I bought my first custom made knife from Rudy Ruana 2 years before I bought my first Randall in 1967. Back then as a student, I was on a "work study" program that paid $1/hour with a $15/week limit. Paying $25 for a knife was a big deal. I went for a double major in Forestry and Animal Science, as such, I took numerous Animal Science classes that required butchering various farm animals. I had my Randall Model 1-6 and my Ruana skinner. I used both and my classmates gave me hell about my custom knives while they had to use the standard Case semi-skinner.

Pap

I can see that now, in mind's eye.....what a great thing, your hard earned dollars on a good knife for knife work, how.....radical. I am suprised you did not add that a few smarter folk brought granny's thin old butcher knife.

The 14B as obvious has not yet been used to cut even a string...well, I sliced paper one cut and removed hair just once, when it arrived. One of two knives owned which have yet to be used. Just a gorgeous finish which nearly appears hand sanded, but is not. But it is obvious from the first fingerprint ridge it grabs and removes that it is a heck of a butcher knife.

Old smokie is another matter, a hard used pocket butcher knife, and the original neck knife. I think about all the trendy large blade/small handle small knives on market, and none are half the real knife of the 10B.

Would like to add a close-up of the 14B finish, but it seems postimage has crashed today, but maybe it will be back up soon enough to add the photo to this post.

Thanks again for all the insight and experience, Pappy.

ahh...here we go, site back up. What's not to like?



Sneaking in one more the next day, purely for those wondering as to more details on knife design.

Thought I would add a comparison shot for old vs new knives. The old one lifted from Treeman site archive.

It is clear the hollow grind more precise, and carried further out on newer knives, but still they have avoided hard line facets (no matter what photos suggest, as lines shift depending on light and viewing angle), which I applaud. The changes likely simply to make it a better knife out front. They still leave it thick enough at edge to convex, and still leave it thicker out at tip, just not so much as old. If anyone curious as to how thin the edge on this skinner, I actually would put it in the class of an older Model 5-6 by way of description.

This is a 17A vs newer 14B, so, comparison not precise.

Beautiful knife, Lofty. That has got to be the only knife ever photographed on a Catholic bulletin.

I appreciate the compliment on the finest of backgrounds, I should say I am selling add space and get a commission from the bulletin company, as well as throw fuel on fire of subtle attempts at mind control.

Thanks also for compliments on the knife, mainly posting these for educational purposes for those as ignorant as I was in buying. I mainly bought as a rugged tool per their own mindset, and was suprised how much nicer they are, today. My only previous experience being with old smokie as a daily utility knife.

Still waiting for handling cobweb scratches to finally equalling just using the darned thing, as I hated the new car scratch syndrome on this one. Which is rare with me, and I need to see a shrink about that.

As John Taffin once posted on a query as to whether to use a new in box collectible gun, "Who are you saving it for?", is normally my motto.

PS-OK. After writing that, I could not stand it. Immediately commenced carving on some clean dry hardwood deadfall. Again, it handled that pretty much as an old 5-6. Really more set up as for edging as a skinner, anyhow. But handled the hardwood and small knots with no problem at all.

Proof positive that it is still a Ruana. A tool. I could groove to these handles on my kitchen knives.

Just a few shots to show the Kauhavanpuukko influence on Rudy's design.

And Holmberg, Hellberg and other from Eskilstuna

I would have no idea how many Swede factory knives he would have been exposed to in the USA at that time, but certainly Suomi in the Finn enclaves in the states in his youth, and later in Finn Town area of Bonner/Missoula, the Finn there as numerous as the Irish working the mines and lumber mills.

As for the design of THESE above Ruana blades, as already commented, the resemblance to a Marbles blade outline is certainly there.

Also, Rudy got into business and also went with the unitized cast aluminum design because hunters were tired of factory knives getting loose or coming to pieces, and everyone with old American knives can attest to this tendency.

Although he may have independently designed the blade, he may also have simply had a hunter hand him a Woodcraft coming apart with broken gutta percha pommel or rattling aluminum and loose guard from shrunken or rotting leather, and asked if could he make one of these, but more solid.

Either way, make it he did, informed by Finn tradition of what a handle needs for pulling cuts.

Swedes, Finns, Norwegians, Germans, the British - all very much imported knives to US.
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Moreover, all their countries are close by, and there is a good mutual influence.

Ruana, in any case, a great master!
Before him I saw cast handle only on old table knives,
knives of bronze era, 1 and 2 WW (but there it was rather
a necessity). The fact that he introduced cast on a regular basis is cool.

I really like his model steelhead and smokejumper,
someday I'll find her

This shot simply thrown out for scale, of both old smokie and the new knife, both to each other, and to a known size object, I had to work without any of the above and would save someone else the guesswork.

No award nominations for lighting, backdrop, props, cleanliness of articles, key grip, or best director, please.