It's about that time... Giveaway!

Count me in!

It's really hard to decide my favorite cover material. I can narrow it down to two:

1. Quality sambar stag that is cut properly
2. Ebony or Blackwood that is absolutely coal black with very fine grain

Example of good stag:
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Good Blackwood (left) and good ebony (right):
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Johnnythefox said:
Out of interest which desert does the ironwood come from?
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As has been noted, Olneya Tesota is native to the Sonoran desert in Arizona, Mexico, and California. The price of quality ironwood would make one think that it is a scarce wood, but if you drive across the Sonoran desert you can see a lot of ironwood trees. They don't get very large. I think at least part of the scarcity could be due to strict limits placed on harvesting trees.

en.wikipedia.org

Olneya - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Hatchet_Jack said:
What does the actual tree itself look like?
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They tend to look almost like a large bush, rather than a tree. They rarely exceed around 25 feet in height and a couple feet in diameter.

L lambertiana is correct that when you drive through the Sonoran Desert you tend to see a lot desert ironwood trees. He is also correct that it is a protected species in both the U.S. and Mexico. It’s not quite as protected as say Joshua trees (which also grow in the Sonoran Desert), but there are some stiff penalties if the regulations aren’t followed. For now, harvesting desert ironwood on private property is still allowed.

The other reason for its scarcity has to do with the small tree size, high risk of checking during drying, and difficulty working with such a hard, dense wood.
 
Hatchet_Jack said:
What does the actual tree itself look like?
Click to expand...

This video shows examples of mature trees (the one right at the start) as well as numerous smaller ones that look more like shrubs. At 3:10 there are a number of large urban specimens shown.


When crossing the Sonoran desert, you see areas with nothing but small shrubby trees and areas with a lot of large trees. They are adapted to a hot dry climate, with summer temps typically 110-115 F/44-46 C, and low annual rainfall, typically 4-7" annually. They do not do well when temps drop below freezing.

A number of years ago I got a lot of blocks of ironwood but only one ended up being used, on a Bowie by Ray Laconico. This is about a third of my remaining stash.
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I love the look and feel of ironwood but with long term use it darkens. I figure if you are going to end up with dark wood I might as well choose one that is supposed to be black, hence my preference for ebony or Blackwood over ironwood or cocobolo.
 
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lambertiana said:
This video shows examples of mature trees (the one right at the start) as well as numerous smaller ones that look more like shrubs. At 3:10 there are a number of large urban specimens shown.


When crossing the Sonoran desert, you see areas with nothing but small shrubby trees and areas with a lot of large trees. They are adapted to a hot dry climate, with summer temps typically 110-115 F/44-46 C, and low annual rainfall, typically 4-7" annually. They do not do well when temps drop below freezing.
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Awesome video! Really takes me back to when I lived in the high desert.

That ironwood tree at 2:00 is a monster!
 
My favorite cover material...that's a difficult one. It's changes all depending on the knife. Without involving jigging straight smooth handles I'll say in general canvas micarta, it just always being a good bet with cocobolo wood being a solid second.

I used to love ebony, and still do, but I love the way cocobolo ages.
 
Thank you for hosting the give-a-way. Count me in, please.

I don't know if I can follow the rules to pick my favorite. :)

I'm an unapologetic Buck fan, so their traditional Ebony and Cocobolo, and the various dark-red-colored woods of the 700 and 500 series (dyed Birch, I believe, and Rosewood) are my favorites - it's what I've known my whole life. It's what a knife should be.

As an adult, I got exposed to Micarta, and have fallen in love with it, too, especially on hard use daily carries saving the above listed woods for the Sunday suit-pocket and gentlemen's knives. I prefer it a natural/tan/darker tan/brown in canvas on smaller folders and burlap on fixed blades.

Polished linen Micarta doesn't float my boat. Carbon fiber can look pretty, but just doesn't resonate with me and doesn't belong on a knife (with maybe one exception I can think of, a Lone Wolf Knives Paul Executive in 3D carbon fiber). I don't like black - never could get to like or carry Buck's 300 series in black Delrin for that reason, other than a 307 Wrangler a friend found in a used truck he bought and gave me. I've carried a yellow Delrin Buck Barlow some just cause it's a Barlow, but again, the Delrin doesn't make me smile, and doesn't stay in my pocket long term.

Stacked leather is what belongs on a Ka Bar, but after 3.5-4 days in the rain it gets so soft you can spin the disks around. Every time. You have to remember to straighten them all back up and fix the grooves before it dries and hardens all wavy and mis-shapen.
 
Thanks for the generous giveaway!

My favorite handle material has evolved a lot in the last decade. I would have said wood at one point (especially any very figured wood); then I would have said bone (especially Case's amber jigged bone); but in the last few years it's really been any fabric-based Micarta.

Now, I still love all of the above (and my last six or so knife acquisitions have been a mix of wood, bone, Delrin, and Micarta). But canvas or linen (occasionally even burlap) Micarta is my favorite. Even a bunch of my kitchen knives have Micarta handles.

I really love vintage Micarta (like the Polish elevator slabs on the Albers at the bottom of the pic) but the new stuff looks great too. Here's a selection of what was most easily grabbed for a representative sample of this wonderful material.

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My favorite handle material really depends on the knife but its hard to beat a good sycamore. You dont see it used often but its beautiful if done correctly. I have one done by Burt Foster but ill have to add a picture later. I love stag as well but it has to be gnarly looking.

Thanks!
 

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The 81 is a great pattern, I used to own a 54 Big Jack in dessert ironwood regret letting that one go ever since. Osage Orange is my favorite cover material because it ages beautifully and is chatoyant like dessert ironwood.
Thanks for the generous giveaway!
 
Thanks for an awesome GAW!

This decision took quite a bit of pondering. In many cases, the handle material may need to fit a specific usage, such as a synthetic on a knife used around water. But, that doesn't make it a favorite. I really like the various wood handles on my traditionals, but if I had to pick favorites of my traditional handle material, it would be these two. I love the feel of the jigged bone. As an overall favorite, though, I would pick the sheep horn. For this particular handle, I love having just a bit of texture combined with the smoothness of the edges.
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And, the translucent nature of the ends just adds that much more visual interest.
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Great knife for a giveaway! Very classy but a great user pattern still. I’d love to participant and throw in my entry under the handle material of “reclaimed wood”. Most of the time, these reclaimed handle materials are a bit more utilitarian and less fancy. But they make for great knife handles and I love anything with a story and some history.

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