Bark Pearl

[coinshooter]

Any one know what the "natural material" is that the Bark Pearl handles are made of that Rough Rider brand is producing? Says it's a natural material that is ground down and shows layering. Can't find a real description of it on Google.

[coinshooter]

Just found a definition of the source material. Says bark pearl is a thick cut slab of genuine mother of pearl that has been jigged and dyed to make it look like real stag.
Why would anyone do that to mother of pearl? Wouldn't it be more valuable as mother of pearl?

[El Lobo]

Here is a page from SMKW...

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eComm ... &SKU=RR562

It doesn't appear to be jigged...maybe just what's left after the less figured portions of a lower class example are ground away.

Maybe Hukk will check in on this thread. He is kinda like having our own Oceanorgrapher here at AAPK.

Bill

[Hukk]

Maybe Hukk will check in on this thread. He is kinda like having our own Oceanorgrapher here at AAPK.

Bill

Well to start with both Gold Lip Pearl and the white Mother of Pearl come from the same species - Pinctada Maxima. Black lip pearl is Pinctada Margaritifera. Black lip pearl comes from French Polynesia around Tahiti and its Archipelagos. The white MOP comes from the inner shell and the Gold (or yellow) comes from the opposite side - the outer side. The best Gold comes from the Phillipines and Indonesia. I went to
Culpepper's website for the scientific names and they have all the information on their website that I just used. http://www.knifehandles.com

I don't know what species of Oyster or other shellfish that Rough Rider is using for Bark Pearl. But with the term Pearl Bark they could be using several species that are not in high demand to get a less expensive product. Although I don't know for sure, I figure on cheap knives that they are using a cheaper shellfish to avoid the competition that Pinctada Maxima would generate. Kind of like the use of the word Rosewood, that can be one of dozens of species.

Black Lip Pearl species Pinctada Margaritifera may not be the one Rough Rider is using. There are other shellfish over in Asia that will produce a black MOP but not be of the same quality. The Black Lip Pearl I see Rough Rider using does not appear to be as deeply colored as the Pearl we are used to. But that is a guess on my part.

So, there are a number of species that they could be using, most of them already rough in texture on the outside. I looked at the RR on the link and it looks like they took a shell that was rough on the outside and then sanded it down and fitted it to the knife. They could easily do that in mass production and since the shell is already textured they won't need to do any jigging.

This post is what I believe Rough Rider is doing, but that does not mean it is 100% correct, I suspect it is very close. Oceanorgrapher, thanks for the compliment, though I don't sound much like Jacques Cousteau. I think I sound a bit more like Jeff Foxworthy.

[coinshooter]

Thanks for the info. And for the knife handles site. Whoa - they have some VERY strange products.

[Hukk]

Whoa - they have some VERY strange products.

I'll say, the Toad Skin Leather may make some nice inlays. BUT, I do think that Kangaroo Scrotum is a mite weird. They must have a lot of unhappy roo's over there. I guess I'd be hopping around too if someone took mine.

[coinshooter]

As a complete aside from anything to do with knives, I would really like to read the job description for the individual who processes the kangaroo scrotums from raw to finished product.
Having met a few Austrailians over the years, the polite and socially correct usage of Kangaroo Scrotum in a normal conversation, even in mixed company, would generate a response of, first, dumbfounded amazement and, second, uncontrolled, hysterical laughter.

[gmusic]

They are utilizing the outer portion of the shell for the visible handle material, and grinding flat the underside or inside of the shell which is the attractive side. That's a new twist!

But like Hukk says, they are no doubt using an inferior shell but in doing so can use the term pearl or genuine pearl.

Roooo scrotum......................hummmmmm.

[jonet143]

Roooo scrotum





sounds latin!

[Hukk]

Roooo scrotum

sounds latin!

No, it reminds me of Jack in the Box. A local chain here in Santa Rosa and others in California got caught with Roo meat in their burgers. I thought it tasted different than the regular mystery meat. Mountain Oysters in a bun.

[Duffy]

Not to change the subject but, does anyone know for a fact that the Rough Rider knives are REAL bone when they say a knife has bone handles? I mean like the kind of REAL bone that say for example Case uses on their knives?

[MITCH RAPP]

ROO MEAT?

[Hukk]

ROO MEAT?

Yeah, Boy did it cause a ruckus, lawsuits and FDA fines flying everywhere.

[jonet143]

mmmmmmmmmm... tastes like chichen!

[justold52]

mmmmmmmmmm... tastes like chichen!

You took the words right out of my mouth...

[coinshooter]

Reply to Duffy (because I haven't figured out how to do the quote thing)
That's a really dicey question. Sort of like asking is the knife handle virgin plastic or recycled plastic. Is a turquoise handle still turquoise when it's made of ground-to-powder turquoise chips, some other unknown material and resin, cast into flat sheets, cut to size and used for a knife handle, so long as it is guaranteed to be 90% turquoise? Is an abalone handle still abalone when it is made of a paper thin sheet of pieces of abalone veneer laid over a clear resin base that you can see thru when you turn the knife on it's side? And what exactly is that milky white, non-iridescent material that's refered to by so many manufacturers as "real pearl"? And given the verbal flights of fancy and 3,000 rpm spin in the descriptions of their products by some manufacturers, who knows what their handles are really made of?
And yes, I am a pessimistic curmudgeon