Jari Liukko Fiskars Puukko

I would like to show a few photos of Jari Liukko’s First Place winning Kauhava horse head puukko from this year’s Fiskars Competition. This is a national competition and the official Finnish championship held every May at Fiskars Village. Fiskars Village is an historical site on the original Fiskars manufacturing location featuring shops, exhibitions, a museum and various hand work competitions among other things.

Jari’s profile and work has been featured here in the past. Go to the Index Page to learn about Jari and see more of his work.

This puukko has a birch bark handle, silversteel blade, 925 sterling silver fittings and inlays and leather sheath.

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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.

 

Karelian Forging

By Mikhail Artemiev & Federico Buldrini

The importance of blacksmithing for Karelians reflects in the epic Kalevala, where the demigod smith Ilmarinen forged the Sampo mill, a source of happiness and prosperity for its possessor.

Scheme of an ancient iron furnace.

In the past many Livonian Karelians practiced ore mining, blacksmithing and tar smoking. Karelian blacksmiths forged axes, drills, knives and sickles from mined and smelted ore. At some point the iron production was so widespread that sources from the XVI century speak of entire villages living entirely on it. During the XIX century there were also firearms crafted. All these were much appreciated and in demand on the Russian market.

Battle axe, 10th century

In many Norse sagas from IX and X centuries we find mention of the Kiryal people, living on the shores of lake Ladoga, as rich, trading with the Sami people, penetrating far north and giving Vikings a decent resistance. According to the sagas, Swedish legendary king Ivar Vidfamne, the great great great grandfather of Ivar the Boneless, died during a campaign against the Kiryals, after being tricked into an argument by Odin in disguise, resulting with Ivar jumping after the man and into the sea.

Sword, 10th century

Also, the Saga of Halfdan tells of the Viking battle in Kiryalanbotn. Although sagas aren’t considered particularly reliable historical sources, their mentions of the Karelians and Karelia indicates the existence of ties between the Scandinavians and the Karelians, plus their military and economic development at that time.

16th century battle axes:

Battle axe, 16th century

Battle axes, 16th century

The Norsemen called the Kiryals land “Kiryalaland” or “Kiryalabotn”, the last one translatable as “Kiryals living at the end of the fjords”. Such fjords can only be found on the northern coast of lake Ladoga. Archaeological finds in that area show that local settlements were indeed located at the lake’s fjords ends, confirming the truthfulness of the old name.

Ancient Karelian weapons were mostly of Russian type, with some European variations as well, both imported with trades and locally crafted.

Twenty four sword fragments found show straight, double-edged blades, about 1 meter long, with sheaths of wood and leather and a bronze tip. The pommels and guards are mostly decorated with floral pattern. Metal inlays are often found on the blade groove, while the sword found in Kurkieki has an Latin inscription.

Other findings include various types of spearheads, from 26 to 37 cm long, some decorated with ornaments and inlays, many axes, including smaller decorated battle axes and great variety of bow arrowheads and cross bow arrows. Many small iron plates, maybe parts of an armour were found only in Rääisälä.

Spearhead, 16th century

Last but not least, numerous items of horse harness such as bits, horseshoes, buckles and studded horseshoes, for rides on smooth ice.

Ice crampon, 15th century

Spearhead, 16th century

Arrowhead, 15th century

Brooches, 10th and 12th centuries:

Brooch, 10th century

11th and 12th century pendants:

 

All pics taken from the Karelian National Museum website:

Karelian Museum website

Mikhail Artemiev

Mikhail Artemiev

Adapted by Federico Buldrini from a text by Roman Zelenov and Mikail Artemiev

Russian bladesmith Mikhail Artemiev lives and works in Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia. His grandfather Karel was Karelian with Finnish roots. He’s the first forger in his family, but his now two years old son might follow in his steps. Mikhail is an enthusiastic tourist, doing several polar Ural hiking trips and participating in various open water marathons and practicing winter swimming.

Mikhail attended Petrozavodsk Railway Technical College, where he received his first theoretical metalwork knowledge, then he joined the Railway Depot upon graduation.
In the repair workshop he honed and improved his practical forging skills and it was here that he actually forged his first camp hatchet. For some time this forge was his production base.
In 2006 the city administration commissioned him the design and forging of the gates and fence for the city park.

