diffrent scale materals and sambar stag..?

110 Dave

110 Dave

Joined
May 6, 2004
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well ... i was wandering why sambar got hard to find and expensive to boot..

and so i set off on a search to find some or some thing like it...
some how i always thought sambar stag was used because of its color and the narly'ness of the horn...
well during my search and attempt to finding some, some place at a reasonable price i found i was told i was wrong as to the reason it become used so much by knife makers.. and this by several sources..
now i can not vouch for the information, i am not a knife maker and jest basically repeating what i was told to see if any of you folks here have information suggesting some thing different..

i was told by a number of antler suppliers and a few knife makers that :

sambar stag come in to wide spread use because it is so much denser closer to the core then almost any other antler and there fore less prone to cracking when a rivet is put in it!
it is not used because of color- 95% is dyed any way (!!)
nor because of being gnarly as there are lots of antler that is coarser looking ..
it was used simply because it did not crack out any ware near as offten as most other antler!

also i was told of the diffrent types of bone that the hardest was the giraffe leg bone and there fore a really good scale materal..

so i wanted to share what i was told and see if any of youa'll had diffrent thoughts on what type of antler you liked or thoughts on what other materials you thought would make good scale materials!
 
Dave, Where ever you found that info. it is correct. For in college during a wildlife course we discussed this topic and we were'nt sure why our European cousins antler's were so much denser than our deer. But at the cost of stag these days I'm using American antler that I had saved.DM
 
334dave said:
well ... i was wandering why sambar got hard to find and expensive to boot..

and so i set off on a search to find some or some thing like it...
some how i always thought sambar stag was used because of its color and the narly'ness of the horn...
well during my search and attempt to finding some, some place at a reasonable price i found i was told i was wrong as to the reason it become used so much by knife makers.. and this by several sources..
now i can not vouch for the information, i am not a knife maker and jest basically repeating what i was told to see if any of you folks here have information suggesting some thing different..



sambar stag come in to wide spread use because it is so much denser closer to the core then almost any other antler and there fore less prone to cracking when a rivet is put in it!
it is not used because of color- 95% is dyed any way (!!)
nor because of being gnarly as there are lots of antler that is coarser looking ..
it was used simply because it did not crack out any ware near as offten as most other antler!
Click to expand...

HEHE.. they're not expensive ( though they can be flamin' hard :D) to find if they're running around the hills 10-15 mins away :p.. sorry.. just having a giggle, this is Oz, you know.. g'day mate..

l'm not a knife maker either or haven't studied the different 'local' deer species antler densities and l don't know if knife makers do dye sambar antlers but going by the ones l have here ;) it ain't really necessary,

also my brother was given a puma white hunter back in the mid sixties that has sambar handles and while that hasn't had much use in the last few years it stills looks terrific and getting even more off topic ( sorry ) l had a look at a modern white hunter the other day and, sadly, it ain't the same knife..

back on track now, l've also got a fallow mount and red deer antlers here, to my layman's eye, the red's antlers "seems" softer than the fallow, which looks to be similiar to sambar, though l'm prepared to be corrected,

just throw this in as well.. my son bought a nice Boker Arbolito sheath knife two days ago with a slightly different style sambar handle, part of it was almost smooth, dunno why they'd do that??,

anywho...
cheers,
'aveagoodweegend' ;)
 
here in wv the white tail are trouble some..
was at brother in laws to feed the horses and there were 5 deer in his yard! 6 in the field next door.
law says no guns in 500 yards of any housing.. oh well ..
he lets his dad hunt with bow but ...
well ... i am good enough to feed the horses if he is not there!
oh yes knife topic
i have wanted to see some fallow and red deer antler scales...
i can get some from NZ
but dont want that expense if it is not 'narly..
i was surprised at that all sambar it is dyed!
but i guess it dont really mater..
i like honny worm grove and nothing natural about it...
some how i would like to discover other scale materials ...
i would like to see some horn that is red rather then black with white streaks ..
carbon fiber seems to be a hot item now..
i have thought of getting some 1 oz silver ingots and
cutting inlays for my 110 from them..
and i have always liked ivory!
also wandering of some of the old fashion colored lucite like Al Buck used..


then there is still that carbon fiber with it's shimmering.....
 
