Wondering about Abalone

[Mossdancer]

Hi Hukk;
There's a trick to seeing the seams. If you have the paint software, import your photo into it and invert the colors. The seam lines show up better. Thanks for all your posts regarding these and all your other good info.
moss

[Hukk]

Hi Hukk;
There's a trick to seeing the seams. If you have the paint software, import your photo into it and invert the colors. The seam lines show up better. Thanks for all your posts regarding these and all your other good info.
moss

Thanks w.b., that sure is better than eyeballing it. Look at Wendell Carson's Fightn' Bull Muskrat above. I know he uses the Mosaic Abalone which is a trade name for laminated abalone used by the Mother of Pearl Company. http://www.knifehandles.com click on Mosaic Abalone and check out the different laminated products. NOTE: it is my experience that if there is not a picture of it - DON'T BUY IT! It has been my experience that those that DO NOT have a picture have been very disappointing - you can easily see every seam. I gave my laminated black lip pearl to Jeff (agteacher2) because it showed every seam.

Those pictured on the other hand have been just great and most people would never know it was laminated.
I would guess that Wendell Carson's Fightn' Bull Muskrat is Green Mosaic, green is the species, Haliotis fulgens select grade. I make that call merely because I know he has been using it for a couple years, not by observation. It can be hard to tell Haliotis fulgens, green abalone from Haliotis rufescens, red abalone.

I can't tell which species the Bulldog is or if it is laminated. It was made (1998) when whole shells of abalone were still available. Commercial fishing ended in 1997, likely it is a whole piece. California provided most of the worlds abalone shell until commercial fishing was banned. The Paua is now the most common, but it's fishery does not look healthy at the current time.

[justold52]

I take it then this bulldog is made from Paua laminated then.

Bulldog Brand Prototype Heart Abalone Copperhead Knife.
This is another example of high quality Handmade Bulldog Knives. This knife features the Fighting Dog tang stamp and a new style etch.
These knives are marked "2007" on the blade, so they wont be confused with older Bulldog knives.