Recommendation? Burning Holes for Puukko Tangs and Weathering Wood

DeadFall27

DeadFall27

Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
1,476
Hello everyone!!

I have started putting handles on pre-made puukko and Leukus from Puronvarsi and other makers such as Lauri, but all I have ever used is birch bark and small pieces of wood. I do not have the work space, tools or experience to make my own blades yet, so I would like to slowly hone my skills at making puukkos over time, one bit at a time.

-So far I have made a birch bark handle for a Puronvarsi 75mm,
-Working on a 230mm Puronvarsi Leuku with moose anter bolster/pommel, dyed maple burl handle with birch bark spacers
- Epoxying a Lauri blade with a coin bolster, antler spacer, dyed maple burl block and a spalted birch handle. Ill be shaping it tomorrow.

I have a handful of questions regarding the best methods to a few things that I would like to try, or at least find more information about.

I am not a fan of drilling out the wood and epoxying my blades in there with a hole that may or may not be tight. I had read in the past that, before heat treatment and after drilling a pilot hole, puukko makers (and some Japanese kitchen knife makers) would heat up the tang, or a rod, and burn a hole in the wood handle for a tight and perfect fit.

After seeing this masterpiece from centuries ago, I want to try my hand at doing this the traditional way. I also had a question or two about achieving certain effects and how to clean up after you burn the handle

0hsRLqc
https://imgur.com/a/0hsRLqc

1. Is it possible to do this by heating up the tang to burn the hole without ruining an already heat treated blade? I was told it could be done if you place a wet towel over the blade and part of the tang you dont want to heat up.

2. Have any one you made tang-shaped rods to burn holed for your hidden tang knives before? Ive seen people use file tangs, but none of mine are close to as small as the puukko tangs Im trying to burn holes for.

3. How far do you burn down the handle? I read that you should stop before you get the blade fully seated and tap it in the rest of the way if you aren't poking the tang out the other end. I was also told not to get the tang red hot, just enough to where it burns the wood so its a tighter fit.

4. Can you pull the blade out, buff off the burn mark and reinsert the blade?

5.Weathering wood: What would be the best way to (if it is possible) achieve the weathered look of that old burl without it cracking and shrinking too deep to compromise the woods integrity.

I am picking up some unstabilized burl from a friend of mine and was wondering if the old weathered effect shown in the example I showed above is possible. Could I burn the handle, oil the inside of the handle and possibly the ends (so it doesnt crack or shrink badly)and leave it outside this winter in hopes the UV rays, moisture and temperatures make it look that weathered?

Once weathered, id just soak it in oil for a few days so it does not continue to crack.



If anyone here can help me in my beginnings of puukko making, I would greatly appreciate it. I will have many more questions down the road, but I am theory crafting and getting ideas that I would like help materializing at this time.

Have a wonderful day!!
-DeadFall
 
Do not burn your tang in. Yes it can be done but it’s not done as a lazy way to get around drilling a hole. Plus it’s only used as a finel fit up where you already drilled and shaped the hole. You do not start with a block of wood and a red hot tang and start stabbing it into the wood. Also if it does not fit all the way don’t hammer it on. That’s a real good way to crack a block off wood.

Another good way to crack a block of wood is use it as a knife handle when it’s not stabilised. Moisture and temp with shrink and expand it which will cause it to crack.
 
If you don't like using epoxy you can stuff the tang hole with wood dust and small pieces of wood. After that nail a couple of nails in there. I've used this method for several puukkos and it has worked nicely. After that put a that last metal piece in the end of the handle(ylähela) and hammer the tang to a tight fit. I leave about 1-2.5mm of the tang to hammer it. This will make a super tight fit that will last longer than any epoxy that I have heard of. Sorry if this sounds confusing.

ps:I you want a cool look hammer the metal bit(ylähela) with a ball peen hammer.
 
