Picking handle material

G

gudspelr

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Jul 1, 2013
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I was hoping for other perspectives on a design question. What is your opinion on using figured wood for the handle on a damascus knife? At what point do things become too "busy"? Are basic grain variations (color difference) a good place to stop? Does the damascus pattern and number of layers effect your decision? Are really curly pieces or burls a little too much?

I feel like African Blackwood is pretty well always a good choice, but was curious to hear what drives your design choices and why when it comes to damascus and wood. And pictures are most welcome :D .


Jeremy
 
For me I like color variances better than worrying about too busy figure. As a general rule I like dark handle material with bright shiny blades, and lighter colored woods with darker blades. But there are enough exceptions that it's just a general rule for me. What ever the blade material, black wood or iron wood is almost always a good choice.

To me, busy means a high layer damascus blade, damascus or mokume gane guard, and highly figured handle. I try for a flow, with a solid metal guard to help break things up.

Just my 2 cents, never claimed to have the artistic eye.
 
For me, busy is when the blade has a lot going on "bold pattern/ elegent shape" and the handle does as well/ Busy woods might Black and white ebony, dyed burl, very bright colors like pink ivory or red heart. For damascus I am a big fan of rosewoods, mainly Indian, Bolivian and cocobolo. They are attractive wood but they are not as bold as others. Ebony and African black are also great choices, are some lesser known exotics like texas ebony. This is a thread i started with plenty of information of exotic woods http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1268178-Organized-list-of-Handlewoods
 
Thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate it. And yes, I read through that handle material thread-good stuff :).


Jeremy
 
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