Does Size Matter?

[black mamba]

It just occurred to me that this might be an interesting topic for discussion: size does matter when it comes to handle material on a traditional knife.

In Traditionals we have members from analytical to emotional, young to old, rich to poor, etc., so it will be fun to see the range of arguments both for and against my statement above. But I have realized, that for the most part, the size and ultimate use of a knife matters in the selection of handle material. Some woods have large, bold grain patterns that get swallowed up on a small knife, while others have very tight burl swirls that look too busy on a large handle. With large knives primarily for hard use, I generally choose tough stag, wood or ram's horn in natural materials, or micarta or G10 for synthetics. While mother of pearl is lovely on a small gent's knife, it is a little dainty for use on a large one. Finely grained popcorn stag and geometrically jigged bone look better on small knives, while deep, "groovy" stag and deep, randomly jigged bone look great on a large cover palette.

Chime in with your thoughts, and show some examples as well. Pics are always a plus.

Bold jigging on a larger pocket knife, 3⅞"

Walnut handled hunter, 9⅛"

Pearl pen, 3⅛"

Groovy stag on a large stockman, 4"

 

[mrknife]

it could, but blade shape can affect edge length, 14 clips are pending!

the tiny one was given to me as a "lucky charm" in my younger days. tbh its truly more of a keychain oddity than an actual usable knife. but an edge is an edge when you need it.

 

[tongueriver]

I pretty much agree with all that you have said so far, Jeff. One handle material that I think works on large and small is a good grade of ebony or ivory, understated elegance.

 

[Modoc ED]

Stag works nicely with a small knife such as this GEC Conductor.

Wood works nicely with a large knife such as this Schrade LB-7 Bear Paw

Bone works nicely with most knives such as this Case 6347 Stockman

Composites (Delrin, Micarta, etc.) works nicely with knives meant for heavy duty work such as this Smith & Sons Mudbug.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Size and shape can effect what you get from a certain handle material, but I think it only matters if you don't buy in person.

When buying in person you can choose what you get, it's different if basing a purchase off of a stock photo of course because you don't know what it's covers will look like.

 

[afishhunter]

Interesting. I never paid that much attention to the jigging vs size before.
I think you might be correct.
My smallest knife without smooth covers is a (BTI/Taylor) Old Timer 12OT, with saw cut Delrin.
I'll have to go through my "collection" to confirm it, but off hand I think all my 3 1/2 inch and under knives have smooth covers.
Of these, only the Sarge "Official BSA" Barlow has a fancy Burl Wood. The imitation Abolone covers on my RR Barlow Also look good. I think the handle shape gives them enough size to not appear "too busy".

All my other slipjoints up to 5 1/4 inches have either smooth or jigged bone or synthetic, nothing fancy wood, stone (Rough Rider large Stoneworx Stockman) or metal.

All but one of my "Heavy Use" slipjoints have synthetic covers. Two have G10, three others came with smooth Delrin(?) in either yellow or green.
The oddball is a Marbles "GI Hawkbill" with metal covers, stamped "US" on the mark side.

 

[Ernie1980]

You pretty much summed it up well! The only material that I have that is on both a small (under 3”) and large (over 4”) knife is micarta.

 

[Will Power]

Depends on the knife's context, so yes and no

I'd vouch that Stag suits most situations, notably Barehead. Jigged bone too. Micarta looks best on a bigger work knife so that you can see the grain or pores more, Woods with grain/burl work best on Shadows or fixed handles - to show off the beauty of the wood you need a bigger canvas Cell and Acrylics seem to fit better on the more compact pattern I believe and do well with a bolster contrast. It's true that non grainy wood like Ebony or material like Ivory seem at home on most patterns and sizes.

MOP and MOT I don't fancy too much nor that Snail Shell muck but they're made for the smalls

In the end, yeah it does matter but when & how are the key factors

 

[rockman0]

I like jigged bone on small knives, I'm not a fan of stag on a barlow, sawcut bone is my favorite on a barlow with jigged bone a close 2nd. Stag is my favorite on Lannys clip of which I own zero sold one.

I like bone on a lambsfoot

My hard use is a fixed blade with synthetic covers, you don't see it often but rubber horse stall mats is a good one, grippy even when bloody or in rain. The bottom one sports horse mat covers.
For one that's a looker and won't see any abuse it's hard to beat wood.
The picture was taken by the maker before he sent them to me.

 

[meako]

I dont know much about art
but I know what I like.?

 

[Old Engineer]

You have opened a little can of worms here Jeff . I do agree with you that Size Does Matter .
For a Work Knife I like Jigged Bone and a knife over 3.75 inch like this old Taylors Eye Witness


When I am going to where I do not have to worry about the blade length I like to carry a Feel Good knife in Stag and the larger the better like the Northfield 73 and 43


For a Dress Up knife , I really like this one


When I feel like I should carry some small knives I like to carry the Northfield 06 and 18 . Very nice little knives to have .



I also like to carry the 77 & 25 Barlows with Saw Cut Bone just about any time .

And I can carry these 2 at around 3.7 inch or so and know that I can handle about anything and also know that I have some nice Jigged Bone on me .