Favorite knife handle material

[CBeck]

Very first one with green handle ...if you don't like it you can always donate it to Africa...

Stranger things have been known to happen….perhaps it will get left after a hunt at Takeri

 

[fourfive8]

Favorite knife handle? Hmm. For sheer toughness and function- micarta. For natural material- real ivory, but.... documented, legal elephant ivory is about as hard to come by as unobtainium from Pandora.

 

[Sika98k]

Has anyone used mopane wood for a knife ? Heading out to Namibia in May and asked a knife maker friend what he fancied. Mopane wood was the answer.

 

[freefall]

I used to have some fossilized whale bone that I traded dog sled for that was really nice.
Alas, that guy died.

 

[YancyW]

@Von Gruff is holding me back of yellow cedar that I really love. He has made a few knives this past year or so with some and I love them all. Giraffe bone is what I am waiting on, but it appears getting it into NZ is a real issue.

 

[Ryan]

Favorite would be some kind of stabilized wood. Redwood is tops on my list but there's so many I've seen I could change my mind in a minute. The left knife has curly redwood, gold/black dyed maple burl and green/black maple burl, all stabilized. After that I like playing around with phenolics. Middle is black linen, then two maroon and a green linen stacked pieces with linear ivory paper micarta. I have the paper micarta set up so you see the layers of paper from the top instead of the side. I will admit that went a bit overboard, reminds me of a 70s t-shirt. And legal ivory is available if you remember to pick up some large warthog bottle openers at the curio shops in Namibia where they're pretty cheap. For me it works out well in a hidden tang knife. The right knife has that then black/red stabilized maple burl and some water buffalo.

 

[CBeck]

Has anyone used mopane wood for a knife ? Heading out to Namibia in May and asked a knife maker friend what he fancied. Mopane wood was the answer.

I’ve not….had to use my google fu to find some pics.

 

[CBeck]

@Von Gruff is holding me back of yellow cedar that I really love. He has made a few knives this past year or so with some and I love them all. Giraffe bone is what I am waiting on, but it appears getting it into NZ is a real issue.

That’s a shame. One of the suppliers I use here has some beautifully dyed and stabilized pieces. Best of luck.

 

[nztimb]

@Von Gruff is holding me back of yellow cedar that I really love. He has made a few knives this past year or so with some and I love them all. Giraffe bone is what I am waiting on, but it appears getting it into NZ is a real issue.

I sent him another message the other day asking whether he had the cites paperwork yet but havent had an asnwer so far. He has the 4 leg bones all cut into short lengths and sitting waiting on the paper work. Already $600 into it in trade.with a knife and shipping via expresss courier as that is the only way to ship to SA from here.

 

[Ray B]

Is there any source for Mammoth tusk? I got a few Case XX knives about 20 years ago with small sides of it, but haven't seen any advertised in years.

 

[Woodcarver]

Ok… so here it is not being able to leave well enough alone… Arizona desert ironwood.

View attachment 455921

Love ironwood! Can be a bit tricky to work with, but the graining is hard to beat. Mesquite is my preferred wood to carve/turn as it too typically has some amazing grain and yet cuts very well.
Really like this blade, but prefer the more rounded heel of the original one. That ironwood really works for scales!

 

[spike.t]

Stranger things have been known to happen….perhaps it will get left after a hunt at Takeri

Am waiting ...and holding my breath....so don't be long ...

 

[CBeck]

Is there any source for Mammoth tusk? I got a few Case XX knives about 20 years ago with small sides of it, but haven't seen any advertised in years.

Yes, you can find mammoth tusk still. It’s expensive compared to other options but not terribly so.

 

[CBeck]

Love ironwood! Can be a bit tricky to work with, but the graining is hard to beat. Mesquite is my preferred wood to carve/turn as it too typically has some amazing grain and yet cuts very well.
Really like this blade, but prefer the more rounded heel of the original one. That ironwood really works for scales!

Here are a couple I did in velvet mesquite with ebony wood bolsters.

 

[CBeck]

@spike.t ….and I keep waiting for that special outfitter that trades a safari for leather rifle slings, hunting belts, cartridge slides and custom knives. It’s been a long, long, long wait…LOL.