With the growth of customers, it became possible to establish a private smithy and workshop for wood and leather working at home, near the railway station and in the view of Lake Onega.
Mikhail has now specialized in forging axes, carpentry tools and traditional Finnish knives.

As the owner of a one man company, every stage of production, from forging, to heat treatment, handle shaping and sheath making is personally tackled by Mikhail.
Within twenty years of practice he developed more than fifty different axe models, from the Finnish style to the Old Russian style based on 15th century archaeological findings.

Blacksmithing skills come with experience after thousands of unsuccessful attempts of putting what you have in mind into steel. Character strength, patience and determination all play a huge role for success. It’s necessary to be tuned for every new work, to have constant attention and even the blacksmith’s mood can affect the final result: sometimes Mikhail dances in the forge.

For axe forging Artemiev uses mostly tool steel like 9KHS (150Cr14) and KHVG (O1). The steel billet should be slightly heavier than the final head weight as with each heating the surface burns out and further metal is removed by grinding.

A spheric billet is firstly forged square, then heated to red to punch the eye hole and stretch the neck. Then the head is hammered out, the edge with nose and toe is forged and, depending on the model, the hammer shaped back. The blades are dipped in red hot smelted salt,then quenched in oil. After the heat treatment, the finishing touches are done by grinding. It takes above 250 steps to craft the axe.

Each axe is unique and, since production is mostly done by hand, no more than 16-18 pieces leave the workshop in one working session.
Birch and ash pre-dried and seasoned for 6-8 years are used for handles. Every handle is individually planned for each axe head, roughly shaped by saw, then sanded and fitted with a 2 ton pneumatic press. In the end the wood is soaked in linseed oil.

A great attention to details, ergonomics, design, reliability, durability, convenience, positive emotions and the pleasure that axe owner take from working must be embodied in every product. The axes mustn’t be only functional, but also beautiful: a household tool can be collectible and an ancient symbol of male power and embodiment of military spirit.

Forging has much in common with sculpture and chess playing, but instead of malleable clay, stubborn steel is used, and intellectual game goes along with hard physical work. A blacksmith needs to plan the design in advance, break it down into stages, imagine how dynamic force from the hammer blows will affect the metal, understand the laws of thermodynamics, what happens during heating and cooling and win the constant race against time.

It takes up to 2 months of hard work to develop a new model, starting from forging, practicing forging techniques, optimizing specific processes to start the first forging round, then a certain number of finished products will eventually be discarded by the smith. A constant search for new solutions, improving and testing axe-making technologies and the desire to create motivate the artisan.
To create unique and unparalleled work it needs to be blacksmith, artisan, artist, creator and scientist all at once.

As a final note, Mikhail has the dream to create a private museum of the axe and hand tools next to the workshop, wherein to show his works and leading visits for schools, families and tourists alike.

The ax

The ax, the shiny ax is the attribute of the woodsman. As unavoidable as the key in St.Peter’s hands.

I have worn out many axes, Mustad axes, Finstad axes, Swedish axes, many.

Some served me faithfully for wood fragrant days, others have broken in the hard wood and called curses over the unworthy oath of the smith.

But all the deceitful as well as the faithful axes had their face. Its strict steel profile unlike any other. You see it as soon as you haft your ax,

this own expression that says I’ll meet you many mornings, be in your dreams as a silent reminder.

And when you swing the new ax in the first trying chop, it’s like the muscles are listening.
And if you don’t get to know the axe and become friends with her….

Then it happens, she reminds you of the steel’s bloody tradition.

Hans Børli

Mikhail Artemiev

 

Nils Ögren

I began my blacksmithing journey in 2017, at the age of 24. I had been in the music industry for as long as I can remember and I simply had enough. I grew up as a son of a farmer and brother to a carpenter, so I guess manual labor comes fairly natural to me. I usually describe blacksmithing as something in between music and manual labor, to me it has all the creative parts of music but at the same time speaks to me as a “typical” masculine line of work. I started by trying to make swords. However I realized that it was a lot harder than I thought, so I moved on to knives and a lot of other things. Finally, in March 2019, I began forging axes and that has been my thing ever since.

