Inlays...

V

venivioi

Joined
Feb 21, 2012
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Just got a Mnandi with mammoth bark and Sebenza with Ebony inlays. There are few things that bother the crap out of me.

I know the inlays are coated with polyester resin but is the mammoth always feel like plastic? I imagine it would feel more like stone or bone...

And what is the deal with Ebony? From what I know, Box Elder is part of Maple species and quite common in US, and it is a premium wood inlay. Ebony is a prized ornamental wood and supply is supposedly relative low, but it's not a premium wood...Also it seems people don't really prefer Ebony for an inlay; there are tons of African black wood and blood wood inlays but just a handful of ebony.

Sorry, guy, for being a bit ignorant. New to bladeforum and to Chris Reeve knives, and want to find out more about these awesome knives!
 
Welcome Aboard. You will definitely learn a lot about CRK in this forum.

Box Elder is a Premium mainly because of its intricate figure, like most any Burl would be. You will also find that Tiger Maple is a Premium wood inlay too.
I think a lot of the plainer with little grain are bound to miss that Premium moniker. But to me, Ebony is a Premium as some will be super plain, while others are the most beautiful you could imagine. BRKT uses Black & White Ebony and its one of their most popular.

As for mammoth, I have never had one, but I KNOW many of my CRK forum friends can answer that question for you with ease. I have heard what you mention and my thinking is that the polyester resin is what stabilizes because anything 10,000 years old, especially bone/ivory would tend to be brittle. Polyester Resin is basically a bonding liquid plastic. So naturally, it would give you that feel even if the layer over the mammoth was only say 100 microns thick.
 
Knifemaker is right. You wouldn' be too happy if the mammoth broke. I have a mammoth bark mnandi and never really thought about it feeling plastic. I much rather have it durable. My ivory has lasted real well and it gets more charachter with use and while i don't abuse it ,I don't baby it either. The most I've ever done is put nuetral shoe polish on but I don't do that often to keep it moist. I works fine for me with no durablity issues and the looks are beautiful. Like I said I'd go for the durability and really, Chris and company really know what they are doing and if they put out the product like it is it's because it's the best way, not the cheap way. I've had their products for a long time and they just keep on working well day in and day out. One less thing for me to worry about.
 
I recently acquired a Mnandi with mammoth bark inlay and I know what you mean when you say it has a "plastic" feel. It's the first time I've had a knife with mammoth bark and I was a bit surprised as I was expecting an inlay where I could feel the texture and character. But I think CRK's choice to use polyester resin is a good compromise as it protects the mammoth bark, thus increasing strength and durability. Without it, air and moisture can cause the already brittle and fragile material to shrink or swell, ultimately resulting in cracks over time.

The inlays may feel like plastic, but at least you know they will last a long, long time.
 
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Welcome to the Forums.
I can understand that the first impression of the mammoth ivory was not satisfactory.
You have to fondle the knife often and the you'll get the feeling.
Also take a knife with a fiber reinforced nylon handle and compare it - at least for me the mammoth doesn't have the plastic feel.
On my large Sebenza there are som crackles on the inlays, which too helps with the haptic impressions.
red mag
 
I prefer durability too because I don't baby most of my knives, and all will be used at some point. It was just that I got Sebenza before Mnandi, and the wood inlay feels like wood with thin layer of paint, just like the furniture. So I expected mammoth would be similiar, and it bothered me a bit. Well, then again, amber feels like plastic to me too but they are great and durable. Thanks for the info, guys, appreciated that
 
You have to keep in mind that the materials people want are natural materials so they can't control how strong they will be. The materials are not as durable as G10 or micarta but people want them on the knives. So CRK gives people what they want but at the same time, it has to be strong so they have to treat it to make it as strong as possible.
CRK listens to what the customers want regardless of if they think it is a premium. So they put whatever wood people are asking for, micarta, carbon fiber, wood, ivory...
 
First of all venivioi, Welcome to the Chris Reeve Knives Forum. As nyefmaker says you will learn much here about our favorite knives.

After reading all of the above posts there is not much I can add to the already good and practical information given. Although I do not currently own a Mnandi of my own, I have owned Mammoth Ivory handled knives and have used Mammoth Ivory as a handle material. I was surprised to find that a supposedly fossilized material such as this will still actually "move" with climate change and the way to control that is by stabilizing as is done at Chris Reeve Knives. Of course this stabilizing also adds strength and seals the material from discoloration of dirt and oils when in use making a virtually maintenance free handle material.

