Knife Handle Material

[deanmm56]

My 2 cents worth ....

For me anyway, natural stag and then ivory

[Jacknifeben]

My grandkids like like these handles. Winchester whittler and 2 CATTS.

[orvet]

Does mammoth ivory count?

It does in my book Jack!

Someone...3 someones voted for modern plastics? Who'd a thunk it.
Mark

I am actually surprised the number is so low. Look at the millions of Schrade Uncle Henrys made with Staglon (Delrin) or the saw cut Delrin handles on the Old Timers. For a user knife it is hard to beat Delrin IMO. It doesn’t shrink, rarely cracks (unless run over by a tank), doesn’t off gas, doesn’t fade too bad unless left in direct sunlight for a long time, requires no maintenance, won’t take on moistures and swell, rot or hold moisture in the knife, is not toxic to work with, not brittle, and gives a good gripping surface when jigged. I cannot think of any other material that has all those qualities.


My favorite knife handle material is bone, jigged or smooth. I like the colors that bone can have in it and I like the way it feels in my hand when I use it. But the thing I like most about bone is something the average knife collector doesn’t see, I love to watch bone develop and take shape when I am working it while putting new handles on a knife. It starts as a dark slab that begins to show color as I sand and file it into shape. Once I have it shaped and sanded, then I polish it. This is where the bone really starts to pop! It is a small miracle to me to see what develops! The same is true of ivory, but to a lesser degree.

Here is an example of what makes bone so beautiful to me.
This is an old Western States folding hunter I finished putting new handles on earlier this month.
I love the depth of color and the subtle changes in color.

Ivory can be beautiful as well. Here are a couple blanks made by Grand Leavitt of Idaho.
I put mammoth ivory handles on them. These two knives are some of my favorite examples of mammoth ivory.

Now, while I do like other handle materials and think they can be beautiful if well executed, bone and ivory remain my favorite knife handle materials.

Happy New Year Y'all,
Dale

[Gunstock Jack]

Very Nice Dale !!!

[Miller Bro's]

Very nice knives being posted here everyone

Dale, excellent job on the the Western knife.

I really like those bone handles

[orvet]

Thanks for the nice words guys.
There are some before & after pics in the Knife Repair & Restoration Forum: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 37&t=21206

For those of you who want to see more pics.

Dale