Handle scales on traditional knives

matfox

matfox

Joined
Dec 1, 2015
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What kind of handle scales do You like on traditional pocket knives?

Colored, shiny, darker? Smooth, jigged, scratted,...?

I ever wanted some smooth bone handles on my GEC #15 blood red and #85 green briar bone,
and decided to sand the jigging down.
They became more colorful with a nice warm feeling in the hand.



:ghost:
 
I don't really have a preference. My knives have wood, bone, (smooth and jigged) delrin, G10 (Buck 371 stockman and Colt CT609 canoe) celluloid, acrylic, Delrin, and stone (Rough Rider RR915 Stoneworx stockman).
My EDC this month has been a Buck 110 (wood) Case 11031SH (wood), Ulster Scout Knife (Bone? Delrin?) and a Case CV canoe (bone).
 
I have a wide variety to materials on my traditional knives, but most prefer stag and wood. The green scales on your knife look nice:thumbup:
 
What...? ;)

Jk looks fantastic! How low of a grit did you use/did you end up using a belt sander? It looks like the stamping on the "Un-X-Ld" shield has been taken off (might be glare though)
 
i like stag, someday, hope to make metal scales, perhaps in aluminum, or steel
 
Man, those turned out great. I never would have thought to do that.

My favorite handle material right now is buffalo horn for folders and micarta for fixed blades. I also like bone, but find that most jigged bones feel cheap to me. I like sawcut quite a bit and GEC's pioneer bone is very nice. I also have a fondness for smooth bone that has some variation to it, like your two examples above.
 
No particular preference. This week, I have carried painted steel, unpainted steel, brass, aluminum, wood, jigged bone, sawcut bone, delrin, plastic and leather.
 
I am a huge fan of wood covers on my knives. With that said I do like it sometimes when non-traditional cover material is used. A couple of examples area carbon fiber and micarta.

I know some people feel that micarta is a traditional handle material but I feel it fits in with other composites like G10 and carbon fiber.

I have never been a big fan of bone. Stag is usually too thick for my tastes on a folder.
 
Though I have many different handle material on my knives I prefer natural materials with stag being my favorite and jigged bone a close second.
 
Sawcut; red or brown is my favorite. Also dig Soupbone. But I've learned to appreciate any.
 
The variety of handle materials is one of the things that makes traditionals so interesting. I get caught up on a particular handle material for a while then I start getting interested in the next handle material. I started out really liking wood but then got my hands on some smooth and jigged bone. I love them so now I'm really looking for some sawcut and soup bones. Stag is also starting to interest me on certain knives. It's too hard to choose one!
 
I'm pretty hung up on gecs acrylic scales. The few I own, have a nice smooth yet slightly textured feel that makes a good "worry stone". I also really enjoy all the patterns, colors, and the depth of the acrylics.
After that ,I'd have to say that wood is my second favorite. I love the almost mesmerizing natural patterns on my amboyna case congress :thumbup:
 
I'm newly retired and have rediscovered my boyhood love of knives. Having missed a few (cough cough) years of progress in knife design, handle materials etc, I find that I've returned at what seems to be a golden moment for knife knuts.

Well, looking back on knives that I've missed out on (TC Barlows come to mind) I may have returned a few years late...

With limited funds I'm proceeding slowly compared to much of what I read and admire here. So far I have one in each of desert ironwood and smooth bone. Both are great, but plan to keep changing it up with each new knife.

Hope to find a favourite eventually.

O
 
Ernie1980 said:
I have a wide variety to materials on my traditional knives, but most prefer stag and wood. The green scales on your knife look nice:thumbup:
Click to expand...
Thanks Ernie! I also like wood handles a lot, stag I haven't tried yet.
 
Ryouchijtx said:
What...? ;)

Jk looks fantastic! How low of a grit did you use/did you end up using a belt sander? It looks like the stamping on the "Un-X-Ld" shield has been taken off (might be glare though)
Click to expand...

:D

Thank You! JK became lighter the more I worked on, some parts even got a little white. I would have continued, but two of the pins got loose.
The jigging was pretty deep on both knives, so I started with a file and then took 120, 400 and 1000 sand paper.
At least I used a buffing wheel and some 6000 sanding paper with oil.
Unfortunately the "Un-X-Ld" writing disappeared from the shield during the process.
 
Cory Hess said:
Man, those turned out great. I never would have thought to do that.

My favorite handle material right now is buffalo horn for folders and micarta for fixed blades. I also like bone, but find that most jigged bones feel cheap to me. I like sawcut quite a bit and GEC's pioneer bone is very nice. I also have a fondness for smooth bone that has some variation to it, like your two examples above.
Click to expand...

Thanks Cory. I first tried it on a scattered bone handle where some of the lines remained visible.
On these two I decided to sand everything down as much as possible.
Buffalo horn and pioneer bone are great choices.
 
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