Although the stabilizing process does result in a somewhat "plastic" feel I think many of us would opt for the strength and sealed in beauty of the preserved material, be it Wood or Mammoth Ivory, that the stabilization process gives us. Personally it is a trade off that I agree with, mostly because I use and carry my knives rather than display them. To be honest I did not realize that Chris Reeve Knives does stabilize their Mammoth Ivory as well as the woods used for the inlays. I know now that, because of this, I will be placing a future order for my own Mnandi with Mammoth Ivory inlays.

This thread and all the posts has been helpful to me as well. :)
 
>see post below< I'm not sure that we know that CRK uses stabilized mammoth ivory...has anyone seen any confirmation that they do, or that "stabilizing" (as opposed to top-coating it) is even possible?
 
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Not all ivory needs to be stabilized, it depends on what condition it is in. If it is from the bottom of the ocean, I believe it is always stabilized. I am sure Chris Reeve knows what he is doing with this raw material. It is still treated to get it to be a lot more solid and less likely to break.
 
I got curious and did some reading. It does look like there is a wide quality range on this stuff. Some is very soft, other mammoth ivory very hard. Some must be stabilized and other ivory can't be. There's some interesting reading here: http://www.williamhenrystudio.com/scales.cfm but lots more in various places on the web. I think onlooker96 has it right - one of the things you get when you buy a CRK knife is their expertise and attention to detail. Whatever they're doing is probably spot-on.
 
Well, the best colors like the blues and greens are from the ocean, and thus they are stabilized. I think even before they are sold as raw materials, they are already stabilized and Chris Reeve may not have to do anything at all. Some with the dark browns and cracks, those are the ones that are buried and may or may not need to be stabilized.
 
I've been wondering about this for awhile myself in regards to the mammoth ivory, and so have many others apparently. Another thread on this forum discussed the protection of CRK mammoth. Here is Nyefmakers's question to CRK, and their response:

The Low Down On CRK Mammoth Ivory........

With all the talk about mammoth bark lately.......wether its stabilized, how its treated, how to care for it, etc. For my own personal knowkedge and of course to share with my fellow CRK friends, I emailed CRK and asked about durability, how its treated, cracks, etc.

Here is my email to them and their response. Definitely to get a mammoth ivory...when that right one comes alone ( and when I sell more....lol ).

CRK,

I have been looking into getting a CRK with Mammoth Ivory. The beauty on
some of these is unspeakable. I am considering the sebenza and the mnandi.

I would like to know how you stabilize them and how durable they are
overall. I see several that have cracks in them, is this a normal and it is
something I should be worried about...?

Are different colors more durable, or is it all equal with your stabilizing
process.

Looking forward to hearing from you and what you have to say about the
mammoth ivory.

Thanks,
Thomas
( nyefmaker )


I am sure this info will be more than helpful to my fellow CRK buds as it was to me. Many Thanks to Jessie from CRK for her quick reply.

Hello Thomas,

The mammoth that we use is not stabilized (like some wood inlays are)...the
main finish we use is a wax to polish/protect the inlay. The mammoth bark
does have cracks and crevices at times but if the inlay has deep crevices we
do try to make sure that they are resistant to getting anything stuck in
them that may cause them to erode or "crack".

The color variations you see are due to what that mammoth might have been
exposed to (or buried in) before it was found and that also varies greatly.
But the color doesn't have any significance to the strength.

To care for mammoth is easy, just use a damp cloth to clean it and it is
best if the knife is not exposed to extreme conditions over a long period of
time...i.e. heat, humidity, bleach, harsh soap etc. For example we say that
if you keep the knife in a pocket and it tends to be a sweaty, moist
environment then it should be kept in the pouch. That is why we provide one
with all our inlays and decorated knives...it just adds that extra
protection. But the way we make the inlay should keep it stable if cared for
well. Our inlays are a natural resource and are not sold as indestructible
but with proper care they will be fine. And of course if for some reason
something unusual happens like a crack we will look at it and determine if
it is a warranty issue.

The mammoth inlays are meant to be our top of the line, unique and beautiful
inlay and with anything of that sort you wouldn't want to subject it to hard
use like you would say with a regular Sebenza. It certainly will be
something to show off and be proud of.

Hope that helps you make your decision.

Jessie
Customer Service - Chris Reeve Knives
 
It seems people are more interested in mammoth than ebony. I enjoy the mammoth and it's beautiful, but the wood inlay is so good that it set my expectation so high and mammoth wasn't what I expected, that's all. I have one more question for those who have ivory inlay, does it have the feel as the bark? Or it depends on the material?
 
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