Great story behind this knife.

That is beautiful. It is as pretty as anything Puma ever produced and, I would venture, a better knife.
 
Yes, of course. That was the point.

I used to carry my 110 hunting and some of my friends got into the Puma craze. They were beautiful, and costly. But my 110 consistently out performed those 'purdy' knives. :)
 
I wasn't sure. I don't know much about Puma's knives. I'll have to educate myself.

It's a pretty good story about this particular knife. I'm looking forward to Makael telling it. Stay tuned...
 
I was in Ruana''s shop making a purchase and talking to Vic Hangas. On the wall if the showroom was a newspaper article with a picture of a folding knife, brass and stag. He told me there were only three made back in the 60's and wish he had one of them today. On my next trip I stopped to visit but Vic was gone and both Mike and Mark Hangas were there. I mentioned the folding knife to Mike and he said he wishes he could build one and give it to his dad. They are pretty much a fixed blade company.

I talked to Joe Houser about all of this and he was interested in helping on this folder. Meanwhile while on the phone with MtPokt we talked about this knife project. Both Mt and myself believe the Buck Federal body was just about a perfect knife to use. But the thought of ruining a serialized knife didn't seem right.

Well Mr Hauser happened to locate a new unassembled Federal. Un sharpened and all. Parts kit.


I met with Joe and picked up the knife and mailed it to MtPokt. He assembled the knife using scales hand picked from stag and performed a final polishing. As you can see in the pictures, he did a perfect job. When he had completed the knife he mailed it back to me and Joe sharpened the blade.


This next wed I will be delivering the knife to Mike at Ruana so he can deliver to his father Vic.

Thank you MtPokt and Mr Houser. You guys really made a great contribution knife.

Ruana


Modded Federal, pretty close match I would say. Awesome!
 
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Great story, even greater, the gesture made on your behalf, with Joe and Mt_Pokt. Preston
 
Fantastic you guys. Looks great. I am sure they will be extremely touched by the time, thought and skill that you guys put into this. He will never forget what you have all done.

Hats off to you all.
 
Makael, welcome back from your camping trip. It sounds like you did something nice for someone but seems to be a bit of and inside story. How about and explanation of who the players are in this story for an outsider. Who are Mike, Rudy, and Vic?
A ruana is a poncho-style outer garment typical of the Andes region of Venezuela and Colombia
I don't think this is what's being referenced. /Roger
 
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Lol Vic married Rudy Ruana's daughter, Mike and Mark are Vic's sons. I'll post a copy of who Ruana knives are.

Buck played a big part and showed willingness to participate. MtPokt and his skills are second to none on this.

I collect Buck and Ruana knives. Both companies have a long history.

Mike Hangas will be on a Buck plant tour in the near future. That would be a cool tour to be included on.

COMPANY HISTORY
Ruana Knives are still handcrafted in the small shop where Rudy Ruana began forging out blades 75 years ago and are American Made as much as a product possibly could be.
rudyruana.jpg
Having left the decimated family farm in North Dakota and looking for greener pastures, 1938 found Rudy Ruana in the small community of Bonner, Montana working as a mechanic and welder at a small garage. In order to help his family survive during the post depression era, Ruana began to make a few knives on the side—a skill that originated in the 1920’s when he was a farrier in the cavalry, making his first knives for a couple of Native Americans in need of a better tool for skinning horses. As time passed and the reputation of Ruana’s knives grew, demand became so great that Rudy began making knives full time in 1952, calling his business Ruana Knife Works. In 1964 Ruana’s son-in-law, Vic Hangas left a job with the phone company and put his artistic talents to work, joining Ruana in the business. Hangas’ son Mark began working at the company in 1976. At the end of 1983 Ruana retired at the age of 80 and sold the business to the Hangas family. In 1984 Mike Hangas joined his brother and Dad and the business was incorporated. Rudy Ruana passed away in April of 1986. He received the honor of being posthumously inducted into the American Bladesmith Society Hall of Fame in 1997 and BLADE Magazine’s Cutlery Hall of Fame in 2002. As of 2011, Vic, Mark and Mike Hangas have combined Ruana Knife making experience in excess of 100 years.

In an era of outsourcing and diminishing Made in America products, Ruana Knives are still handcrafted in the small shop where Rudy Ruana began forging out blades over 70 years ago. While a few things have changed over the years, we are still using the same methods and much of the same equipment Rudy used. Our goal is to give our best effort on a daily basis while maintaining Rudy Ruana’s work ethic and emphasis on uncompromising quality over quantity, proudly crafting knives that are American Made as much as a product possibly could be. We will continue our commitment to creating knives that are first and foremost usable and durable, and as evidenced by customer demand, increasingly collectible.
 
This was a cool project. Normally, I can put elk slabs on a 110 in about 2 hours. This one though; because I was duplicating the knife in the article took a bit more time in prep and finishing. Finding the right part of the antler where I could get a similar pattern and match both sides was a bit of a treat. I cut my own scales from legally harvested elk. The antlers these scales were cut from came from a friend of mine who's an outdoor writer. He shot this animal in the 90s so it was well seasoned and cured.

The frame was a challenge, or at least it was until we figured the Federal was the closest match to shape. I even considered milling my own brass frame, but all of the mechanical parts would have to be made as well and I didn't have the time for that. If you've never handled a 60s era 110, or a Federal, it's quite a bit smaller than the modern 110. The frame is narrow from spine to belly, the spring holder is tiny, the spring itself is thinner and the blade is thinner as well.
Here's a photo of the Federal frame lying on top of a modern 110 frame.


All of the final shaping and finishing was done by hand. Once I had the scales ground to match the frame, everything was done by hand. I used a file for rounding the edges and pillowing the frame, then hand sanded everything from 400g to 3,000g.

I think it matches the photo pretty well. I hope Vic likes it!
 
That's just plain KOOL!! Kudos to all involved!!! NICE!!! John
 
very nicely done. thanks for sharing with us.
 
That is a great story, and as I said early, it is a beautiful knife. I am glad you guys did that.
 
Built a quick sheath lined with Buckskin. Headed to Montana this morning to deliver. Fun day:thumbsup:
 
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