H.O. Vollan, Tinn (Norway) maker

[Rich S]

Any info on this maker would be appreciated.
Signed H.O. Vollan (in arc) over "Tinn". (Maybe M.O. Vollan)
Blade is 6 inches and hand forged. Blade flats
appear to have been rough filed, but the bevels
are clean and the blade is sharp enough to shave
the hair off a gnat's arse :-)

Beautiful birch handle and sheath. Sheath is made
in two halves. Mounts are nickel silver.

Should this be called a Staskniv? It seems a bit
large for "sunday" carry. Maybe for festivals??

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinpic/vollan.jpg

Thanks in advance.
Rich S

[Dave Barker]

Staskniver are generally dress knives worn at formal occasions. They are typically part of the Noorweguian national costume called BUNAD.

This varies from area to area as do the knives.

You may wish to vist this siteFinn Gaute Hornslien makes a wide range and could likely give you some info on the knife.

[Rich S]

Great site and an English version to boot! Thanks
Rich

[Trond]

Hello Rich i might be able to give you some background info about makers from Tinn. In the end of the 18th and the 19th sentury there where a lot of blacksmiths who made their entire living from forging knifeblades. However the knife in question are prolly not made by the smith, the most usual thing was that one guy made the blade and anther made all the other parts.
Of cours this particular knife could be made by the smith. I know that there is a book published here in norway that names most of the smiths and also who made all parts of the knife, i dont have this bokk and i am sorry that i can not tell you more about this particular knife

[Rich S]

Trond -

Thanks for the info. I've sort of observed from my meager collection and
pics of other knives, that a lot of Norwegian knives were "composite" works.
Blades by one maker, mounted by someone else. Not unlike the early
"cottage" industry days of Sheffield.

I've also noted that a lot of the earlier blades had no ferrule or metal
reinforcement between the blade and handle. Seems like that would
allow the handle to break and separate from the blade more easily, but
then I've never seen one with a loose blade :-)

Rich

[Tvividr]

Hello Rich i might be able to give you some background info about makers from Tinn. In the end of the 18th and the 19th sentury there where a lot of blacksmiths who made their entire living from forging knifeblades. However the knife in question are prolly not made by the smith, the most usual thing was that one guy made the blade and anther made all the other parts.
Of cours this particular knife could be made by the smith. I know that there is a book published here in norway that names most of the smiths and also who made all parts of the knife, i dont have this bokk and i am sorry that i can not tell you more about this particular knife

I second what Trond said. In Norway it has always been a tradition, as in most of Scandinavia, that most knifemakers buy the blades that they use in the knives they make. Sometimes the knife was a collaboration of 3 makers or more: blade forged by one, handle done by another, and sheath done by a third. Sometimes the silver ferrules could even be made and engraved by a fourth person. A couple of years ago there were 7 people working on a single knife to be used as a price for visitors to a knife fair.

The knife in question here do not look very "Tinn'ish" to me, but I could be wrong. It is more of a mix between a normal "Brukskniv" (utility knife) and a "Staskniv" - IMO leaning more towards the "brukskniv" style than being a proper Staskniv.
This pic show the knife that became "Best of Class / Knife of the Year" and won the first price 2005 in the yearly knifemaking competition of the Norwegian Knife Association, in the "Staskniv" class:

Knife made by Einar Lindland, Norway.

And this pic show a couple of the knives that won the "Enkel brukskniv" ("simple utility knife") class the same year:

Both knives made by Jan Erik Jeppesen, Norway

.......I've also noted that a lot of the earlier blades had no ferrule or metal reinforcement between the blade and handle. Seems like that would allow the handle to break and separate from the blade more easily, but
then I've never seen one with a loose blade :-)

Rich

This applies not only to earlier knives, but is also very common today. Most "brukskniver" are made that way, but with the influence of Knut Dahl and others, it has in the last 8 - 10 years or so become more and more common to see brukskniver made with composite handles with front bolsters of harder material like bone, horn, brass etc. However this not a new thing, as it has been done long time ago too, but I suppose one could say that in the past decade it has had some kind of renewed interest, and that the ideas and resulting knives have become a lot more refined than ever before.
I've never seen a blade break loose from an all wood handle, and I do not think that it will ever happen if the knife has been made properly: nice tight fit of the blade, proper blade / handle preparation, good glue, long enough tang etc etc...and if the knife has been properly taken care of.

I have however heard about one knife that lost it's blade while the owner (and maker) was whitteling or something like that. That was however due to a very short tang (only some 3,5 cm or so) that had been "glued" with molten shellac. The hole for the tang was too big and the fit was quite sloppy, but the main problem was apparently that most of the shellac had not been melted properly and was still powdery in the bottom of the tang hole.
Old knives was often made this way, but then with proper length tangs, tight fit and properly melted shellac. The knife I heard about was the makers first knife made with second hand information on how the old ones made knives only. Properly made knives will hold together even with shellac as a binding agent.

I've also sent a pic of the knife in this thread to the same guys that got the one in your other thread.

[Rich S]

All those knives are lovely. I'd be proud to own any one of them.

Interesting on the tradition of various workers making different parts.
This is very much the Japanese sword making tradition. The master smith
with a couple hammermen would forge the blade; another artistan would
make the tsuka (handle) and wrap it. Yet other artistans made the fittings;
fuchi, kashira, menuki and tsuba. And yet other would make the scabbard
(saya).

I guess it's normal in many cultural traditions and crafts that no one
person was highly skilled at all phases of making an item.
Thanks for the info and the pics of the knives.

Rich