When I first started out I thought I was the only blacksmith in my family history. On my 25th birthday my uncle gave me a really old anvil that apparently had once belonged to my great great grandfather. I was blown away: that moment fueled my amazement to the craft and I felt honored to carry the torch. And yes, I’m self taught.

Unlike what SAS says, Scandinavians have a very strong culture. Axes and tools have been something that blacksmiths have made for thousands of years. Say what you will about the viking age tools, but even later in the 16th,17th,18th,19th and 20th century, the north has been very productive when it comes to tools.I try my best to respect the traditions of my country and I try to implement it as much as I can in work!
I have always been amazed by people with years and years of experience, in any craft really. The humbleness and expertise is truly something I strive towards.
I want to see where this can take me. I’m not so focused on the end goal as I am on the journey: getting to know amazing people and collaborating with others is a goal in itself.

I get inspired by watching and seeing other people work. I know it’s easy to get a little jealous and take to envy, but I find that being thankful is far more giving and inspiring!
To name a few people I’d say: Dave Delagardelle, Derek Melton, Alec Steele, Liam Hoffman, Kyle Royer, Will Stelter and Paul Krzyszkowski.

Other than forging, I love watching movies and reading great books and still play music from time to time, but something that really inspires me is History & Christianity. I really like digging in and trying to find meaning in old stories and important literature. I also have a small Bible collection.

Nils Ögren

Kokemäki puukko

 

By Anssi Ruusuvuori

Kokemäki puukko is a simple and graceful puukko model without any fittings. One of its most typical features is the end (butt) of the handle which is often, but not always, beveled slightly from both sides. The black or brown colored sheath is equally simple and elegant without excessive decorations. The typical decoration of the sheath consists of simple impressed lines following the edges of last and the sheath mouth, with diagonal lines drawn on last ”shoulders”. The blade was often made from an old file and the tang was left shorter than the handle. In an 1962 article by Eino Kauppi it is told that Kokemäki puukko was also called as ”Satakunta puukko” and that it was made in three sizes.

Not much is known about the birth history of Kokemäki puukko. It was manufactured at least already in the beginning of 20th century – possibly already during the 19th century – and the making of it continued in Kokemäki all the way until the 1980s. According to an article by Vesa Toivonen (Puukkoposti 1/2007) for which he interviewed a local collector Seppo Marjanen, the most important and only professional maker of Kokemäki puukko was Aksel(i) Ekman (1883 – 1950), originally a master shoemaker. There is a mention in the books of Iisakki Järvenpää factory of a certain Akseli Ekman working in the factory for some time. It is not known if he was the same person as ”the shoemaker Ekman” or just his namesake, but it would seem more plausible that they actually were the same person, which suggests that Ekman might have learned some of his puukko making skills working for Järvenpää.

Some of the part time makers of the model were: Viljo Kallionpää (1896 – 1965), Ilmari Kuula (1903 – 1983), Aarne Kuula (1911 – 1985) and Heikki Marjanen (1918 – 1989). Two local inhabitants Mikko Karen (born1930) and Erkki Tähtinen have also made Kokemäki puukko as a hobby until recent years. The most noted of today’s Kokemäki puukko makers are puukko smiths Pekka Tuominen and Mikko Inkeroinen. The first picture shows a Kokemäki puukko from the collection of National Museum of Finland, made by Ilmari Kuula around 1940 – 1950 after a model by Akseli Ekman. The next picture shows three Kokemäki puukko made by Akseli Ekman himself.

A Kokemäki puukko from the collection of National Museum of Finland, made by Ilmari Kuula around 1940 – 1950 after a model by Akseli Ekman.

Three Kokemäki puukko made by Akseli Ekman.

Jani Ryynänen

Mikko Inkeroinen

Mikko Inkeroinen detail.

Saku Honkilahti

Pekka Tuominen

Heimo Rasinmäki

 

From an old private collection.

