All About Pocket Knives

Here are some choices for the Case Stockman handles. Take a look at them and give you opinion as to which you would like to see.

If you should vote "other" please post an alternative.

Thanks,
Jeff

WATER BUFFALO HORN


One of the most desired knife handle materials available. This beautiful horn polishes to a high luster a with white rouge polish on a soft muslin wheel. This horn is imported mostly from India. This material is dried and cured.

Color - Mostly Black with some color streaks and variations of shades,

COCOBOLO (Dalbergia Retusa)

It is imported from Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
One of the most colorful woods available, varies from red to black, dark brown to gold and yellow. It is very dense, finishes beautifully and is very durable.
Weighs 60-77 lbs per cubic foot.

LACEWOOD (Cadrwellia Sublimis)

Grows in Queensland, Australia.
Light pink to light reddish brown with a silvery sheen, flaky, texture fairly coarse.
Moderately hard and heavy, works easily and takes a lustrous finish.
Fairly scarce.

Benge

Guibourtia arnoldiana

Mutenye


Family: Leguminosae

Other Common Names: Benge, Mbenge (Zaire).

Distribution: West Central Africa.

The Tree: Reaches a height of about 75 to 100 ft; bole irregular, to 60 ft in length; trunk diameters to 3 ft; usually buttressed.

The Wood:

General Characteristics: Heartwood pale yellowish brown to medium brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge, with gray to almost black striping; sapwood dull gray with a yellowish cast, distinct. Texture moderately fine and fairly even; grain straight interlocked, gum pockets sometimes present.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) about 0.64; air-dry density 50 pcf.

MAPLE - BURL,

Grows in Northwestern U.S.A.
Creamy white to light brown or reddish brown in color.
Burl - irregular tight grain patterns, not two alike.

ZEBRAWOOD or ZEBRANO or ZINGUA

Native of Africa.
It is named for its pronounced striped pattern. Color is tan with brown narrow strips.
The grain is a bit coarse in the texture. It is hard and heavy.
Takes a lustrous finish but should be filled and sealed.
Weighs 45-55 lbs per cubic foot.

Although I like Buffalo Horn and it certainly would look good on this stockman, it just seems I have been seeing a lot of it lately. African leadwood is medium to dark brown with lighter streaks, but I do not know how hard it is to work with. Does take a nice polish. Sheephorn is easy to work with, your choice to make it smooth or leave it rougher. I have a few sheephorn knives and I enjoy it's uniqueness. While you are at it, I imagine you will customize the bolsters. Keep us posted along the way and definetly the finshed knife. Hukk

Well I'm definately not Santa Fe Stone works, but I guess we could use


Jasper

Azurite/Malachite

Banded Azurite/Malachite

Lapis Lazuli

Malachite

Royal Plum Sugalite

Russian Lavender


Although the final decision still falls on S-K as it is his knife.

Nice samples, though you do not have many more that are available, such as pearl , red coral, sugulite, etc..

EDITED...After further review.

Bill

I agree that those Santa Fe stone work knives are nice. However, on this occasion, I am interested in a Jeff Jones custom creation. Jeff and I have agreed from the outset of the project that we would let the members of the site join the fun by making decisions and following the customization process. I am comfortable with the group selecting from any of the alternatives that Jeff has posted including the 'other' category. If anyone has further suggestions please keep them coming. In the end, the material with the most votes 'wins'. If other receives the most votes then we may need a sudden death playoff among the various other options provided. Thanks for your interest and input everyone. s-k

Well, I see that maple burl is leading so far. Indeed it is a beautiful AMERICAN wood that I really have enjoyed on many single blade hunting knives. My concern is that I'm wondering if the surface area of the stockman will show off the maple burl to its fullest extent. The length of the stockman is fine, but the height is rather small and thats where I wonder if the stockman will show of the qualities of the wood to their fullest. I could be way off base, but it is something I have asked myself, so, I am merely sharing my thoughts. I would like to see them end up with a wonderful original custom knife.

Hukk,
You have just voiced my concern about the maple burl. I think it's a nice pice of wood but the burl is fairly large.

