fshaw wrote:Hammer,
I have a real passion for knives and have quite a few. After reading your postings and looking at your knives I've decided that I need to add a puuko style knife or two to my collection. I'll probably buy two Lauri blades to begin with, one progressively tempered and one high carbon. Both will be 2.75 to 3.75 or so. Understanding that knives are very personal tools, I have a few questions for you.
-The source I found for Lauri progressively tempered blades stocks these two that look good to me: Lauri-PT-95; (95x19x3.25mm) and Lauri-PT-90; (90x27x3.25mm). I really like the looks of your knife on page 2 of this thread with the red accented handle. Based on your experience would you choose one over the other for an all round blade?
-Given one of the two progressively tempered blades above, what blade would you choose for the second knife?
-The knives of this style in your pictures often have brass at the front of the handle. Did you buy the brass from a supplier or make your own? If you made your own how thick was the stock?
-Did you make your own handle vise/press or buy one from a supplier? If you made your own, what did you make it from? Would you recommend making or buying a vise/press?
-What adhesive do you use to attach the handle pieces to each other and to the blade? Do all parts (including brass) get adhesive?
-How much larger than the tang do you make the holes in the handle pieces? Some sites recommend a fairly large space for more adhesive.
-The tangs on the progressively tapered blades are quite long when purchased. Some traditional styles seem to have the tang peened over at the butt/pommel like a Rapala. Your knives seem to have finished wood at the butt of the handle. Do you just cut/grind of the extra length of tang? How long do you leave the tang?
-Have you purchased and sheaths from suppliers? Any that you'd recommend? If not, do you want a Kydex job?
-Any "how to" books or sites you'd recommend to get started in this hobby?
-Any chance that you'd post a group type shot of all your puukko style knives with as much information as possible about blades and handle materials.
If you type as slow as I do (doubtful) and would rather do this by phone, pm me and I'll send you a telephone number. Although I'm sure others would be interested in at least some of the answers to the above.
Thanks.
Frank
So I'm no expert knife "maker", but I'll tell you what I know. It's important to keep in mind that it's all good...there's no correct or incorrect handle...if it feels good in your hand then that's all that counts. Cosmetic perfection is nice, but your first few knives are going to have cosmetic flaws. No big deal...it adds to the character of the knife and they become quite endearing. Also, it takes a surprising amount of time to put a handle on a knife, at least for me. Don't rush it.
The 95mm Lauri progressive temper blade probably cuts as well or better than any other blade I've ever used. Super nice. The smaller blade is also excellent...just go for which one you like the looks of, or get them both and give someone the one you don't like as much.
For a complimentary knife I really like the Puronvarsi rhombic blades. Just pick one that looks good to you...you can't really go wrong. Or one of the EnZo blades...the trapper being my favorite. Putting a handle on a full tang blade like the trapper is somewhat easier than handling a stick tang blade if you don't have a keen understanding of soldering metal.
There are a few ways to handle a stick-tang knife. A good, short instructional is found here:
http://www.thompsonsknives.com/knife_instructions.htmlThe things I've found that make the biggest difference in the final outcome are as follows:
Soldering the brass or nickel bolster to the blade. I know very little about soldering but even I figured it out. Barely. I won't give instruction because I suck at it, but eventually I get it done. Couple things that will help are to stick the blade in a potato so it doesn't heat up and loose temper, and flatten the bottom of the bolster before you solder it on. I buy "matching" bolsters from Thompsonsknives when I order the blades. They don't really match...a lot of file work is required. I've often thought a bolster made out of a coin would look nice, but I've never done it.
It's important to get the solder right, since that's what keeps moisture from getting in the handle and rusting the blade at its weakest point.
Since the tang is wide at the top I drill two parallel holes and then chisel out between them. Whether this is any stronger than just drilling a large hole I don't know. Probably not.
If you're making the handle out of multiple pieces of wood it's critical that the ends be sanded perfectly flat and that they will slide onto the tang and match up tight against each other. Also, since the bolster is soldered on, the top piece of wood has to be custom sanded to fit flush against it, since it's not likely to be perfectly straight and true. Getting the bolster soldered on and all the pieces shaped to fit against each other before gluing is a lot more work than shaping the handle. I use a piece of sand paper on a piece of glass and rub the ends against it in a figure-eight motion to flatten them.
Handle material can be anything you want. I've even seen handles made out of nothing but layers of cork. I think olive wood is probably the prettiest handle material. Lignum vitae is probably the toughest wood, but heavy. If you're lucky enough to find some CCL knife handle oil, grab it. It gives the best handle finish I've ever seen. Otherwise use a combination of tongue oil and bees wax and really rub it in good. Don't use any sort of hard finish...it's not nice on a knife handle.
While I've been tempted to peen the end of the tang over (which is traditional, since Vikings didn't have Epoxy and peening is what kept the handle attached), I haven't done it. If you were going to do it I'd make sure you had a hell of a good vice to keep the blade from slipping, and I'd peen the tang before the glue set up. For myself I just cut the tang off wherever I think I want the handle to end. I tend to go for longer handles rather than shorter ones because I have large hands.
When I glue the pieces onto the tang I first clean the tang, bolster, and wood end grain with acetone. I use regular epoxy, and instead of a vice I just use a few small bar clamps. I believe, and others tend to agree, that if you clamp the pieces too tight you just squeeze out most of the epoxy and weaken the bond. Even with 5-minut epoxy I let it set overnight before disturbing it.
If your end piece isn't drilled all the way through, put a hollow coffee stir stick in the hole before adding epoxy so the air can escape and the epoxy will run all the way to the bottom of the hole. Making sure that all gaps are full of epoxy is probably one of the more important considerations for structural integrity.
As for sheaths...There are some generic sheaths available from thompsons. I've found the stitching to be prone to unraveling so I'd suggest gluing it if you go that route. Probably best to make your own. Here's a decent tutorial:
http://www.thompsonsknives.com/nordic_s ... tions.htmland another
http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showt ... tp/0/all/1I make kydex sheaths and for the most part they suck. I thought kydex would be easy to work with, and it is if you want a piece of crap. It's surprisingly difficult to make a good kydex knife sheath. Regardless, I really dislike them for puukko knives because, well, it just aint proper. It's fine for a Fallkniven F1 or Glock, but just not right on a puukko.
I wish I had pictures of all the knives I've put handles on, but I gave most of them away as gifts and never took pictures. Same with all my spoons, now that I think of it.
Putting a handle on a blade is great fun, and the end result is usually a much more useable knife than you can buy off the shelf. The knives I "make" aren't anything special, but they fit me and I enjoy using them much more than any other knife I own.