Luxury Leather Sporting Accessories

I had a thread going earlier titled possibles pouch which has morphed into more than just the pouch so I thought I would start a thread covering the full set. Basically, I thought it would be meaningful to create and use my own leather hunting accessories. I like nice leather gear and I know...

www.africahunting.com

 

[mdwest]

"Favorite" really depends on the context and the intended use of the knife for me...

I love working with African Wild Olive wood.. it smells great when being grinded and sanded on.. has wonderful figuring and looks beautiful.. is pretty easy and forgiving to work with, etc.. but.. its on the softer end of being a "hardwood" and isnt anything I'd consider using on a hard use knife unless I put it through the stabilization process first (which then makes it a little more difficult to work with, and removes the great scent you get when working on it)..

For hard use, I lean toward modern materials like micarta and G10.. my current skinner has olive drab G10 scales.. I just take them to 500 grit and leave them slightly rough and tacky so that I can keep a good grip on the knife when using it.. you'll never get the aesthetic impact using G10 over something beautiful like a really figured piece of burled maple or some other great hardwood.. but its damn near indestructible.. and hard to beat for a hard use knife in terms of cost vs performance..

For "pretty".. I've found some presentation grade absolutely beautiful pieces of crotch black walnut that has really tight figuring that works well for small projects like knife handles.. its pretty hard to work with though and relatively unforgiving..

but probably the prettiest wood I have ever used was a couple of blocks of african leadwood that @Gert Odendaal gifted me back in 2019.. it was as black/dark as a really dark piece of ebony.. but had some incredible light tan figuring throughout... my only regret is my wood skills werent nearly as good 3 years ago as they are today.. I could have probably made something 10x nicer if I had held on to it a little longer before putting it to use and gotten my skill set up to par first..

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t ….and I keep waiting for that special outfitter that trades a safari for leather rifle slings, hunting belts, cartridge slides and custom knives. It’s been a long, long, long wait…LOL.

Luxury Leather Sporting Accessories

I had a thread going earlier titled possibles pouch which has morphed into more than just the pouch so I thought I would start a thread covering the full set. Basically, I thought it would be meaningful to create and use my own leather hunting accessories. I like nice leather gear and I know...

www.africahunting.com

Not sure how much in the way of leather things we need

 

[spike.t]

@CBeck pm me what your prices would be ...maybe can work out something....cover a trophy fee or something...

 

[Nyati]

I think ivory micarta would suit that knife quite well.

My folder in real ivory

 

[CBeck]

"Favorite" really depends on the context and the intended use of the knife for me...

I love working with African Wild Olive wood.. it smells great when being grinded and sanded on.. has wonderful figuring and looks beautiful.. is pretty easy and forgiving to work with, etc.. but.. its on the softer end of being a "hardwood" and isnt anything I'd consider using on a hard use knife unless I put it through the stabilization process first (which then makes it a little more difficult to work with, and removes the great scent you get when working on it)..

For hard use, I lean toward modern materials like micarta and G10.. my current skinner has olive drab G10 scales.. I just take them to 500 grit and leave them slightly rough and tacky so that I can keep a good grip on the knife when using it.. you'll never get the aesthetic impact using G10 over something beautiful like a really figured piece of burled maple or some other great hardwood.. but its damn near indestructible.. and hard to beat for a hard use knife in terms of cost vs performance..

For "pretty".. I've found some presentation grade absolutely beautiful pieces of crotch black walnut that has really tight figuring that works well for small projects like knife handles.. its pretty hard to work with though and relatively unforgiving..

but probably the prettiest wood I have ever used was a couple of blocks of african leadwood that @Gert Odendaal gifted me back in 2019.. it was as black/dark as a really dark piece of ebony.. but had some incredible light tan figuring throughout... my only regret is my wood skills werent nearly as good 3 years ago as they are today.. I could have probably made something 10x nicer if I had held on to it a little longer before putting it to use and gotten my skill set up to par first..

I love olivewood as well and use it very frequently on my kitchen knives along with an ebony bolster.