Jeff

It appears that several of the woods may have the same problem for that particular knife. Since this is not an expensive knife, it does make a great chance to experiment.
Red Stag Not seen to often
Giraffe Bone dense variety of colorations but can be $$$$, depends on grade.
Gold Lip Pearl, BlacK Lip Pearl, and MOP $$$ use a shop vac where dust is coming from, as well as a dust mask. Use wire to hang the shop vac hose in place.
Abalone $$$$ use a shop vac where dust is coming from, as well as a dust mask. Use wire to hang the shop vac hose in place.
Buffalo Horn looks great, easy to work, but fairly common.
Mastodon Ivories $$$$ can be great, cost depends on grade.
Sheephorn reasonable cost, unusual, easy to work with.
To look at Black Lip Pearl or Sheephorn, go to Knife Auction and look at Willy's listings. He has 1 Black Lip Pearl stockman listing and a few Sheephorn, I think at least 1 is a stockman. Yeah, most of these are exotic, but if you are going to customize a knife, then why not.
PS, I'm not trying to turn your Case into a Bulldog (lol)

Here ia a Birdseye Maple trapper I did for a customer this week to compare to S-K's stockman.

Well, I do like your craftmanship, that's real good work. I have a future project knife that needs to be handled in Ivory for some scrimshaw down the road. It has a manufacturers defect though, the lockback does not release well.
Yes, seeing the knife next to another knife, well done by the way does give me the impession that the stockman may not show off the maple burl as well as you would like. I think it is a real valid concern.
I've never re-handled a knife, but I used to re-stock rifles, over 30 years ago. I had a Winchester .22 cal 69A that I restocked with birdseye maple, even back then that was an expensive chunk of wood. Real nice though, could not take it shooting without someone trying to buy it.
Back to the stockman, the picture says a lot, that the knife may be to small to take full advatage of the Maple Burl. Thats just my opinion, need to get others. The trapper in the picture is a great size to show off the wood.

Well, I do like your craftmanship, that's real good work. I have a future project knife that needs to be handled in Ivory for some scrimshaw down the road. It has a manufacturers defect though, the lockback does not release well.
Yes, seeing the knife next to another knife, well done by the way does give me the impession that the stockman may not show off the maple burl as well as you would like. I think it is a real valid concern.
I've never re-handled a knife, but I used to re-stock rifles, over 30 years ago. I had a Winchester .22 cal 69A that I restocked with birdseye maple, even back then that was an expensive chunk of wood. Real nice though, could not take it shooting without someone trying to buy it.
Back to the stockman, the picture says a lot, that the knife may be to small to take full advatage of the Maple Burl. Thats just my opinion, need to get others. The trapper in the picture is a great size to show off the wood.

Here is an example of the figure that would be on the actual knife handle if we used the maple burl.
The wood has just been wet to show the detail it will finish out much richer and a bit darker than in this scan.


Thanks for the input.
Jeff


EDITED to be nice.

Hi everyone. Seems the debate is heating-up. Having seen a number of knives customized by Jeff I have 100% confidence in his skills and judgement re the appropriate materials for this knife. If Jeff and others think the Maple burl is to large for this knife that is fine by me. I have to agree based on that comparison with the trapper. Lots of the other materials mentioned sound interesting but I am not looking for something that will require a second mortgage. Thanks for your interest. s-k

Here is the Cocobola section that I would use. I could split thei piece and have bookmatched handles. The pencil lines are on there if you really look. Also is a trapper with the cocobola handles and the mosaic pins I have planned..


Jeff

Hi Jeff. I like the looks of that last combination. s-k

Hi Jeff,
I like that last one also. Great combo. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words."
After seeing the Maple Burl with the lines drawn on it, I can see what you have in mind and I think you could pull it off, obviously you have the artistic vision and talent that I lack. The point that I brought up about the height of the stockman may just be a non-factor. I've seen your work and would trust your instincts and ability, no question there.
It's good to see more interest taken in this project, we have a lot of strong opinions out there.
That last knife, it has a wow factor to it.
Good luck!

Hukk