Girafe Bone... what´s your opinion?

[BrB]

Hey there fellas,

I have been seeing lots of comments on the dislike of this material and I was wondering why some many hate it. I wanted to know why. If you could throw your thoughts in, that would be great. Thanks!

 

[Win Heger]

I will never buy a knife with Giraffe bone. To me it's a poor substitute made mostly to look like Mammoth Ivory. I'm shocked to see some of my favoite makers using it.

I've often wondered how this was arrived at for a handle material. did someone run around Africa picking up different bones and then trying them for scales?

I just don't like any handle material being made to look like something it isn't. That includes the jigged Stag. Dying product is different as it sometimes enhances the material.

Win

 

[Joss]

I actually like it. I think it looks nice.

This being said, on a high end knife, I would want to have walrus or mastodon. Giraffe bone should be reserved to "budget" knives. Unfortunately, it's actually not so cheap that it would make any sense.

I don't think the price difference between giraffe bone and ivory is big enough to justify the bone.

 

[flava]

Stabilized bone makes sense if you want a semi-natural material other than stabilized wood. From my experience, ivory is too fragile for a full tang knife that is not kept at constant temperature and humidity. It wants to move, the pins don't let it and it will crack eventually.

 

[BrB]

Interestin opinions... let´s hear some more from our friends. Thank you Joss and Mr. Heger.

 

[Chefget]

I like it, giraffe seems to have it's own look...

-Michael

 

[ptgdvc]

FWIW, there is zero giraffe bone in my collection. In my limited experience with it, there was nothing "stable" about it. It looks best in a natural or cream color. But now that Sambar Stag has returned to the market, I have to ask WHY bother with giraffe bone?

There is a clear prejudice against it among many collectors, and even if I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread (which I don't), it would negatively impact my valuation of any knife. Exhibition grade wood, Stag, or Ivory will almost always add more value, imho.

 

[Bladeandbarrel]

Giraffe bone is a poor subsitute. It is a stark white bone that is GIVEN color either by dyes or chemicals to make it look like mastadon ivory.
Like jigged bone, it is a poor substitute for the real thing.
Like Peter said, It is no more stable than stag, it seems.

I have one knife with giraffe--it was a good deal!

My natural handle materials, in order of greatness:

Walrus Ivory
Fossil Walrus
Elephant Ivory
Fossil Elephant
Hippo Ivory
Sambar Stag
Polished moose antler (very pretty)
Fancy wood
Sheephorn
Bone

 

[Keith Montgomery]

It looks good sometimes and looks bad. I have really like some knives I have seen where the giraffe bone was left white. There are makers that do a good job of making it look like mammoth ivory, but some that I have seen was butt ugly. Giraffe bone is tough and I'm sure makes a good handle, but I have never considered it for one of my knives. I have a mental block when it comes to any kind of bone being used for knife handles.

 

[Wulf]

Of all the vertebrates on this planet, why choose the giraffe for its bone? Is the bone from a giraffe somehow prettier or stronger than, say, that of a llama?

 

[Stephen F]

- Ivory = Teeth, some rather old and badly flossed!
- Stag(antler) = Bone, very often dyed, I have seen superb carvers and mediocre scales.
- Horn = Bloody hard finger nails ....... well keratin actually but you get the picture.
- Giraffe Bone = mainly shin bone, very often dyed.

I would argue that many peoples dislike of this more recent arrival is more a marketing issue than disdain of its source or looks! Perhaps in some instances old Will has been proven wrong, and if you call a rose a turnip, it starts to smell a bit odd!

Stephen

PS: Michael - That horned billed flipper is a flippin' beauty ('scuse the pun) - can you tell me more?

 

[RogerP]

I can take it or leave it - depends on the piece. Sometimes I think it looks good, other times not so much. I generally don;t like the more festive colours that it comes in. The fact that it is dyed troubles me not at all. Lots of other natural handle materials - wood and stag - are dyed to enhance or change their "natural" colour. I don't consider it to be "fake" mammoth ivory. I have never seen anyone try to pass of the material for something it is not.

