ID Handle Material

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kootenay joe
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ID Handle Material

Post by kootenay joe »

Here is a nicely made 3 3/4" Swell Center jack with a saber ground spear point master blade (AKA "Stabber Jack"). The tang is marked "A.P.& F./Germany". I do not know how old this knife might be.
The handles are black and shiny but with a 9x loupe there is a hint of parallel grain and there are many superficial scratches even though the knife shows no signs of use; i.e. the surface scratches easily.
There is no handle shrinkage and no discoloration of the round shield or bolsters.
I think these handles are synthetic. Is there a non destructive way to tell if they are celluloid ?
Is there a visual difference between black celluloid and black acrylic ?
Based on your experience what do you think these handles are made of ?
kj
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Bosie
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by Bosie »

maybe black Micarta
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cody6268
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by cody6268 »

I'm thinking a cellulose acetate family member but not Celluloid. Swiss Army knives use this handle material. I have a modern Taylor's Eye Witness with identical handles; which scratch easy, and are very shiny.
kootenay joe
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks for your posts. I think it is too shiny to be a Micarta. Cody, shiny black and scratches easily so it probably is the same material that you have seen on some SAK's and a Taylor's Eye Witness. So unlikely to be celluloid. Great !
kj
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Dan In MI
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by Dan In MI »

For whatever it's worth, Victorinox calls their plastic Cellidor. I think that's their trade name for it, rather than the term for any plastic of that composition.
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tongueriver
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by tongueriver »

I have a knife with covers which I know for a fact are black buffalo horn, but I cannot for the life of me tell whether they are horn or man-made material. I assume that I could touch a hot needle to it and prove horn by the smell, but I don't need to because it is a custom rehandle by a trusted maker.
kootenay joe
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by kootenay joe »

tongueriver wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 1:47 pm I have a knife with covers which I know for a fact are black buffalo horn, but I cannot for the life of me tell whether they are horn or man-made material. I assume that I could touch a hot needle to it and prove horn by the smell, but I don't need to because it is a custom rehandle by a trusted maker.
Does the surface of the buffalo horn handles scratch easily ? If you use a loupe to look at these handles do you see lots of superficial scratch marks ?
kj
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tongueriver
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by tongueriver »

Horn scratches easily. This knife is newly re-handled so it is mostly scratch free but I can easily scratch it. I can't see any grain of any kind in it.
knife7knut
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Re: ID Handle Material

Post by knife7knut »

tongueriver wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:55 pm Horn scratches easily. This knife is newly re-handled so it is mostly scratch free but I can easily scratch it. I can't see any grain of any kind in it.


Most of the horn I have encountered when looked at under a loupe has a pronounced grain to it that looks like hair;basically because as I understand it horn is hair that has been covered with a congealed substance(there is a name for it but I can't remember it). As for Roland's knife;it is definitely some type of synthetic. It could be polypropynol(sp?)which is a shiny synthetic that does scratch rather readily.It also is unique in that is the only plastic I know of that does not out-gas and does not require a mold release agent when making something from it. It is widely used in 1oz. medicine cups which I use to mix paint in because it won't contaminate the paint.
EDIT: The plastic I'm thinking of is polypropylene;polypropanol is a drug.Sorry :oops:
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