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GoldSkula said:
If you don't like using epoxy you can stuff the tang hole with wood dust and small pieces of wood. After that nail a couple of nails in there. I've used this method for several puukkos and it has worked nicely. After that put a that last metal piece in the end of the handle(ylähela) and hammer the tang to a tight fit. I leave about 1-2.5mm of the tang to hammer it. This will make a super tight fit that will last longer than any epoxy that I have heard of. Sorry if this sounds confusing.

ps:I you want a cool look hammer the metal bit(ylähela) with a ball peen hammer.
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Well , that is one really weird way to do handle on Puukko :) I need ten minutes to make perfect fit this way .............
iRnGjuA.png
 
Natlek said:
Well , that is one really weird way to do handle on Puukko :) I need ten minutes to make perfect fit this way .............
iRnGjuA.png
Click to expand...
Well actually modern puukkos are usually made this way. Except the part about nails and stuff because people just use epoxy nowadays.
 
Natlek's method is one of the best for hidden tangs. Burn ins are sort of fine, and you can easily do them without ruining a heat treat, but they take longer and weaken the burned wood. Epoxy fills are very strong and will present no problems. Burn ins are much more likely to split out your handle, and tend to loosen with any abuse.
 
Pre-drilling and burning a hole is just another way to get the job done. Like any technique, you just need to do it right. The FIF judges seem to jump all over it but they also stress the need to line a canister with liquid paper, so......

JT, with all due respect ... To call it a lazy way to get the job done seems like a lazy assertion. Same with claiming that only stabilized wood is appropriate for handles. Maybe it was said, tongue-in-cheek. Personally, I do not like the feel of stabilized wood, in the knives I have used and made. I was originally drawn to it for the perceived practical advantages but no longer hold those same views.

I say, any way that gets you to a "well made knife" has merit.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Pre-drilling and burning a hole is just another way to get the job done. Like any technique, you just need to do it right. The FIF judges seem to jump all over it but they also stress the need to line a canister with liquid paper, so......

JT, with all due respect ... To call it a lazy way to get the job done seems like a lazy assertion. Same with claiming that only stabilized wood is appropriate for handles. Maybe it was said, tongue-in-cheek. Personally, I do not like the feel of stabilized wood, in the knives I have used and made. I was originally drawn to it for the perceived practical advantages but no longer hold those same views.

I say, any way that gets you to a "well made knife" has merit.
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Rick, I don't disagree, it can be done effectively, but it is harder and more time consuming than other methods and it does weaken the structure of the handle surrounding the tang. This may not be a huge deal, especially with some handle material selections. And I am with you on stabilized wood.

We often tend to overbuild knives far past their use cases. I have heard it said on these forums that no wood less dense or hard than walnut ought to be used for a knife handle without stabilization. While there may be arguments for this in certain use cases, a poplar handle on a utility knife will last a lifetime of abuse. It may get a bit more beat up than walnut would but it by no means lacks the strength required for the task of being a grippy hand hold thing that allows the easy use of the pointy, sharp bit. I think we sometimes get too focused on the strength aspect of knives who will take abuse no worse than cutting up cardboard boxes.

I imagine most knives are not used to baton through antler, nails, etc. like the FIF judges do. In fact, the FIF tests often annoy me as most of the knives I own or have made would be worse at their primary job if they were designed to pass those tests without any significant damage.
 
I don't believe it weakens it, when done right with the appropriate wood. Have you ever flame hardened wood or used wood that has been baked in a kiln?

Funny, but I think it is quicker than the drill and dig/scrape method. Depends on which you are set up for, I guess. I also hot fit my guards... which suits my style and is much quicker with my set up.

There needs to be a winner on FIF. If they did realistic tests, there would be less catastrophes, no definitive victors and fewer viewer ratings, I think.
 
Rick Marchand said:
There needs to be a winner on FIF. If they did realistic tests, there would be less catastrophes, no definitive victors and fewer viewer ratings, I think.
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Oh, I am with you. Many of the recent contestants have been pretty capable guys and without the absurd challenges and tests, we wouldn't have the failures that I am sure are fun to watch for many people. I am just waiting for the test Jay feeds the knife through a wood chipper. "I am not interested in what your knife does to the wood chipper, but in what the wood chipper does to your knife."

Maybe they can do a collab with the hydraulic press channel on youtube. Or a promo video with an A-10 squadron. See how a knife will stand up to several hundred rounds of 30mm API. "I really liked the feel of your handle, but you can see how the impact of several rounds of API has caused significant edge damage."
 