 

 

 

Henri Tikkanen Norse Knife

By Federico Buldrini

This knife and sheath are crafted following the general style used in Northern Europe from the 7th to 13th century circa, with Baltic sheath decorations.

blade
length – 96 mm
width – 21,5 mm
thickness – 5,5 mm
steel – ThyssenKrupp 125Cr1
bevels – flat
edge angle – 14,5°, tiny microbevel
hardness – ~ 60 HRC

handle
length – 102 mm
width – 25 mm in the centre
thickness – 18 mm in the centre

weight
knife – 62 g
with sheath – 107 g

The blade was forged with a hand held hammer recycling the steel of a Viiala file, with 1,3 % C. It has a triangular section, slightly tapered in height and thickness. After annealing and normalization it was heated in the gas forge, quenched in oil and tempered in the oven. While the bevels were dipped in oil the spine was tilted out so to be left softer. The bevels are ground to 14,5°, with just a hint of microbevel.

The handle is crafted from a piece of carelian birch. The tang is glued with epoxy and has two little wedges at its sides to make everything the tightest possible. It’s sanded to a fine grit, giving the handle a very smooth and soft feel. It’s strongly tapered in height and thickness towards the blade, it has a teardrop section and fills the hand well.

The hand stitched sheath is crafted from 2,5 mm thick bark tanned leather. As it was the custom in the Middle Age there isn’t a wood liner. The belt loop is a simple knotted leather strip. The retention is excellent, without becoming excessive.

In use

The knife has neutral balance and feel slightly heavier than its actual weight. Out of the box the edge had a couple of asperity, so I gave it six passes, with circular motion, on DMT #1200, then stropped twenty times on black (#3000) and green (#6000) Bark River compound.
After a first project on three months seasoned hazel I felt another asperity, thus I gave the knife a complete sharpening session with Work Sharp’s #600 stone, ceramic and stropping compound (#32000).

Let’s start with a couple of three months seasoned hazel owls. No problems whatsoever during both roughing and refining cuts. There has been only mild resistance when planing the bases, while the tip, despite the thickness, proved itself good at working on facial discs and ear tufts. At the end of the work the shaving bite was just a hair less aggressive, but present all along the edge. Three passes on Bark River white compound and three on Work Sharp green compound.

Let’s continue with two seven months seasoned plane wood spikkentrolls. Before starting carving the first hat I trimmed a lateral shoot and flattened the knot. No resistance during roughing cuts, even though during the very first cuts, pressing the thumb on the spine I felt its corners a little too marked and annoying. No problem then in finishing cuts and carving the face notch. A minimum of resistance only while leveling the base.
After the first troll the edge was pristine, but the shaving bite was gone in the first two cms near the handle, used heavier. Thirty passes on BRKT white compound and twenty five on Work Sharp one.
While carving the second troll there was resistance only when cutting the top half of the V notch of the hat, then a minimum when notching the face, whose wood was in correspondence of a knot on the opposite side of the stem, and a minimum while I was leveling the base.
At the end of the work the edge was perfect, while the razor bite was almost gone in the first two cms, like before. To speed up the tuning I gave it eight passes on fine ceramic and fifteen on Work Sharp compound.

 

After smoothing the spine’s edges with the SwissTool file and sanding for a minute with #120 and #180 grit I continued with the usual wizard, but having run out of poplar, I carved it from a much harder beech branch. No resistance when roughing the two main facets, even when planing two knots away. Constant and good bite in creating and working around the three V, bases for the features. The spine thickness was not perceived when engraving the nose profile nor when working the lip. No more problems with the spine edges. The only real resistance came when notching around the stem to thin it down and free the wizard. Nothing serious, but definitely perceptible, then no problems to level the base.
At the end of the work the edge was pristine, while the shaving bite was gone almost completely. Thirty passes on the black, green and white BRKT compound, ten per compound, followed by twenty on the Work Sharp one.

Let’s finish with the eighteen months seasoned silver fir spatula. On the piece of wood that I used there was knit 2.5 cm long and as wide as the blank. The roughing, despite the removing of the knot, was actually faster and easier than I expected. Easy to imagine this was the only real resistance, though significantly lesser than expected, and only while I was working to eliminate the knot and create the curve of the rear part of the spatula. At the end of the roughing the edge was perfect and the bite unchanged.
Nothing to report on the finishing cuts, quick and easy to do. The knife has always remained comfortable and agile, maintaining a rather aggressive, but still very controllable bite.
At the end of the work the edge was still pristine and the bite just a hair less aggressive, but still capable of shaving without pressure. Ten passes on Work Sharp compound.

