SCANDI Knife Finger Guard and Other Questions. Help Please.

N

Nalapombu

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Oct 26, 2001
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Hey all.

Ever since learning about this whole category of “SCANDI” knives, I have been wanting them. Last night I happened upon a video on YouTube by a knife maker that was showing his attempt at making a SCANDI knife. His channel is ALEEKNIVES. He calls the knife he’s building a PUUKO. It has a blade of around 5 inches from 1094 stock at 3/16”. Here’s the video series. It’s 4 parts and in the end you’ll get to witness an absolute work of art. It’s a knife anyone would treasure. I sure wish it was mine.


I have a couple questions I’m hoping you all can help me with.
It seems that there are no true finger guards on SCANDI knives. The knife build on the video had a traditional guard that these types of knives have. There’s nothing that prevents your fingers from slipping off the handle and onto the blade. I guess it’s because of the ways these knives are supposed to be used.

Have you ever seen a SCANDI knife like the one in the video that did have a regular finger guard like the knives of the western world have? If you have a knife like that, I’d really like to see pics of it. Please post.

If you were making a knife in the SCANDI style with a blade of 3-6 inches, would you put a standard finger guard on it?

Do you think these types of knives, say the 4 and 5 inch blades or close, can be properly used as a hunting/field knife or are they not made for those types of chores?

Please forgive my ignorance on this type of knife and the history of them. I’m sure I don’t know the intended uses or roles the larger SCANDI knives like this one were made to fill.
I’m just trying to learn a bit more.

If there’s anything else you care to add, please feel free.
Thank you kindly for your time and any help you care to give me about these beautiful knives.
 
First, not a puukko. Looks more like a Gotland style Norwegian knife.
Marttiini makes Finnish style puukkot with a finger guard. The are also Saami style Leuku with finger guards. Look up Knivsmed Stromeng Samekniv 8.

Just for reference, a puukko looks like this -
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2YBhqVA.jpg
 
I believe “scandi” is short for Scandinavian, which describes the blade grind.

There are many offerings that come with this type of blade grind, which due to its design is good at working with wood.

The knife you are showcasing is quite beautiful and looks like it would perform admirably at many different tasks.
 
Here's what someone who knows a whole lot more about puukkos than I do posted in this forum some years ago:

‘Puukko’ is a Finnish term. It’s a derivative of ‘puu’ which means wood. A puukko is, first and foremost, a wood carving tool (we have a special term for that, ‘vuoleminen’, the root verb being ‘vuolla’, which comes close to whittling or wood carving, but denotes specifically the use of the blade for push-cuts, not slicing or slashing). Other ‘necessary’ uses of a puukko have to do with fishing and hunting, i.e., scaling, skinning, filleting, and other such tasks in preparing fish and game. Skilled users do about everything with a puukko, though. Once it was thought that a boy really doesn’t need other purchased toys; after he gets a puukko, he’ll make everything else with it. This is no joke! In the 50’s, schoolboys were (at some places) forbidden to use the puukko during wood-carving lessons, because they wouldn’t otherwise learn to use other tools, like planes, saws and chisels. Now the situation is, of course, quite different. Many Finns do not learn to use the puukko properly, though some kind of renaissance may be discernable here (there’s even a special ‘vuolukirja’, whittling book, by Joel Nokelainen 1996, but I think, only in Finnish).
The puukko has developed to remarkable functional simplicity during generations of hard, straightforward use by ordinary people. It is a compromise, a multi-tool, if you like, with nothing inessential. That explains some of its characteristic features. The blade, for instance, is typically only a hand width in length, or a bit less. A longer blade would hamper its performance in whittling, etc. control is better with a shorter one (for fine work, such as countersinking a hole, the puukko is grasped by the blade and the thumb may be used as a ‘backstop’). But because it is not a ‘pure’ wood carving tool, too short won’t do. Similar explanations could be given for the relatively pointy point (remember the hole?), the (usually) straight back (with absolutely no false-edge or swedge), the wedgelike grind, the relatively thin blade, the smooth guardless handle (often called the head), made traditionally of wood, mostly birch, or of birch bark, etc. There are, of course, exceptions, and specialization is taking place here, too. But most of the recent developments in puukko may be more market-driven than purely function. For instance, the recent proliferation of finger-guards comes solely from legislative (consumer protective) demands of USA. A traditional puukko does not need them, as it is not meant for stabbing (though they were used for that too by the ‘puukkojunkkarit’, a group of Finnish outlaws at the Kauhava region quite a few decades ago).

The carry system, in Finnish ‘tuppi’, is traditionally great. It’s not a quick-draw or concealment item or anything like that, but protects the puukko (and its owner) well, keeps it securely in place, does not hamper sitting, etc., and is aesthetically pleasing (the puukko is often called ‘tuppiroska’, sheath-litter, as it were and that could, I guess, reflect the high esteem that traditional makers have had for the sheath). But everyone does not know anymore how to make a proper tuppi (or does not have the time/financial means for that). About the grind. Not every puukko has a high saber grind (or ‘wide flat Scandinavian grind’, as somebody said), and not every puukko lacks a secondary bevel, though typically they do. Sharpening the whole flat sides every time would wear the blade down quickly (this actually happens – there are many puukkos around that resemble only faintly what they were as new), though for ‘vuoleminen’ you do need a very acute angle (about 15/30 degrees). In addition, there are (new) puukkos with a secondary grind as well as some with a convex grind (notably, the Lapinleuku, the traditional tool of reindeer-owners). About the thickness, yes, puukko blades tend to be relatively thin (and not very wide, either, and they do not have a full tang, which I have often grumbled myself). This relates again to its primary functions. It’s not convenient to ‘vuolla’ or to fillet with a thick blade, and you do not, typically, chop or pry with a puukko (for chopping we use the axe and for prying the other guy’s tools).
 
While there are several puukko/leuku styles knives on the market, they are mainly for the western market. The Finns have a saying: " if you need a
guard on a knife, you shouldn't be using a knife". Some Finnish makers use a slight finger notch in the handle just above the blade. Those Arathol shows are good examples of main stream puukko.

I prefer a hook pommel; makes it easier to remove from sheath IMHO. (One I crafted). The Marttiini Olympian above is a great example.



This is somewhat the "classic" Tommi style as is the first one in Arathol's post.



Rich
 
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Although they are not puukkos (because they are Swedish, not Finnish), morakniv has a lot of models with Scandi grinds and finger guards. The 611 and 612 were versions of the classic wood-handled no.1 and no.2, with finger guards. There is a current version in their new classic models.

The Basic 511 series have pronounced guards. The guards built into the handles of the Companions are less pronounced. Even the Kansbøl and the Garberg are shaped to discourage the fingers from sliding onto the blade.

Almost all the Moras have Scandi blades.
 
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