Ulu knives..?

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I have a good friend who likes knives and likes to cook so I was thinking about making them an Ulu for Christmas this year. I see that Jantz has 3 or 4 styles of blade so I was wondering which style/type is the best, and most traditional, for practical use?
 
Best bet is look for videos of the locals using them and study the style.

Keep in mind that "best" may not come out of those vids since refinement of design comes from the original/traditional.
 
I got my Ulu while living in Alaska. Takes a little getting used to but they are great in the kitchen. The one thing I have noticed, it seems like the ornamental, display knives have small handles. The every day use knives tend to have larger, easy to grip handles.
Hope that helps a little.
 
I had a string of messages a year or so ago with Caribou about an ulu that was in one of his photos. That started me down a path of looking into making an ulu. Seems that the traditional way was flint, but modern methodology is to take a beat up hand saw and make the blade from that somewhat springy but hardened material. I still haven’t done it but I hope to this fall/winter. I still haven’t picked up a saw from a flea market or yard sale though so I’m hesitant to jump into it with a brand new saw, and I won’t chop up my great grandfathers saw from the 19teens to use it.
 
Thanks for finding and posting that WestKentucky.:thumbup:
I'd sorta been remembering that there had been something about ulus in the past here.
There is some good and interesting info in those posts.

Edit:
I scrolled down and saw where I'd posted about a "winter project" ulu back then.I had a less than health filled Winter at times last year so never got to it though... :(
 
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This guy might have a word to say about ulus, since he's a custom knife maker in Fairbanks Alaska... (and won one of the competitions on Forged in Fire back in 2017...). At any rate when you contact him, mention that Bob LeMay recommended him and tell him I said Hi... He's one of my customers for fishing stuff...
http://www.markknappcustomknives.com/

Thanks for the info and link. I remember that guy from watching that episode. He has some nice knives and the ulus look great.
Sadly, out my price range I'm afraid... :(
 
Don't cut up a hand saw blade for this.
A 10" or so rotary saw blade is a better match.
They're usually a tad thicker and I've found that they take to the single-bevel grind pretty well.
Anyway, I've always got a few damaged or worn-out rotary blades hanging around... .
 
my only Ulu was brought home from Alaska by a former boss and given to one of his inner office staff, who gave it to me. It is a desk display item with a polished blade with acid etched Alaska State out line with Big Bear constilation in it and has a genuine faux elk horn plastic handle and it bears the mysterious "CHINA" marking on the back.

The lady that gave it to me displayed it on her desk for year or so because she figured it beat being totally unarmed at work on Campus. During the Gainesville Murders by serial killer Rollins she kept a decorative wedding cake knife in her desk drawer and selected a stout wooden chair to place between her chair and the door. I suppose at least she was thinking which was more than most. While I can not imagine trying to use a Chinese made souvinir Ulu in self defense, I suppose it beats cowering in a corner and screaming like a little girl and hoping the bad man will go away.....

-kBob
 
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