Conclusions

I used the knife extensively on hazel, plane and beech, including the trimming of knots and the only wood that has actually influenced the bite the most was indeed beech, but the acuteness of the edge, cutting also by simple geometry, makes for a very little perceptible bite loss.
In a previous review I already had the opportunity to test the 125Cr1, on other geometries and with a much harder tempering, so I already knew of its edge holding ability, while even with such a thin edge it was also able to maintain a remarkable bite and a surprisingly good resilience. Praise to the heat treatment.
The section and tapering of the handle are particularly well executed and flow perfectly into the blade making the knife extremely intuitive and, among the three Tikkanen knives that I have, undoubtedly my favorite and the most comfortable.

 

Christmas Photo Gallery

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!

Markku Parkkinen

Vyacheslav Kharkov

Otto Kemppainen

Anssi Ruusovari

Arto Liukko

Laurent Juhel

Janne Kilpinen

Johannes Adams

Martti Malinen

Tero Kotavuopio

Teemu Häkkilä

Jani Ryynänen

 

 

 

 

The Winter War

In Memoriam: The Winter War November 30 1939 – March 13 1940 

The Winter War began 80 years ago today. The conflict began after the Soviets sought to obtain some Finnish territory, demanding among other concessions that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons,primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. Finland refused, so the USSR invaded the country.

The winter of 1939–40 was exceptionally cold with the Karelian Isthmus experiencing a record low temperature of −43 °C (−45 °F) on 16 January 1940.At the beginning of the war, only those Finnish soldiers who were in active service had uniforms and weapons. The rest had to make do with their own clothing, which for many soldiers was their normal winter clothing with a semblance of insignia added. Finnish soldiers were skilled in cross-country skiing.The cold, snow, forest, and long hours of darkness were factors that the Finns could use to their advantage. The Finns dressed in layers, and the ski troopers wore a lightweight white snow cape. This snow camouflage made the ski troopers almost invisible as the Finns executed guerrilla attacks against Soviet columns. At the beginning of the war, Soviet tanks were painted in standard olive drab and men dressed in regular khaki uniforms. Not until late January 1940 did the Soviets paint their equipment white and issue snowsuits to their infantry.

Immediately after the war, Helsinki officially announced 19,576 dead. According to revised estimates in 2005 by Finnish historians, 25,904 people died or went missing and 43,557 were wounded on the Finnish side during the war. The Soviet Union losses were approximately 63,990 dead, 207,538 wounded and frostbites, making total casualties 271,528.

A 1930’s style puukko made by Pekka Tuominen and his grandfather’s military items from The Winter War.  “In this photo is my grandfather Lauri Tuominen’s Winter War medal with SUMMA badge. Summa is one battlefield in Karelian Isthmus 1939-1940
There is also Lauri’s certificate for that medal and original cockade (blue and white rondel) and his military service book.”

 

Henri Tikkanen Yakut Knife

Review by Federico Buldrini

Henri Tikkanen is a young blacksmith living in Pieksämäki and former pupil of Mikko Inkeroinen. This is the first yakut knife crafted by him. For more about the yakut see this earlier post: Yakut

blade
length – 95 mm
width – 18.2 mm
thickness – 6 mm
steel – 1085
bevels – left convex, right concave
edge angle – 21°
hardness – ~ 59 HRC

handle
length – 101 mm
width – 26 mm in the centre
thickness – 19 mm in the centre

weight
knife – 70 g
with sheath – 130 g

The blade was forged with a hand held hammer recycling the steel of an old horse driven plow, with 0.85% C. It has a flat section, slightly tapered in height and thickness. After annealing and normalization it was heated in the gas forge, quenched in oil and tempered in the oven. While the bevels were dipped in oil the spine was tilted out so to be left softer. The bevels are ground to 21°, with just a hint of microbevel.

The handle is crafted from a piece of birch burl. The tang is glued with epoxy and has two little wedges at its sides to make everything the tightest possible. It’s sanded to a fine grit, giving the handle a very smooth and soft feel. It’s strongly tapered in height and thickness towards the blade. The section is oval and fills the hand well.