Bottom line - there are too many other materials I prefer that I could ever imagine specifying it on an ordered knife. I'm much more likely to ask for walrus, mammoth, stag or premium wood. But its presence wouldn't stop me from buying a knife if I liked the look of it.

Roger

PS - The main reason I avoid it is that I tend to prefer single-piec handles on my knives - less shrinkage issues. The shape of the material means that you are not likely to ever get a one-piece giraffe handle, but will likely have to go with slabs around a full tang or a frame handle or perhaps a mortise fit. My experience with the dry heat of a long Canadian winter makes me avoid that option.

 

[Doug C]

So.
Someone did start a thread.:thumbup:
I'm on the fence about it.
Don't own any.Don't know if I'd buy any.
Saw some dyed stuff that looked nice.It was dyed to look like mammoth,but I don't imagine the seller was selling it as that,nor that the buyer would be expecting that.I prefer antelope or impala bone,dyed dark and polished.

We'll see what the future holds for giraffe bone.

Doug

 

[brownshoe]

Giraffe bone isn't fake mastodon ivory. It's just a different handle material. Being a natural product that's manipulated with dye, there are a lot of variations. Some suck, but some are quite pretty...just like some mastodon ivory sucks and some looks pretty. Died bone has been used for handles of knives for about 200 years...it's not new.

From what I've been told by a knifemaker, the properties of giraffe bone that make it a good knife handle material are (a) takes color in a variety of patterns based upon the natural vargracies of the bone, unlike cow bone which is more uniform, this makes it pretty and unique and why a good piece is more expensive than died cow bone, (b) being made of the shin bone of a big animal it is naturally strong, (c) it takes epoxy like a demon so when it's stabilized, it'll hold up to those canadian winters My giraffe bone handled knife i spretty and it expands and shrinks a little through the year, but never cracks...and it's pinned. I like giraffe bone a lot better than those pronghorn handles that look like toenails with fungus.

 

[joeshredd]

Won't buy another... Found a nice folder at a show, even liked the faux mammoth dyed color, but was more infatuated with the buy at the moment... I find this kind of bone to be cold to the touch - it doesn't warm like wood or some of the artifiacial materials like micarta. It doesn't always take a uniform color - on my folder, there is a tiny square area on one end that is distinctly un-dyed.. or a tiny layer has peeled off. And,it is slicker than snot on a brass handrail...

I have handled a few girraffe bone knives at several of the shows out here on the west coast and still feel that way...

Now, and ancillary question I'd like to ask is how different is Girraffe bone and Cow bone?

We've been carrying jigged bone pocketknives forever... is there a difference to y'all?

To me, I think because most of those handled in cow bone are jigged, like Case knives, etc, that I may hold a preference of cow over girraffe, but I also feel that my small pocketknives with cow bone feel different, or warmer, than the one of girraffe...

 

[Tom Militano]

I like the stuff, but nobody has ever accused me of having good taste.

 

[lwrhea]

I have been using some giraffe bone, but never considered the notion that the suppliers are trying to imitate ivory in any way. I can see where it might be the case now. As a handle material, I think its good. My problem with trying to deal with the whole giraffe bone thing is that I have a hard time finding it in its natural color. I cant seem to find it in white/ off white. Its always dyed in such wild colors that I usually just pass it by. I use very few dyed materials. I dont care if others use it, but my preference is natural color. Lin

 

[Danbo]

I don't like it at all, and for mainly the same reasons given by Win.

 

[Kohai999]

Pretty much every piece that I see is cracked.

Cracked is cracked. I spend an inordinate time picking out knives that are as close to perfect as I can see.

Cracks are an undesirable and unwanted feature of handle material for me in pearl, wood, stag or any sort of horn or ivory. The material might have "character" with the cracks, but to me, it just looks busted.

The other thing is that as others have mentioned, it is usually dyed, but that is not an automatic disqualifier. I mean the dying of stag that Culpepper is doing really makes the stag look attractive, but the reds, blues, greens and such of the giraffe bone look garish and just plain wrong.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Chefget]

Here's a butt-ugly dye job on a fillet knife...

-Michael