handle material bone

[from sweden]

hi i have a realy nice custom bowie with sheepshorn handle and am thinking off ordering another knife with some kind off bone i whant to know what material bone that is strong and looks good there are so many
stag indianstag ivory walrus antler red dear and so on. wich one is a good choise for a working bowie nice and strong thanx in advance

 

[Keith Montgomery]

From what I have heard, giraffe bone is pretty tough. Walrus ivory is tough for an ivory, but very expensive. It wouldn't be my personal choice for a working knife. Neither would elephant or mammoth ivory. India stag or red deer antler would be a pretty good choice, but you have to be careful. If dropped or banged into something it can chip or crack fairly easily. All of these materials can shrink or expand depending on the humidity in your area.

For a working bowie I would choose Micarta or a hardwood like lignum vitae.

 

[DGG]

Here is my favorite giraffe bone link by one of my favorite knife makers, Mel Fisher. Maybe you might want to check out some of the custom knife sites and see what the pros use?

http://www.knifenetwork.com/classifieds/index.php?ct=pres_fld&md=details&id=1255


http://customknifegallery.com/fassio1f.html

What do you think?

You could always used a jigged dyed cow bone.

http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_type/folding/slipjoint/a_g_russell_cattlemans_knife_.html

 

[Doug C]

You could check out Impala bone.I have some tacticals with Impala bone scales,best grip there is dry,muddy or wet and I have a couple Bowies I wouldn't use/beat,called "safe queens" around here,but money is relative.Anywho,the tacticals are carved Impala bone.

 

[Adam DesRosiers]

I like oosik a lot. It is moderately priced, very solid, and comes in big enough chunks to make a one-piece handle from. Walrus jaw bone is the hardest bone I have ever used, and is relatively cheap. downside is hard to cut out the right piece w/o voids to fill.
Good luck.