The hand stitched sheath is crafted from 2,5 mm thick bark tanned leather. Inside there is an alder liner, carved and then sanded. The belt loop is a simple leather strip. The retention is excellent, without becoming excessive.

In use

The knife has a perfectly neutral balance. Right out of the box the edge wasn’t perfectly smooth, so I gave it two passes with rotatory movement on DMT #600, two on DMT #1200 then stropped on Bark River black (#3000) and green (#6000) compound. Between the blade shoulders and the handle there is a tiny 0.5 mm gap.
I also sanded for a minute the spine’s edges with #120 and #180 sandpaper to get a more comfortable surface for thumb pushes.

First off I carved a couple of owls from a three months seasoned hazel branch. No problems in both cases, even though the knife isn’t particularly fast for such tiny projects, given also the tip thickness. There has been some minor resistance when planing the bases, while the knife suffered a bit more when carving the two notches under the facial disks, to start defining the owls abdomens. At the end of the work the edge was pristine. Six passes on Bark River white compound (#12000).

Let’s continue with two seven months old plane wood spikkentrolls. Excellent bite while roughing out the shape and planed three knots  with no problems. I felt a bit of struggle when flattening the base, but as I carved on the struggle actually decreased. When I carved the V notch in the hat, cutting from top to bottom to join the two halves of the notch, with the hollow bevel in contact with the wood, I felt like the edge didn’t have enough material behind it. Despite my feeling the cut was done fast and good. After the first spikkentroll the shaving bite was perfect and the edge pristine.
As for the first one, I felt good bite and ease of work when roughing and refining the cone hat. As with the first one, when doing the stop cuts defining the face and the pon pon I felt the edge separating the fibers definatly less than a V edge. Due to the asymmetrical geometry I also can’t do finishing pull cuts, since, when the concave bevel is in contact with the wood and the knife is pulled towards me, it creates long flat feathers, while I aim for small tight ones. I guess is a matter of habit. Again I felt some struggle caving the face’s notch and planing the base, but nothing big. At the end of the work the edge was perfect while the shaving bite was gone in the first two cm near the handle, the ones I used the most when roughing. Forty passes on white compound and twenty on bare leather.

Let’s continue with a six months poplar wizard. Not much to say, there has been some resistance when carving the three V forming the base for the features and at the end when planing the foot. On the other hand it was more agile than I expected when engraving the sides of the nose and the lip. When cutting perpendicularly to the fibers, removing the feathers created to deepen the Vs, I felt again as if the edge had too little material. Compared to other knives it wasn’t particularly fast.
At the end the edge was perfect and the shaving bite gone in the first two cm near the handle. Fifteen passes on white compound.

Let’s finish with eighteen months silver fir spatula. All the roughing was easy and rather quick, done only with push cuts since the geometry doesn’t allow pull cuts on concave surfaces without biting too deep and breaking the fibers, while on the other hand it did great flattening the spine. The blade thickness allowed for a good wedge effect when I was removing a lot of material to create the lower part of the shaft. The only pull cuts I could do were planing the angular end of the shaft and shaving tiny bits from the end grain in the curve front part of the spatula.

After all the roughing the edge was pristine and the bite untouched.
Easy finishing cuts, always pushing, also when flattening the edges all around, but in the front curve. At the end the edge was still pristine and, again, the bite was decreased only in the first two cm. Twelve passes on white compound.

Conclusions

Excellent first try at the an unknown style by Tikkanen. Comfortable handle and spot on heat treatment. The strong handle taper towards the blade was particularly effective for doing refining push cuts, engaging the wood with the blade curved belly. The asymmetrical geometry kept having a strange feeling; bites well when touches with the convex bevel, planes well touching with the concave bevel, but when asporting material, cutting perpendicularly to the fibers, on a a flat surface, it pulls the little material at the edge, actually feeling a bit underpowered.
An extremely specialized and interesting knife, even though such specialization can sometimes became a limitation. It won’t be the only yakut knife I’ll try, but I doubt I would prefer it to a rhombic section puukko, to me still the best compromise.