Are matching scales important to you?

Un-Chained said:
Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery
That’s the worst here as well, I rank dimensions as more of a concern.
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JohnDF said:
Yes, I don't like that either, which is why I tend to stay away from most stag.
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I generally stay away from stag too. However, I took a chance on the GEC toothpick from Tony cause it looked amazing in photos, and I am not disappointed. Dimensions are awesome. What a lucky break. Yes, I’m pretty excited. Haha.
 
Interesting topic. I haven't had a ton of knives pass throug my hands but the one stag handled knife I have has one side slightly thicker and I'm okay with it. On the other hand, I had one of the recent GEC 38 whittlers where one side was a really light brown and other side a really dark brown. I couldn't get over this mismatch. I think what it comes down to is I'm okay with natural variations in cover shapes, specks, grooves, etc. but start to get picky when it comes to the dye job.
 
I’ve tried to own stag. It never works out. My OCD about symmetry and things needing to look a certain way make it nearly impossible for me to find the right knife. I’ll likely continue to try to find “that one” but so far it has been a long fruitless journey.
 
I think matching scales are important, at least for me. I wouldn’t want cocobolo on one side and smooth white bone on the other side. That would really irritate me. 🙀
 
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mis-matched for sure, like finger prints, makes them more unique and one of a kind. If every one that was sold matched they would all have that in common
 
I have some that match perfectly and others that do not. But my preference when purchasing is matching covers.
 
I believe in luck of the draw, and enjoy the so called "uneven" or mottled dye jobs on Case (and other brand) knives. If I want straight through color, might as well buy plastic, natural materials are just that; natural; they have variances.

Same thing for side to side on a knife... both sides of Nothing in nature match.
Like I say, want perfection, but plastic.

In a way I would kinda want both sides of that grey stockman to be a little closer to each other in hue, on a concept of consistency... but perfectly exactly the same color? No, I dont care that much.

I'd be more disappointed that the dye job is so uniform within each side.

but I wouldn't have any problem keeping it and using it, and loving it because it has differences, it makes the knife unique and so it has its own identity.
 
Somewhat. I don't think I'd want a knife that had a yellow or green cover/scale on one side, and raspberry/hot pink on the other.

To date I've been pretty lucky. All my natural or faux material covers have matched ... well ... O.K. ... the four Rough Ryder "Riders of The Silver Screen" series have different art work by design on each side, but aside from that ... :)
 
Depends. If one side is great I can live with the other not matching. I think JohnDF nailed it there. But yeah matching stellar covers is always a huge plus. Scales make the knife for me. I like the natural materials so it doesn’t always match. I have been looking at pairs of stag scales listed on the big auction site from culpepper trying to find some stag I like. A lot of times I see something and say wow but I wished the other side scale made me say wow too...been eyeballing them a week or two now and bought one set a few days ago. They look pretty good to me. BBFDFA8E-D0B1-49B0-AF00-A267BEE35D90.jpeg
 
Ice Tigre said:
I believe in luck of the draw, and enjoy the so called "uneven" or mottled dye jobs on Case (and other brand) knives. If I want straight through color, might as well buy plastic, natural materials are just that; natural; they have variances.

Same thing for side to side on a knife... both sides of Nothing in nature match.
Like I say, want perfection, but plastic.

In a way I would kinda want both sides of that grey stockman to be a little closer to each other in hue, on a concept of consistency... but perfectly exactly the same color? No, I dont care that much.

I'd be more disappointed that the dye job is so uniform within each side.

but I wouldn't have any problem keeping it and using it, and loving it because it has differences, it makes the knife unique and so it has its own identity.
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Yeah, I'd never expect anything close to perfect on dyed bone handles. The thing is, in this case, they're not even close. By the way, Case won't do anything. No materials to correct it. No exchange of a similar stockman (They have the Gray 6318 available w CV). No concern. Nothing. Just talked to them today. They'll be next offering Chinese produced knives.
 
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CEOh said:
Yeah, I'd never expect anything close to perfect on dyed bone handles. The thing is, in this case, they're not even close. By the way, Case won't do anything. No materials to correct it. No exchange of a similar stockman (They have the Gray 6318 available w CV). No concern. Nothing. Just talked to them today. They'll be next offering Chinese produced knives.
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They're not offering anything because theres nothing wrong with it, its a personal preference choice, its aesthetic not function, thats outside quality control, outside the warrenty. Its well within their specs, and honestly the specs of most of the industry.

And even if they had other bone to fit to it, the raw dyed slabs look worlds different than when ground, and finished. The next set they fit can have a 50/50 chance of matching or not. The exact color can't be previewed before 90% of the fitting process is done.

And a friendly warning, be verry careful country/country of origin bashing here in the trad forum, it can get you banned really really quick.
 
I prefer if the scales are as closely matched as possible. Which is why I tend to pass on camel bone, and stag scales, unless I get a chance to see the knife I'll receive before hand.
 
Ice Tigre said:
They're not offering anything because theres nothing wrong with it, its a personal preference choice, its aesthetic not function, thats outside quality control, outside the warrenty. Its well within their specs, and honestly the specs of most of the industry.

And even if they had other bone to fit to it, the raw dyed slabs look worlds different than when ground, and finished. The next set they fit can have a 50/50 chance of matching or not. The exact color can't be previewed before 90% of the fitting process is done.

And a friendly warning, be verry careful country/country of origin bashing here in the trad forum, it can get you banned really really quick.
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It is aesthetic. I chose the gray bone for aesthetics. They make sparkly synthetics for aesthetics. They show pretty pictures in catalogues for aesthetics. You pay a little bit more than say a Buck 301 or Case synsthetic for aestheics. And I'm not country bashing. I guess we can pretend like people are thrilled when known names move manufacturing overseas though. The frustration is there's GEC, Case and to a very small extent Buck making this type knife in the US. Same w Boker's various lines. People prefer a German Boker from Solingen. Maybe you prefer an asian Hen and Rooster. Somewhat matching bone scales is an achievable goal. I'm gonna see if the sun will bleach it out.
 
Pgg365247 said:
I’ve tried to own stag. It never works out. My OCD about symmetry and things needing to look a certain way make it nearly impossible for me to find the right knife. I’ll likely continue to try to find “that one” but so far it has been a long fruitless journey.
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You just have to decide to buy some Stag and Jump Right In . There is No Perfect Match of real Stag my friend .

Harry
 
CEOh said:
Yeah, I'd never expect anything close to perfect on dyed bone handles. The thing is, in this case, they're not even close. By the way, Case won't do anything. No materials to correct it. No exchange of a similar stockman (They have the Gray 6318 available w CV). No concern. Nothing. Just talked to them today. They'll be next offering Chinese produced knives.
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You should have returned it to the dealer right after you saw it if it was not to your liking. Why didn't you?

You're right, it's an aesthetic problem caused by you buying a knife sight unseen and not fully understaning there is no guarantee of matching scales. Don't buy sight unseen any more, you won't be satisfied. The knife is fully functional, thus your aesthetic probleim is not a Case warranty difficulty.

If one wants matching scales buy a custom made knife with wooden scales cut from the same block. I have one like that and the maker evenly matched the grain in the rosewood on both sides, including a swirl around a screw.
 
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