caribou antler material

[Timberjack logger]

Do any of you guys use much caribou for knife scales ? i cant find much about it searching around , what i have found looks like its worked down to a whitish gray streaking kinda look that i like the looks of . cant find much for sale . but i have a auction coming up to night for a mounted set, i thought about bidding on . any info would be welcome , goods or bads.

 

[Alberta Ed]

They should work OK for knife handles. Caribou shed their antlers, like elk, moose and deer. I've handled a few knives in moose antlers from hunts. It's very hard stuff, will dent an ax, but it can be sawn quite easily.

 

[Horsewright]

This WIP will help you. Elk and Caribou are similar. Elk is far and away my most popular handle material.

Thread 'Processing Elk Sheds (A WIP)'

Feb 4, 2017

Often see questions here about different aspects of processing antler into scales for handle use. This is something I do a lot of, so I thought I'd take some pics and show you how i go about it. Here in California a craftsman must use sheds in his work and thats all I use. I'll let the pics do most of the talking:

Ya think of California and ya think of palm trees and bikinis. Not so much around here. Around here we have big elk, (Stacy I expect ya to know who's on the beer fridge in the background).

I'm a rancher as well as a knife maker...

• Horsewright
• Replies: 57
• Forum: Shop Talk - BladeSmith Questions and Answers

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Couple three that I recently just finished:

 

[Arathol]

Caribou isn't the same as elk. They are the same species as the reindeer in the Nordic countries. Reindeer antler can be bone white or grey in color, often with darker grey or brown streaks or mottling.
This is what reindeer antler looks like

 

[Timberjack logger]

Thank you guys for the info , those are some nice knives guys, and thanks arathol for the close ups i appreciate it . i get to work elk shed some . but have never even held caribou . its hard to find in ky. im excited hope i can get these.

 

[John A. Larsen]

Maynard Linder of Dancing Man Knives up in Alaska uses Caribou antlers for handles on his knives. John

 

[Timberjack logger]

Thanks guys , i had my hopes up but couldn't shake the guy bidding against me , guess he wanted a trophy. lol , i did make him pay for them though. maby i can find a small set of scales to work with sometime.