All About Pocket Knives

Here is a "rookie" question coming from a "rookie". How does the handle material effect the price of a knife, given that all things are equal except the handle material. Does stag command a higher price than bone, wood, composition, etc. In what order from most expensive to least expensive (when talking about quality knives, cheap does not enter the conversation) would the handle material effect the price of the knife? Thanx.

Mastadon Ivory, Abalone, Mother of Pearl, stag, exotic woods including stablized, bone, everything else. At least that's how I'd break it down from top to bottom as far as pricing.

Others will probably disagree.

+1 knifemaker3

Only thing that does change it for me is the amount of knives made with some handle material. Like in Case Peanut for three years in the 70's all that was made is a delrin, some stated as being fairly rare.

How does the handle material effect the price of a knife tjmurphy asked.

How ever the price on handles also can cost more by the availability of that material and size. Here in good young USA we have deer antlers from white tailed deer. Yet the European deer antlers work better do to not as many air holes in them. Now they have stopped sending them to USA so the price has and will go up higher.

Lets just say it is like most things in life. Supply and demand generates the price along with quality.

A good question and one whose answer might be a little complicated.As a GENERAL rule,stag scales would be more costly than say bone or wood on a given model of knife.I would put composition(and plastic)at the bottom of the list.My personal list would also include various shell materials(abalone,paua,and an assortment of so-called mother of pearl),ivory(elephant;rhinoceros;walrus;whale;and fossilized).
That said,there are probably as many types of scale material as there are knife patterns.Just various types of wood used would fill a book.And let us not forget oosic although I find it difficult to imagine grabbing hold of an animal penis(no matter whether it is fossilized or not)to use a knife. Just me.
Most handle materials were originally selected as a non-slip grip for using a knife when wet with water or blood or whatever.Stag works admirably for this and is probably why it was so popular on earlier knives.Checkered wood works so-so;about the same as jigged bone.Leather is horrible and any smooth metal the same.One of the nicest looking knives I own is also the hardest to grip:a Kershaw Leek with a Titanium nitride coating.Slicker than owl poop as a friend once used to say.
The newer materials such as Kraton provide an excellent gripping surface but looks leave a lot to be desired.Oh well as they say:Form follows function.

OK, here's my list from high to low:
Gold, Abalone, Pearl, Stag, Bone, Ivory, Tortoise shell, Sterling silver, Celluloid, Wood.

Knife Nut wrote:OK, here's my list from high to low:
Gold, Abalone, Pearl, Stag, Bone, Ivory, Tortoise shell, Sterling silver, Celluloid, Wood.

It's interesting that you would rate bone ahead of ivory, tortoise shell (real?) and sterling silver. Are these just your preferences, given that these three are high end materials, or is there some other reason?

tj,
The eye of the beholder.
Just my personal feelings.

This following discussion is from the perspective of someone who buys these materials to use to put on knives I am finishing or to repair or customize knives for customers.

This is a very difficult question to answer as many factors influence the price such as:

1- Size of the handles. Length, width and thickness all affect the price.
2- The scarcity of the material. The more rare the material, the higher the price.
3- The quality of the material being used. Lower grade to higher grade can double or triple the price, (or even more).
4- Any treatment processes that the material has been put through, Such as stabilizing or dying wood, bone, ivory, shell or other natural materials.
5- Special handling of hazardous by-products, such as the dust from shells, micarta, G-10 or carbon fiber materials. The dust from these materials is hazardous and in come cases toxic. It requires special equipment to handle the dust created when sawing or sanding these materials.
6- Government regulations; the government of India decided that they would limit the export of Sambar stag. This drives up the price of the remaining stag that is available and makes that which is exported more expensive. This has happened in the past and I heard something recently about India being more restrictive on stag export.

In general untreated wood is probably the least expensive.
Ebony and rosewoods have been used for 140+ years and they hold up very well. You can find plenty of knives well over 100 years that still have serviceable ebony or rosewood handles. These were not stabilized then and usually are not stabilized today as they are too dense to absorb the resin.

Horn, like water buffalo is probably the next least expensive.

Next comes stabilized wood.

Bone, jigged, smooth, dyed or un-dyed is probably next in line.

Stag is probably next.

Then come shell materials, (MOP, abalone, etc.)

Fossilized materials are generally next in line with bone being least expensive of these, followed by ivory and then Mammoth tooth.

These are just general rules of thumb, as the price in these groups vary widely!



These following prices are a rough guideline of what I personally charge for these materials only, (labor is additional), when I repair a knife.
Keep in mind that the 6 factors above play heavily into the equation!

Let’s use as an example a set of scales 4” long x 1-14” wide X 1/8” thick.

Un-stabilized wood - $5 to $30
Horn - $5 to $20
Stabilized wood - $15 to $40. The price of stabilization is based on how much resin the wood absorbs when it is stabilized. Light porous wood like buckeye absorbs much more resin than maple, making stabilized buckeye much more expensive than maple, I am told.
Bone - $15 to $40
Stag - $25 to $80
Shell - $40 to $120+ and they are probably smaller than 4”.
Fossilized bone - $ 30 and up
Fossilized ivory - $40 and up. Quality weights heavily here. A nice set to bark ivory scales can approach $200 or even $250.
Fossilized mammoth tooth - $50 and up, again heavily effected by quality, pattern, dying, stabilizing etc.


These are prices I have charged, prices of items I have in stock, or prices I have seen charged from vendors.

This is by no means the final word in pricing, but merely a starting point of discussion using some of the more commonly used handles available today, but by no means close to all the materials used.

Dale

Great info Dale! Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks folks

The reason I asked the question was because while searching for a particular PK I noticed that the stag handled version was about/at least $50 and sometimes 2X more than the bone version and was curious if that held true in the AAPK community. I must say, the stag handles do look nicer than some bone. The jigged bone and smooth bone are probably my fav's especially the smooth. and in order of asthetic preference, excluding the precious metals, I would choose the smooth and some of the jigged bone, some of the really nice horn and stag. I've recently purchased a GEC Northfield with barnboard bone which I am not to impressed with, visually, but after reading here the real purpose of the handle material, the ability to not slip around in the hand when wet, I have a greater appreciation of the barn board, it is a really deeply jigged and rough material and probably would not go anywhere in wet hands. So, thank you all. Everything that has been written in this thread has given me a better understanding and appreciation of the various handle materials. You folks are Tops.

TJ,
I am with you, for pure beauty it is hard to beat smooth bone.

Here is one of my favorite colors of smooth bone, ivory color.
I cracked the bone at one pin, but it is a user for me, so I may replace it someday.
For now, I think it is one of the prettiest sets of bone handles I own.

Hope you like it.

Dale

Greetings Dale

Yeh I do. I like the luster of the material, the feel of it in my hand and the way you can sort of look down into it. I find the smooth bone and the Case "Pocket Worn" to have a really classy look while the stag implies rugged and outdoorsy.

I love stockman knives and smooth bone, so that's a winner in my book, Dale. Is it a Camillus? I have some Schrade Heritage knives in smooth bone. I hate to use them, but I'll bet they would look even better after some carrying time.

Yes Calvin, it is a Camillus.

Dale