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ellerSo, I took a simple Morakniv 120 (I think I've already mentioned it's the gold standard in the 'store-bought puukko-type knife that's somewhat useable' category) and modified it according to my personal needs.
The picture shows a Morakniv 120 (the smaller one) and a Morakniv 106 (the larger one). These two knife models have an identical handle and only differ in blade length. I personally find the 120 more useful, as it's more versatile and better suited to detail work - but both are great.
First, let's summarize the good and the bad things about an unmodified Morakniv 120.
Positive:
+ good steel quality and treatment, resulting in a hard-but-elastic blade with great edge retention. Best on the market, unless you count the much more expnsive hand-smithed blades.
+ as far as I'm concerned, the blade length (70mm) is ideal for woodworking tasks
+ the handle is extremely wide, so it can easily be reshaped. (Most people indeed customize it, whether it's to include grip aids or to change the whole profile from oval to something entirely else). It's basically asking to be individualized.
+ SUUUPER CHEAP. Good for playing around: if I mess up, nothing of value will be lost. Also, you can take this on trips and lend it to knife beginners without being too worried about someone potentially ruining your blade by misuse. LOL
Negative:
- The blade is a bit too thin when compared to a "real" puukko. That's okay for crafting with soft wood but makes the thing useless as an outdoor utility knife.
- Crappy wood quality. It's the traditional birch wood, but from trees that were grown extremely fast (an issue with industrial forest management), and very porous / splintery. Will inevitably crack after a decade or so of use. (That's exactly what happened to my last 120 and 106, which is why I bought new ones. LOL)
- "as is", the handle is too thick to be held properly by anyone whose hands are not super large. It needs to be individualized in order to be a useful knife.
- Also, this may be a matter of preference, but the balance point is too far back - ring finger position for me (middle finger for someone with larger hands), and I'd prefer index finger position. Again, this means material from the handle needs to be removed.
- Unfair comparison, but, as great as this is for a factory-made knife
There's nothing to be done about the blade itself, but, reshaping the handle? I can do that! :D What I want to do is change the profile from oval to a drop profile that will allow me to actually feel the blade orientation. That means I'm going to create a cross section that's closer to a reverse teardrop (with the sharp angle oriented at the knife belly) rather than an oval.
The first thing I do is take a pencil and mark the blade orientation on the upper and lower side of the knife.
That's important because for the actual carving, I need to cover the blade. (I don't want to cut myself! This thing is sharp.) Because I'm very classy, I used toilet paper and tape. LOL (Seriously, toilet paper is the best - it's so fuzzy and elastic it's not as easily cut by knives as other types of paper.)
So, these are the left and right 'belly facets' I added. You can also see another shitty aspect of the knife: the asymmetry of the wood piece that was used for the handle. I had to cut in completely different directions to the wood grain - getting a more or less symmetrical result was a huge PITA.
...and that's the view from below. As you can see, I left the blade orientation line standing as a ridge (the sharp end of the teardrop). Because the handle is still too large and the tang is now seriously off-center if I leave the thing like this, I also need to remove some material from the top, so, I decided to add a top facet that mainly removes the rear part of the handle. I did this as a flat cut rather than curved in order to have a finger rest in some grips. (I would also have loved to shorten the knife altogether, but that was not possible due to the tang going all the way through.)
I'm not sure if this is really visible in the photo, but, this facet is not flat but kind starts as on facet in front (where I'm going to grip most often) and turns into two facets further back. Huge PITA as well, but feels comfortable. (You can probably see from this choice that I have very small hands...) Also, I removed enough material to push the balance point of the knife into index finger position. I'm "knife conservative", so, that's where I want the balance of something that's going to be used as a generic working knife!
