maple branch. After a mild resistance to carve the two major facets, the knife performed very well while planing and shaping the 45° nape. Again there was a slight resistance while cutting the X, perpendicular to the fibers, but was surprisingly nimble and agile, despite the blade width and general proportions, while carving the facial disks.

Again a small resistance while roughing the forehead, then gone after the first cuts. Little resistance while establishing, with the edge first cms closest to the handle, the V notch and then effortlessly carving the ear tufts with the curved portion near the tip. Again the knife was more nimble than expected.

There was a bit of resistance during the first series of cuts to thin down the branch diameter, to free the owl. While cutting deeper the strain was dropping, while still perceivable, then a little bit more when planing the base.

At the end the edge was pristine, with untouched shaving bite, save the first 2 cm closest to the handle, which did the hardest cuts. Thirty five passes on green compound.

Let’s continue, without changing wood or branch, with a wizard. Small resistance while carving the base facets and the nape, while very good when doing the three V, base for the face features, and when working the nose and face itself. However, due to the blade width and microbevel “thickness” the knife is slow, especially when drawing the lip. Again there was a bit of resistance when separating the wizard from the branch then planing the base.

At the end the edge was pristine and the shaving bite was gone only in the half close to the handle, due to power cuts. Twenty passes on DMT #1200, twenty five on black compound and forty on green compound.

Let’s continue, still without changing wood or branch, with a spikkentroll. A little resistance while roughing out the hat, after which I felt the edge 4 cms closest to the handle had slightly folded to the left, without hindering the bite much honestly. Again some small resistance while carving the face notch, slightly stronger when doing the U notch in the hat, especially when going against the grain. As in the previous projects the strongest resistance was at the moment of planing the base, after having cut the spikkentroll off the branch. In all three maple projects the cut finish was always good and just a hair shy of glossy.

At the end the edge was still folded, plus I detected a tiny microchip near the center. I could only feel it trailing the nail along the edge, but not see it with the naked eye. The curved belly was still shaving sharp. Fifteen passes on DMT #1200, fifty on black compound and fifty on the green one.

 Let’s close with a two years seasoned silver fir spatula. Good bite roughing it out with both forehand and chest lever grip. Even though the abundant proportions are still there, the knife felt strongly more lively and in its place compared tot he previous projects. The big dimensions enabled me also to apply much force to power cuts and get a rather quick roughing stage. While doing so I removed almost completely and planed two 1 cm wide knots. At the end of all the roughing the edge was pristine, though had lost the shaving bite except for the curve close the tip. Forty passes on black compound and forty on the green one.

Also during the finishing stages the knife felt quite beefy but agile. The majority of the cuts were made pulling the knife towards me, gripping the knife spine, without using the thumb as a fulcrum on the work piece, or doing small tweaks rotating the wrist and using the left thumb as a fulcrum on the spine.

At the end the edge was pristine and the shaving bite had only slightly dropped. Twenty passes on green compound.

Conclusions

 Undoubtedly good fit and finish and well done heat treatment. As expected it paid its bigger proportions, especially the wideness in tiny spaces, when working on smaller “artsy” projects, while they paid off in utilitarian projects, Good handle ergonomics allowing good control in both delicate and power cuts, with and edge towards the power ones. Speaking of the blade a slightly convexed edge flowing directly from the bevels would have probably allowed better glidings in the wood, compared to the current V edge. The only downside of this knife is its objectively high price, for its simple concept.