Mammoth ivory or Giraffe bone?

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Joined
Dec 10, 1998
Messages
4,860
Here's the deal. I am going to buy some more materials to replenish my handle supply and i'm torn between buying mammoth ivory or Giraffe bone. Price for ammmoth is about $10 more depending on color. Which do you perfer and why? Do you think that a high end custom can have giraffe bone on it?

Pros and cons-
The mammoth ivory and Giraffe bone look similar, but many of the colors and patterns are different.

The Giraffe bone is stabilized= no shrinking and can be fit and finished right away

I have almost always had a problem with mammoth ivory shrinking, and now let the cut pieces, stabilize them and let them sit for a few days before final application.

The "Feel" of mammoth ivory is different than Giraffe Bone

Thanks for any help,
Chuck
 
I am sure I can't add much to this subject. I have some mammoth ivory but have not yet used any. However, I am just now putting the edge on a finally finished Persian that has mammoth bone in its handle work. My feeling is: hey, they ain't mak'in any more mammoth and because of that and because it looks good, to me at least, I feel a greater value in the knife. Other than that I don't know nothin yet.

Roger
 
well, something to think about...mammoths are extinct so that may add a bit to the value??
 
I personally like all bone, and of the bone I have seen giraffe bone is the nicest. I also like mammoth. To me Giraffe bone is over priced. I feel ivory adds more value to a knife. Also in a thread about trends on another forum, Bernard Levine specifically mentioned that giraffe bone was a trend that was dying out fast, so makers should sell off their stock of giraffe bone quickly. I tend to take whatever he says very seriously.
kyle Fuglesten
 
I have a mammoth ivory handled knife with a damascus blade that I have used for the last ten years.I get called by the troopers for road kill and dress from six to ten moose a year .It has never cracked.It got lost in the snow behind my shop and was found in the dirt a year later.I may be a little biased.Put ivory on your knife and give the bone to the dog :D . In reality it is all amazing when you think about it. Check out this photo of this short faced bear I sold a few years back.This is a cast of it that was at the gem and mineral show in Tucson this year.They say it is the most complete skeleton of largest carnivorous mammal that ever lived.
Chuck
 

Attachments

  • short faced bear.jpg
    short faced bear.jpg
    26.6 KB · Views: 140
Les Robertson (dealer) has said that giraffe bone should no longer be used if the knife is to be sold. It no longer holds any interest for collectors. I have been using mammoth ivory almost exclusively for folders for the last couple of years. Even pearl doesn't seem to have the appeal and yet to me it is what I would choose to have. Frank
 
Chuck: How would you compare it to the Musk Ox bone you have???? I have the section you sent me in the soup 1st in the blue and then in a red and gold mixture.
 
George,
That sounds like it will be wild. Mammoth ivory should be in fairly good supply.I sell the material I get from the natives within a few months of when I pick it up in the summer.If gold goes over $400 some of the miners should start back digging.There is quite a bit of Siberian coming in.The good colors are still only abou 10% of whats found.In the past I sold all my bark to dealers.I might start doing a few shows.
Chuck
 
I do .I am out now.I hope to go on a buying trip in a few weeks.My good friend and hunting partner Dan Westlind shoud have some his email address is:
westlind@teleport.com .He will be at the Eugene show.
Chuck
 
This was mentioned earlier but holds true. Mammoths are extinct and the colors come from the minerals in the ground. They have been gone for a minimum of 10,000 years according to the Paleontologists so it has taken a long time for the ivory to obtain the colors that we all prize so much.

Giraffe are still found alive today and the bones are common on the African Savannah. The color is produced from man dying it. It also does not have the history in knives that other common bone like jigged or stag. The stuff is way over priced and does not even compare to the natural colors that form in the mammoth ivory. Giraffe is a loser when it comes to knives in my opinion.

All natural materials contract and expand. This does not deter most collectors from buying it. They know that this can happen. It does not detract from the value of the knife.
 
didnt read all the posts.............

but the giraffe bone that the South Africans are bringing to the shows is stabilized..............the mammoth is FAR from it!

That makes the choice easy for me, handles moving and cracking is a bummer.
 
The giraffe bone Ive used cracked easily when working it. I say if you want the giraffe to buy it raw and let it age indoors for a couple years and send it to WSSI for the stabilizing. Most of it isnt stabilized deep enough. The old cracked bone looks cool but breaks easy when drilling and pinning.

It is no replacement for ivory and cant be put on a high end piece
 
Where does giraffe shin bone come from anyway. Are there giraffe farms in Africa? Are they dying from old age in zoos? Seems unlikely that there are enough legal big game hunts to create a market for shin bone? :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top