Genuine amber spacer - where to get?

S

sowilo

Joined
Aug 2, 2007
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Hi to all,
I'm looking for a piece of genuine amber to use as spacer material for the handle of my next knife project - does anyone know where I can obtain such? I've ran a google search but all I could find was faux amber imitation offered by Texas knifemaking supply, and I'm looking to get a genuine one...
Any tips and leads would be greatly appreciated!


p.s. since I've never worked with amber before, I may be unfamiliar with its properties... how well do you think it would polish/grind?

Thanks!
 
You can try Ray Simonson of Wild Boar Blades. He sells handle material and I'm pretty sure that he has genuine amber. His phone number is (360) 735-0570. He's one heck of a nice guy too.

Ickie
 
I have never worked with Amber, or faux Amber, but I do know that the real stuff is not cheap.
A pea sized piece of amber might run you the better part of $50. I have seen larger stuff, silver doller sized and around 4mm thick at its max, go for $150. Kinda like all gemstones, which is what it is considered, size as well as cut and clearity come into play. If you have an insect in there, it can be worth thousands.

The largest source of Amber in the world is the Black Sea, and the Soviets control the supply pretty well. It isn't easy to get large pieces, and I don't know how well the real stuff works.

The Faux stuff will be cheaper, as that it is made to be a spacer material in both size and shape (difficult to find in nature), and if you mess it up you won't be out several hundred dollars.

I don't mean to be a downer. But on the other hand I think Mammoth and Ossik is too expensive. Different strokes for different folks.
 
>The largest source of Amber in the world is the Black Sea,
Baltic actually...
>and the Soviets control the supply pretty well.
Right on the Baltic coast amber can be had cheap, but beware of fakes (from conglomerated molten pieces to outright epoxy)

I'd say a good source of amber(as well as ivory and other exotic materials) would be broken-down antique items. Less chance of fake.
They used to waste amber on all sorts of items in the XIX century - I've seen a handle the owner said came from some playing tool (must have been some variation of indoor crocket, golf putting or something for those prim Victorian ladies). It was over 2 feet long and mostly made of alternating amber and ivory spacers about an inch thick.
 
The stuff they sell for knife handles I think is made from real amber. It's just been ground up and mixed with resin or something.
 
I have had good luck with the alternative amber sold by Texas Knifemaker's Supply. If you email me, I can send you a couple of pictures of the amber on a finished knife. You must be careful when working the amber. It burns easy with a belt or buffer. Leave yourself plenty of bulk for hand work and polishing.
 
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