GEC handle warping

Why don't they seal stag with something if it swells up when sneezed at? Not just GEC; we seem to hear a lot about unstable stag.
 
Marneaus said:
So, after a few days of drying time, things are improving. It's not back to flush or perfect yet, and only time will tell if it will fully return to its previous state. At this juncture, I would not be pleased if it remained in its current state, but at least it has receded to a mostly usable condition where I would not be extremely worried about a corner catching on something and breaking off.

I'm hopeful that after a few more days it will be back to how it was originally, and I can resume carrying it.

I guess I've learned a valuable lesson here. I shouldn't wash my knives. Maybe I was out of line by running it under water, but I have done this any time any knife gets sufficiently dirty. I have stag handled knives that i use extensively for fishing tasks including cleaning fish in running water, as well as other stag knives that have gotten wet in similar situations to the #99, and there has been zero issue. The #99 is the only time i have ever had any sort of warping or damage occur from getting a knife wet.

Anyway, here's to hoping that in a few more days it settles itself mostly back down.
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You should be able to wash a traditional slipjoint or fixed blade w/o any problem. I do it all the time. I had a case that the ebony separated from the liners after sitting in standing water for abou 30 min. Case said it was a factory defect in the gluing of the scales to the liners before pinning. They fixed it for free. However I believe GEC does not warrantee problems with natural handle materials.
 
I feel for you and hope it resolves itself

I have and have had in the past a number of India - Sambar Stag handled knives as well as Sambar Stag revolver grips. With the exception of a Cheap knife in my youth that has some crappy, porous European stag I have never had a warping issue, and I have washed them off. I have seen some very slight dimensional changes with the seasons depending on humidity but not large changes or warping to any extreme. Perhaps Stag available now is not as dense or stable as in the past. I will say that Elk stag I gave seen seems to be a good bit less dense and mopre porous than Good Sambar Stag
 
sceva said:
I feel for you and hope it resolves itself

I have and have had in the past a number of India - Sambar Stag handled knives as well as Sambar Stag revolver grips. With the exception of a Cheap knife in my youth that has some crappy, porous European stag I have never had a warping issue, and I have washed them off. I have seen some very slight dimensional changes with the seasons depending on humidity but not large changes or warping to any extreme. Perhaps Stag available now is not as dense or stable as in the past. I will say that Elk stag I gave seen seems to be a good bit less dense and mopre porous than Good Sambar Stag
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This echos my experience with Sambar Stag and Elk stag.
 
Spray them with silicone same as you do with your pup tent and leather boots to repel water...… It will make the action work better too...…
 
Glad it's alright now but it's still pretty odd that it occurred at all. Perhaps American Elk might be a lot more porous than other Antler, Sambar, Père David or it might be the batch on your particular knife? Last year's Forum Knife from Buck has thin panel American Elk, mine has been frequently washed as I use the knife on fruits and other foods and it's not moved in any way, hasn't even changed colour.
 
I am wondering if most makers don't also supply a liberal amount of epoxy instead of just letting the pins do the holding. Very thin cut elk may lack the actual marrow peth that would trap a lot of water also.
 
Peregrin said:
This echos my experience with Sambar Stag and Elk stag.
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Ditto here. Sambar stag is denser than stag from other members of the deer family, with the solid bark being much thicker. Elk has a thin bark with a very porous center.

It used to be the norm for sambar stag to show very little of the center porous section, but as the supply has dried up it is more common to see lower grade sambar in use, with more of the porous center.
 
My GEC 48 in stag gets used in the kitchen and washed regularly. Never had an issue but I don't leave it sitting in water.--KV
 
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