Thank you for the replies everyone!! I appreciate the conversation.

What would you recommend when burning a hole in the handle? Do I need to wrap the blade in a wet rag so it doesn't get ruined? I know to drill a pilot hole and to go slowly, I just dont want to heat up the blade and ruin the entire project before I even begin.

Have any of you tried burning through antler before as well? I have moose antler that I am trying to get good fits on, and I've heard of that method as well. I know that the odor and gases are foul, and if I do attempt it ever, it will be outside with respiration protection. I feel like it would give a nicer fit than drilling and filing the moose antler for bolsters and pommels. I wont be doing this for all of my handles (unless it turns out I like it better than epoxy somehow), but I at least want to try it out at least once to have some experience with it.

I see people putting saw blades and tools ive never seen before to gouge out wood material in the handle. What kind of blades are those?

Thank you for humoring my post everyone, I duly appreciate your help
 
You don t have to use knife for that .Make copy of tang and use that for burning hole in wood . . . .
 
In order:

Taper the handle less for a burn through than you might for drilled tang. You only really want to heat up the end of the tang, let it do the burning and give yourself a couple of inches of steel to insulate the blade. Some taper is still good, but you don't want to split out the wood.

Drill as close as you can to the full depth of the tang. This will guide the tang.

You don't need the rag unless you are heating far up the tang. otherwise, just watch your temper colors and see that they don't travel too high.

Haven't tried a burn through on antler. Antler I find is easy to drill.

You can make one of those little blades from a jig saw blade, but simple little life has a good tutorial on youtube, making one from parent stock. I would go with something like he made.
 
Natlek said:
You don t have to use knife for that .Make copy of tang and use that for burning hole in wood . . . .
Click to expand...

I'm well aware of that option, Im asking for knowledge of the entire subject and seeing how people that actually do this actually perform it in all methods. I want to learn how everyone does it and why it works. Using the actual blade is just one way.

I'm trying to get a person I met a few months ago to make me some dedicated tang rods as we speak after I saw a Japanese kitchen knife maker do just that.
 
Natlek said:
Well , good luck :)

My reply was about this .....
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Thank you! :)

I just want to learn as much as I can about puukko making. I want to learn everything I can so I can improve and understand not just what to do when making them, I also want to know WHY i'm doing these things and why they work.

Im not trying to learn these things out of laziness, I just want to know how to do everything to do with puukkos and to have the experience of doing it.
 
You can use way which you think that you can do best .On this one I drill hole and with small set of file for wood and different shaped tools made from blade for hack saw I make perfect fit hole for tang....
ztDDqXi.jpg

For this one I used four piece of wood/walnut
M2GNQsf.jpg

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Then I get this
zRNfUyp.jpg

And after wrapping wood with carbon fiber I got this ......
hcNdqc4.jpg
 
What works for some might not work for others. I have 4 different sized tapered burning irons that I use to burn out handles.

There is a lot involved with burning out a clean handle. Temperature of the hot iron, depth of the burn, width of the burn, cleaning up the face and hole... too much to just type it all out. I applaud your intentions to learn everything you can but essentially you are asking us to spoon feed you everything we have taken the time to learn through experimentation, failure and troubleshooting. I am very open about what I do but there is a limit to the amount of time I will invest in a thread.

I suggest you work on one method at a time... at your own learning pace. There is something to be said about trial and error.

It sounds like you have the basic principles down.

- drill a guide hole.
- overheating the blade will ruin it.
- overheating the handle material will ruin it.
- Gouges, broaches and files can help you refine the hole.

The rest will come with experience. Don't force it.
 
Reasion I said it was lazy is not because it’s better/worse. It just seams like people jump to burning because it’s “faster” but thy usaly don’t actualy have the skill set required to do it properly. Oh just heat the tang and poke the wood with it.

I know there are woods that are and can be used without stabilization (actually quite a few). But then agian most people that ask about that seam to be looking for a way to justify why thy just used a broom handle. I’m not judging anyone, Make a knife how you want. That’s the great thing about this craft. It’s all up to you how you want to do it.
 
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