Custom Buck Handles

ono724

ono724

Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
1,490
Does anyone know why the Paua handles are so expensive considering that paua jewelry is relatively inexpensive?

My apologies if this is a dumb question, but that dang curiosity has reared it's ugly head :D
 
Are the Paua handles one piece or mosaic? If they are one piece, it could reflect the difficulty and expense of getting suitable pieces that big. I believe that this is the case with regular mother of pearl. Small pieces are cheap, but as you go up in size the cost goes up very quickly.
 
to be honest I don't know why. I did some research and some websites say paua actually is not that expensive. Maybe buck charges so much because paua looks so exotic and rare? In my opinion the paua looks pretty bad on the buck 110. It really makes the knife look ugly in my opinion.


media.nl
 
As with many things, there's all levels of quality -- no doubt Buck uses the best - from Culpepper/Mother of Pearl Co. -- paua select laminate is running over $10/square inch for 1/8" thick material right now. They've also got to figure in processing/cutting/fitting waste and loss - it's still a pretty touchy material -- even if it is laminated, it's still primarily lots of thin sheets of brittle shell. You can basically figure out how many square inches are needed for both sides, then double it -- that will be a good base material cost.
 
Last edited:
knivesngear said:
to be honest I don't know why. I did some research and some websites say paua actually is not that expensive. Maybe buck charges so much because paua looks so exotic and rare? In my opinion the paua looks pretty bad on the buck 110. It really makes the knife look ugly in my opinion.


media.nl
Click to expand...

I actually like the look of the Paua with the nickel bolsters. Obviously no rivets :D
 
I think the paua/damascus would be a great gift for a woman. Not my cup of tea, but I'm a coffee man anyway. Sometimes when you consider a gift for someone that's special (the gift and the someone) you don't consider the price so much because you want to give something that they'd never get for themselves but would love to have. :)
 
wolfdog said:
I think the paua/damascus would be a great gift for a woman. Not my cup of tea, but I'm a coffee man anyway. Sometimes when you consider a gift for someone that's special (the gift and the someone) you don't consider the price so much because you want to give something that they'd never get for themselves but would love to have. :)
Click to expand...

Definitely, I think the 112, A girly knife for sure, would look great with the paua..:rolleyes::D
 
imafritz said:
I've wondered the same thing evertime I check the custom shop handles.:eek:
Click to expand...

It seems odd to me also but it may be because of the size and thickness required to make inlays for a 110.

Another reason it seems odd to me is that I live on the coast of California and there's a town called Morro Bay about 30 miles north of me. I can remember when there were virtual mountains of abalone (american for paua) shells dumped on the outskirts of town. They sure didn't seem to be rare or particularly valuable at that time.

Now, you can't even find one in the wild! The fishermen blame it on the reintroduction of the sea otters, but after seeing the millions of shells piled up there, I don't think the otters were the main culprit.;)
 
Plumberdv said:
It seems odd to me also but it may be because of the size and thickness required to make inlays for a 110.

Another reason it seems odd to me is that I live on the coast of California and there's a town called Morro Bay about 30 miles north of me. I can remember when there were virtual mountains of abalone (american for paua) shells dumped on the outskirts of town. They sure didn't seem to be rare or particularly valuable at that time.

Now, you can't even find one in the wild! The fishermen blame it on the reintroduction of the sea otters, but after seeing the millions of shells piled up there, I don't think the otters were the main culprit.;)
Click to expand...



Back when there was an abundance of paua where you were, I wonder if the paua scales were as expensive as they are today. If they were, then they are overpriced. When Did you see a bunch of paua and how much were the scales at the time?
 
knivesngear said:
Back when there was an abundance of paua where you were, I wonder if the paua scales were as expensive as they are today. If they were, then they are overpriced. When Did you see a bunch of paua and how much were the scales at the time?
Click to expand...

Heck I don't know how much they sold for then. That was 30+ years ago when I saw those. I do know that abalone shell jewelry was sold on every street corner up and down the coast and it was cheap.

The shells couldn't have been worth much, they were just piled up and moved around by tractors.
 
Plumberdv said:
Heck I don't know how much they sold for then. That was 30+ years ago when I saw those. I do know that abalone shell jewelry was sold on every street corner up and down the coast and it was cheap.

The shells couldn't have been worth much, they were just piled up and moved around by tractors.
Click to expand...


I see. Did buck even have a custom shop back then before the internet?
 
This is the only picture I could find and it's from the 1930's or 40's I believe. When I saw them, the piles of shells dwarfed this one.
 

Attachments

  • Abalone%20Mountain%20at%20Morro%20Bay.jpg
    Abalone%20Mountain%20at%20Morro%20Bay.jpg
    59 KB · Views: 19
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top