Handle/slabs materials - properties, cons & pros?

matus

matus

Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
662
Hi,

I would like to ask a general question about different materials that are used to today on folding knives. Of course - the number of different materials is immense - stabilised or natural woods, horns, antlers, bones, tusks, molars, vitrified woods, man made materials (G10, G11, micarta, acryl, etc.)

What I would like to ask is - how do these materials compare when it comes to weight, stability, wear over time, etc.? What material would you choose for what purpose? For example - what material would you choose for a EDC knife that will spend a lot of time in pocket with other elements, what material would you choose for working knife?

I would love to hear your experience and opinions :)
 
Ebony meets all requirements. Maybe not asthetically as some others but.....check out some of the ebony knives that have been recovered from ship wrecks etc. I have many knives covered in ebony and for regular use would probably not consider anything else. Of course you have modern materials such as Micarta and G10 but ebony is a nice throwback to old times and just about as tough as moderns.
 
I also love ebony or african blackwood. Very finely grained and dense with natural oils within them that make them very good knife scales. Bone is also excellent. Look at 100+ yr old EDC's here on the forum and you'll realize they're very durable. There's a reason these materials were chosen in the past - they are well suited for the purpose.

I'd say select whatever appeals to you and enjoy it :)
 
Ebony is great as a cover material, it has a warmth that synthetics don't. I like both G-10 and Micarta for synthetics, with G-10 being a bit tougher. They can be slippery if polished to a high finish. Micarta has some "grip" when wet.
 
I did not mean to ask about the best EDC handle material - I am more curios on different materials in general. For example - I have learned that stabilised wood is not only considerably heavier (denser) than 'normal' wood, but it also feels a bit like plastic.

In particular I would be curios about mammoth ivory or tooth molar - how does it feels and behaves?

Or what about some nice bright G10 - how does it look after year or two of EDC?

I mean - if I get custom knife for myself (the question is rather 'when' and not 'if') - I would like to have an idea how the knife will age (I mean - it is OK if it does, the question is how)

EDIT: yet another example. One of my kitchen knives has iron wood handle - orginaly it hat a really strong figure - relatively dark-brown with light color strips. After about a year the whole handle darkened and the contrast it now much weaker. It still looks (and feels) very nice, but I might have preferred to know this in advance.
 
matus said:
I did not mean to ask about the best EDC handle material - I am more curios on different materials in general. For example - I have learned that stabilised wood is not only considerably heavier (denser) than 'normal' wood, but it also feels a bit like plastic.

In particular I would be curios about mammoth ivory or tooth molar - how does it feels and behaves?

Or what about some nice bright G10 - how does it look after year or two of EDC?

I mean - if I get custom knife for myself (the question is rather 'when' and not 'if') - I would like to have an idea how the knife will age (I mean - it is OK if it does, the question is how)

EDIT: yet another example. One of my kitchen knives has iron wood handle - orginaly it hat a really strong figure - relatively dark-brown with light color strips. After about a year the whole handle darkened and the contrast it now much weaker. It still looks (and feels) very nice, but I might have preferred to know this in advance.
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I was asked by my mum to sharpen her kitchen knife which was given to her as wedding pres many moons ago.As far as i could see the old wooden handle was very dark.After i got it sharp I cleaned and lightly buffed the handle with 0000 steel wool.The beautiful grain was revealed as years of accumulated food gunkcame off.The difference was incredible.The handle I believe is teak.
A nice polish with some carnuba and beeswax tomber polish.goid as new.
I like old school scales on my pocketknives.bone with its various jiggings and colours but prone to chip or crack if dropped-which is good because I'm conscientiously more careful.Woods all good and very durable. Ivory too rare n expensive to test out for toughness but it seems to have worked ok for mammoths etc. I have a northfield 79 workhorse with mammoth -it is quite plain at first glance and frankly a bit boring for the price...BUT...as it has aged it has matured somewhat and i think it's quite classy.
Acrylics tough and fantastic variety but a bit modern for mine.
 
meako said:
... Ivory too rare n expensive to test out for toughness but it seems to have worked ok for mammoths ...
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Now that is actually a very valid argument :)

Yes - I am learning that many woods darken over time (UV is part of the equation or so I have heard), but the link provided really explains a lot - thanks!
 
matus said:
Now that is actually a very valid argument :)

Yes - I am learning that many woods darken over time (UV is part of the equation or so I have heard), but the link provided really explains a lot - thanks!
Click to expand...

Ive seen many images of elephants with broken tusks too.probably from pachydermal pugilism And in one sense ivory has not been very beneficial to them at all.beautiful stuff tho.some of it is astounding.
 