I stand by my original posting. From my suppliers Stag is higher now. I do remember studies about it being denser as well. Also import tax ect..DM
 
I just bought a neat US-made Gerber fb - a Freeman Hunter in S30V - and sambar stag scales. From Evil-Bay, it was less than the Cabelas' only version with cocobolo scales and S30V. Additionally, German-made Pumas - fixed and folders - still employ big chunks of sambar stag as handles/scales - I have a collection. The folders came from Academy Sports chains - on closeout, of course. Comparing a ~30yr old White Hunter I have to an Original Bowie, etc, I bought recently, there really isn't much difference - except the newer ones look whiter. Also, good old Alabama's Bear MGC uses lots of it. I have a 297, a tad larger than our beloved 110, with oak scales and mystery metal - $30 closeout from Academy Sports. I also have the same thing with Alabama Damascus' blade and the stag scales - and it's the nicest Bear, fit & finish, that I have ever seen. It was a $40 win on the 'bay' - new - from a knife store. Oddly, I could stack quite a few of my stag handled knifes in a pile to equal Buck's Custom Shop stag surcharge for a 110.

Is sambar stag from a European or eastern Indian deer? Is it under an embargo now? Should anything be put on it to protect it?

Stainz
 
Here's a link to some more info on India Sambar Stag: The Knife Connection

Evidently the embargo placed on Sambar Stag by India had to do with the method of collection and not because the species is endangered. Poachers were torching off forests to make finding the shed stag easier, resulting in large forest fires and deforestation.

I'm adding a link to an article i just found from the India Tribune from 1998 re the ban: Collection of Antlers Banned
 
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Sambar stag is from India. I know in Europe they grow and harvest it. The market may be driven or inflated by Japan's insatiable desire to eat the stuff. In our state I'm seeing good, brown, fresh shed antlers being bought by buyers coming to town for one day and setting up in a retail store parking lot and purchasing this grade for $12-$15/ lb.. After I enquire the proprietor informs me his shipment is destined for the orient, after it goes thru two other brokers. While everybody makes money along the way. DM
 
i emailed with 4 deer ranchers in NZ.. they raise deer for to send the antlers or velvet to japan and china and indonesia... they make a LOT of money from this..
IMHO this part of the world gets on a kick of most any thing to have some part of the male life style enhanced and bing bang boom what ever it is become endangered cause they are eating it.. bear gal balder poached here even... now a gal bladder?

ivory will no longer be sold on ebay due to this part of the world not abideing with the laws.. and the do gooders that eat mac greassys ...
were is the middle ground and reason?

so did i up set any one? i hope not and i apoljise as i know it is not every one there ...
but it is a lot of them...
one persons pet ... some one elses dinner..
so what else can we use to make knife handles out of ?
i am open to most any idea ..
Hay.. rubber!! hee hee hee got a proto type 112 rubber bucky in the clamps now!!
think it will look good! OMG- i may become a 112 user even !!
 
chickentrax said:
334dave - as I recall, the Sambar stag ban has been lifted. It's perfectly legal to buy it now.
Click to expand...
WHAT ??? when dat hap
ya t'aint joshing me now R ya?
kinda like my.. hummm.. bug killer..
cant ever buy it at the abc store...
but if ya knows some one ya can always get it!:D
 
chickentrax said:
334dave - as I recall, the Sambar stag ban has been lifted. It's perfectly legal to buy it now.
Click to expand...

Although it's perfectly legal to buy I think the India embargo is still in effect. I have found several references of the ban having been lifted temporarily, the market flooded, then the ban reimposed.

There is a healthy population of Sambar Stag in Oz and NZ as well other countries. Lots of sources for it online, doesn't seem that hard to get. Would probably make sense to see and hold before buying, rather than ordering online.
 
How many knife handles could you out of these elk antlers?

Jackson, Wyoming......
 

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