Now, the only thing that's left is sanding/polishing the handle. It can't be too smooth (because, hey, I don't want to slip with my hand while working!) but I need to at least remove the splinters (because, ouch). I can't dry-polish this thing because of the crappy wood quality, so I oiled it (camelia oil, I love the stuff) and will wait at least a week before doing anything else. LOL
The picture shows a Morakniv 120 (the smaller one) and a Morakniv 106 (the larger one). These two knife models have an identical handle and only differ in blade length. I personally find the 120 more useful, as it's more versatile and better suited to detail work - but both are great.
First, let's summarize the good and the bad things about an unmodified Morakniv 120.
Positive:
+ good steel quality and treatment, resulting in a hard-but-elastic blade with great edge retention. Best on the market, unless you count the much more expnsive hand-smithed blades.
+ as far as I'm concerned, the blade length (70mm) is ideal for woodworking tasks
+ the handle is extremely wide, so it can easily be reshaped. (Most people indeed customize it, whether it's to include grip aids or to change the whole profile from oval to something entirely else). It's basically asking to be individualized.
+ SUUUPER CHEAP. Good for playing around: if I mess up, nothing of value will be lost. Also, you can take this on trips and lend it to knife beginners without being too worried about someone potentially ruining your blade by misuse. LOL
Negative:
- The blade is a bit too thin when compared to a "real" puukko. That's okay for crafting with soft wood but makes the thing useless as an outdoor utility knife.
- Crappy wood quality. It's the traditional birch wood, but from trees that were grown extremely fast (an issue with industrial forest management), and very porous / splintery. Will inevitably crack after a decade or so of use. (That's exactly what happened to my last 120 and 106, which is why I bought new ones. LOL)
- "as is", the handle is too thick to be held properly by anyone whose hands are not super large. It needs to be individualized in order to be a useful knife.
- Also, this may be a matter of preference, but the balance point is too far back - ring finger position for me (middle finger for someone with larger hands), and I'd prefer index finger position. Again, this means material from the handle needs to be removed.
- Unfair comparison, but, as great as this is for a factory-made knife
There's nothing to be done about the blade itself, but, reshaping the handle? I can do that! :D What I want to do is change the profile from oval to a drop profile that will allow me to actually feel the blade orientation. That means I'm going to create a cross section that's closer to a reverse teardrop (with the sharp angle oriented at the knife belly) rather than an oval.
The first thing I do is take a pencil and mark the blade orientation on the upper and lower side of the knife.
That's important because for the actual carving, I need to cover the blade. (I don't want to cut myself! This thing is sharp.) Because I'm very classy, I used toilet paper and tape. LOL (Seriously, toilet paper is the best - it's so fuzzy and elastic it's not as easily cut by knives as other types of paper.)
So, these are the left and right 'belly facets' I added. You can also see another shitty aspect of the knife: the asymmetry of the wood piece that was used for the handle. I had to cut in completely different directions to the wood grain - getting a more or less symmetrical result was a huge PITA.
...and that's the view from below. As you can see, I left the blade orientation line standing as a ridge (the sharp end of the teardrop). Because the handle is still too large and the tang is now seriously off-center if I leave the thing like this, I also need to remove some material from the top, so, I decided to add a top facet that mainly removes the rear part of the handle. I did this as a flat cut rather than curved in order to have a finger rest in some grips. (I would also have loved to shorten the knife altogether, but that was not possible due to the tang going all the way through.)
I'm not sure if this is really visible in the photo, but, this facet is not flat but kind starts as on facet in front (where I'm going to grip most often) and turns into two facets further back. Huge PITA as well, but feels comfortable. (You can probably see from this choice that I have very small hands...) Also, I removed enough material to push the balance point of the knife into index finger position. I'm "knife conservative", so, that's where I want the balance of something that's going to be used as a generic working knife!
Now, the only thing that's left is sanding/polishing the handle. It can't be too smooth (because, hey, I don't want to slip with my hand while working!) but I need to at least remove the splinters (because, ouch). I can't dry-polish this thing because of the crappy wood quality, so I oiled it (camelia oil, I love the stuff) and will wait at least a week before doing anything else. LOL