While I indeed admire elephant ivory, I would not buy a product made out of it, as most of the ivory traces back to poaching. I am actually surprised that there are still knives being made with ivory handle. Indeed - there are some old stocks that were 'legit' (what ever that means), but still, it is getting harder and harder to sell/export/import products made out of ivory, I am not sure whether it is worth the hassle.
 
ivory is a great handle material.
It is beautiful but the best feature is that even if it's glass polished it doesn't get slippery with wet/bloody hands.
As any other natural material (except mother of pearl) will benefit being oil or wax finished to restrain moisture variations within.
Almost any natural material hafting will endure as heirloom if properly cared, and will gain beauty along the years.

Another point worth noting: vintage handle makers knew how to shape their handles without overheating, with files, bed floats and hand sanding, and that's the key trick to minimize movements, checking and the like along the years coming!!
 
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Some of the folks in the custom forums have a lot of knowledge about materials.

matus said:
I did not mean to ask about the best EDC handle material - I am more curios on different materials in general. For example - I have learned that stabilised wood is not only considerably heavier (denser) than 'normal' wood, but it also feels a bit like plastic.
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Stabilized wood feels like plastic because it is impregnated with plastic such as PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate acrylic). Specifically, it's impregnated with the monomer under vacuum and then heated to form the polymer.

matus said:
Or what about some nice bright G10 - how does it look after year or two of EDC?
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I don't know about bright G10 but other plastics like micarta, for example, can still dent and scratch even though the material is very durable. I have a small dent in the handle of my micarta GEC 66. I'm not sure how it happened but it was likely just from pocket carry with keys. It hasn't been dropped.

matus said:
EDIT: yet another example. One of my kitchen knives has iron wood handle - orginaly it hat a really strong figure - relatively dark-brown with light color strips. After about a year the whole handle darkened and the contrast it now much weaker. It still looks (and feels) very nice, but I might have preferred to know this in advance.
Click to expand...

Some of the darkening may be due to oils and stains from foods. The original appearance might be restored by stripping the oils with a graded alcohol series (possibly ending w/ xylene which will definitely strip all oils) and then rehydrating and finally oiling/waxing. The process is a bit risky though since the wood may shift or warp or even crack. Only use a graded series to minimize the possibility.

A few years ago... in Bernard Levine's Forum, he posted an interesting article about the antimicrobial properties of wood. Apparently, dry wood has some antimicrobial properties that are diminished by oils and wax. So dry wood is healthier and waxed/oiled wood is prettier.
 
The value of old knives gives another interesting perspective. The value/demand for stag and bone handled vintage knives is usually much higher than wood. And synthetics usually have the lowest value.

In the future, this may or may not also hold true for our modern traditional knives when they are old enough to be considered vintage or antique.
 
I'd put in a word for stag actually. You get a knife with antler that you like and it will be a very durable material that ages very satisfyingly indeed. I find it rather more springy than bone so I'd rate it tougher, however, I never carry my knife with keys or coins, too much mess and I don't like the nicks you get on the bolsters with that type of carry.

Delrin has to be the tough option for a working-knife, why else are most Sodbusters clad in it? Nor is it heavy.

Horn is light but if improperly cured, it may warp. stezann's comments on the careful handworking of natural materials is very valid and pertains to horn especially.

Thanks, Will
 
Anybody have first hand experience dropping a mammoth covered knife? I don't own one, but assume since it's fossilized it would not handle a drop on a hard surface very well?
 
i wonder how 1095 scales would be. your whole knife can patina! :D it would be heavier but probably indestructible.
 
Some really cool information, thanks. I would also be interested what to expect from Mammoth tusk scales. The Molar is probably heavy and fragile, it is a tooth, after all.

Yep, 1095 ticks all boxes apart from weight :)
 
I like stag. I think it is a very versatile material, looking right at home on a working tool or a dressier knife. Strong too. I've been carrying the same stag handled knife for a couple of years now. I'm interested in seeing how well the knife holds up as stag isn't as tough as synthetics. Nor is the 1095 blade as wear resistant as modern alloys. Early indications are that I'll lose this knife before it gets worn out. I've dropped it a few times and it is none the worse for wear. And despite the fact that 1095 doesn't have any chromium or long lasting carbides, the blade hasn't experienced much loss due to rust or excessive sharpening. The blade lost more metal in its initial sharpening than it has during these past couple of years of use.

My advice is to get what you want. You'll be happier than if you choose based on pure utility.
 
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