Durability of Sambar Stag

I believe stag (and horn) is a bit more durable than bone, and slightly less durable than the 300 and 400 series stainless steels, copper/brass/bronze/ and aluminum commonly used for pocket knife handles.
 
afishhunter said:
I believe stag (and horn) is a bit more durable than bone, and slightly less durable than the 300 and 400 series stainless steels, copper/brass/bronze/ and aluminum commonly used for pocket knife handles.
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Stag I.e. antler is bone at the end of the day. Although it's composition is slightly different to allow for fighting.
 
Wild Willie said:
I have a gec with stag handle slabs that spent 2 weeks or so being run over in the driveway after I dropped it getting out of a vehicle after a wedding. The rest of the knife was a bit rough until I thinned the blade past the pitting, but the stag was fine.
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That seems excessive for adding character to a knife.
 
bikerector said:
That seems excessive for adding character to a knife.
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I was needless to say, a bit upset. I'd given up on finding it thinking it had fallen out at the party hall and been picked up by someone. Imagine my surprise at finding it rust coated and squished into the gravel.

Luckily with a little oil and some elbow grease it's still a functional user.
 
Rsmith_77 said:
Heh
Amateur 😜
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For real. I thought forced patina or just using the knife for prepping food a few times added plenty of character. I wouldn't have thought to leave it out in a drive for a while to speed up the "aging" process.

Maybe I'll look for some bricks and an old dryer...
 
This is a summary of an article in the "Württembergischen Gewerbeblatt" from Germany, printed in 1852:
The public exclusively demands stag as handle material for strong knives. However, stocks of stag have dwindled greatly due to exports to England and France and due to declining wild populations. These days, foreign [tropical] woods are used as a substitute. Horn can be used on small pocket knives, but it is not durable enough for heavy duty knives. It swells easily and warps if under the influence of heat and moisture. Bone may crack at the rivets, either during mounting or after a short time of use.
Natural materials in descending order of durability:
Stag or ebony -> bone or ironwood (but check for cracks at the rivets) -> other woods -> horn

Stag shouldn't be treated with Ballistol or linseed oil. The first will cause the liners to form verdigris, which then bleeds into the stag. The latter with time will make the stag yellowish and sticky. Once a year I put on a drop (but only a drop) of mineral oil. This very slowly will evaporate and won't harm the stag. Some people place their stag handles into mineral oil over night, but I can't recommend that.
 
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L Luke_Chambers Very interesting quote you give- do you have the original source in German? Bears out my experience of Stag as a rugged and pliant material, really only Micarta is tougher. Then various Woods, then Bone, then Horn (temperamental), then you have luxurious but more fragile scales such as MOP, Ivory, Tortoiseshell etc. Stag combines luxury with durability.

I've heard of Horse-hoof being used for knives and would imagine it's also a rugged and complex looking material, common too....

I agree with you about avoiding soaking with mineral oil as does Bill DeShivs Bill DeShivs whose long experience is to be respected. I'm curious about what Ballistic contains? Had a lot of verdigris problems on Stag and light coloured Bone, a reason I'm suspicious of brass.

Thanks, Will
 
Will Power said:
Very interesting quote you give- do you have the original source in German?
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The paper first describes stag and its rarity, then the alternatives, then goes on with an early version of fibre board that the author proposes to turn into artificial stag.
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Will Power said:
I'm curious about what Ballistic contains?
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The German Wikipedia page says Ballistol is slightly aggressive to copper alloys. So I'm using it on my gun, but use mineral oil on the knives. The gunstock and wood knife handles I touch up with boiled linseed oil every now and then. The Ballistol wiki can be read with Google translate.
 
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Luke_Chambers said:
Stag or ebony -> bone or ironwood (but check for cracks at the rivets) -> other woods -> horn
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I wonder if it means horn in general or a bull's horn? I happened to order some ram's horn slabs, but now I'm in doubt about it.
 
Alex.Y. said:
I wonder if it means horn in general or a bull's horn? I happened to order some ram's horn slabs, but now I'm in doubt about it.
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Probably meant water buffalo horn which I can tell you from experience has those tendencies as described. Which is why I don't use it anymore. When ya say ramshorn was it Himalayan (brown in color) or sheephorn, (whitish)? Either will make a very nice and serviceable handle. I like to sand thin from the inside and then glue to a liner for added stability. Also both can go a little translucent when polished and so the liner adds depth and prevents seeing through to the tang.

Ramshorn (Himalyan sheepshorn) with red liner:

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Sheephorn with blue liners:

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