Opinions wanted on 303 scale material.

300Bucks

300Bucks

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Apr 19, 2005
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Below are two photos of the same knife, front and back. Same camera,settings, etc. I want this knife to be one side stag and one side elk.

What to do you think one side stag one side elk ?, if I just say so would I be a saint or a sinner..............

300Bucks

 
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Whatever you do I'm sure will look good-thats why you're 300. Whatever you do, do something with those blades:barf: that spey is just awful to look at.:eek:
 
Everyone is avoiding or misunderstanding the question. Is that top photo scale elk or stag ?

You see, if knife has two different sides it make it 'slightly' rare. And I would send in a 'donor organ' 303 of same era to LR to fix up secondary blades. If both are 'just' stag its not rare, just ugly. I will polish out blades and make it a EDC......

I was being sly to avoid influencing your opinion....

300Bucks
 
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:DThat is the question I wanted to ask you .But did not want to look
dumb.:D
They look like different stuff to me.
 
300Bucks said:
Everyone is avoiding or misunderstanding the question. Is that top photo scale elk or stag ?
Click to expand...

Well, that was my first thought as well, but then I thought again - almost always a mistake on my part. My best guess is that it is some very badly mismatched stag; I have seen a few like this on both 303's and 301's in the past.
 
Hi Craig,

Stag is Stag, some is barky and some is not. Some has good color and some is just plane Jane.
Here is a 303 from the same time frame


jb4570
 
Good advice by all. There is a difference in wantabee and is......

Below are two 301s that are suppose to be elk and I would have handed them to you to look at as such and would have looked you in eye and said they were. Different lookin' aren't they. Of course then comes up new/old, where cut off the horn, fresh antler or pickup, treated or raw...........

But with the dark one you can see why I was hoping the 303 ungly side was elk. But if I am going to say this is a factory mismatch of scale I have to 'certaineed' right or it's not. My heart is heavy.

300Bucks



303 ungly side from above.
 
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Man that is a hard one..But you know I think J.B. is a Stag man and
I am going to have to agree with him.Shoot , I been wrong before.
 
After a days cogatation and opinion influence, I am giving up hope. It's just bad stag. I will search for a cheap donor 303 of the proper year and swap out secondary blades and make a nice user and retire my old Schrade made 303 before the pins get loose (as they eventually will with heavy use).

I am even questioning the dark scale 301 in photo as elk now. But, In my humble experience and opinion the light colored 301 is ELK. I have seen several custom shop 110s from various people that had that same exact tint and form......nuff said.

Here on the forum we need to do something about the fact, that at this moment 80 people have viewed this thread but only a half dozen commented ? We need more of those folks to join in especially when an opinion is appreciated and wanted......I just can't believe that some of them weren't itching to say I was full of bull.....well they should have joined in and said so.

300Bucks
 
well some time is like with me
i dont know enugh to comment..
least wise and not seem foolish..
 
Well Craig, I'm gonna' plea guilty to being responsible for a few of those lookie-loo's. I didn't post a question, comment, or observation, 'cause ta tell the truth I didn't know what was going on. Now howsomeever, I'll offer that if'n it was mine, I'd clean up those blades real nice like. It looks as tho a banjo player from Tardania took a grinding wheel to it, but I believe the edges could be restored. Then I'd just consider it a user and use it. As for the slabs not matchin', I'd consider her like a red headed step daughter; ain't much to look at, but she sure can cook.
 
Hi Craig,

First let me say that...well as Jeff said I am a Stag guy. I just love stag handles on Buck knives. But, let me clarify that I'm am no expert at distinguishing one kind of stag from another. To me stag is stag, IE: stag = Sambar, Elk, Deer or any other similar looking horn. One of the reasons I like stag is that no two knives will be exactly the same. Not in looks or color...some is light, some is dark, some is yellow, some is white, some is smooth, some is groovey, some is bumpy.

Just like in that movie "Forest Gump" his mamma said "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know just what your gonna get"....well when you buy a production Stag handled knife...."YOU NEVER KNOW JUST WHAT YOUR GOING TO GET", looks wise;). However, that should never be the case with a custom shop knife if you specify what you want ahead of time. With that said, some custom knife makers will not put stag on a knife unless you pick it out first (no unhappy customers trying to return an knife that did not look like they thought it should).

Enough of my endless rambling...."I LIKE stag" as it all looks different. I LOVE gnarly stag with big bumps and deep grooves, add lots of dark color and it makes my heart beat a little faster. I have some Sambar knives like that and I have a few Elk knives like that. I also have some stag knives that are just plane. But, even a plan stag knife is better than a plane wood knife (that was meant to get the juices flowing in the wood guys...LOL).

So what I'm saying Craig is that I have no idea what kind of stag your knife is. Stag is Stag...Oh and that is one sweet looking Stag/Elk 303 you have there...just fix the workhorse blades.
jb4570
 
Well, Just to end this thread on the subject of mystery stag. Here is a photo of the 303 knife in question, the ugly side, with my secret formula to darken the grooves of Sharpie and wood stain. If its Stag by golly and gosh its gonna look like stag, at least as much as I can make it..........onward to EDC............300Bucks

 
I'm like JB, I like stag handles... Any kind of stag... But I like the gnarly stag with big bumps and deep grooves, like JB said... it just looks Good to me... I like yours too 300bucks... Trax could be right, just good old second cut stag... But what do I know... :eek: ...
 
I am short on the the knowledge needed, someone define some of the definitions used when talking about stag.
first cut ?
second cut ?
Sambar etc....anything that would be educational on the subject. Youve got over 100 hits as potential audience.
300
 
300Bucks said:
I am short on the the knowledge needed, someone define some of the definitions used when talking about stag.
first cut ?
second cut ?
Sambar etc....anything that would be educational on the subject. Youve got over 100 hits as potential audience.
300
Click to expand...

I'll take a whack at it. First cut, is inclusive of the outer bark of an antler, all the natural beauty and features. Second cut, is just that, the next layer of antler below the surface, still dense and solid, no pith. The second cut requires some artistic enhancement, carving out peaks & valleys, adding stain, then polishing to remove any tooling marks.
Some 2nd cuts are easier to spot than others. Some 2nd cuts look nicer than first cuts. I'm sure this is open to interpretation, like everything else to do with knives.:p:D
 
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