Question about jigged bone

Starfish

Starfish

Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
1,256
Hi all,

I was just wondering about all of the knives that I see labeled as "jigged bone". Is jigged bone a natural handle material (i.e., bone!), or is it delrin that has been shaped to look like aged bone, or...?

I'm asking since I recently bought a Case small Texas Jack with "peach seed jigged amber bone". If it really is bone, then I suppose there is some care and handling needed to prolong it's life.

Thanks for entertaining the stupid question :)

Matthew
 
Jigged bone is certianly bone. That's not to say that there aren't many materials that can be made to look somewhat bone-like, as jigged Delrin tries to do. Caring for it is easy. Clean it periodically with a QTip dipped in a touch of dish soap, and rub in a drop or two of baby or mineral oil once or twice a year.
 
Starfish, when it comes to learning about knives, there are no stupid questions. Ask away.
Greg
 
Starfish said:
I was just wondering about all of the knives that I see labeled as "jigged bone". Is jigged bone a natural handle material (i.e., bone!), or is it delrin that has been shaped to look like aged bone, or...?
Click to expand...

Jigged bone is bone that has cuts in it made by a small rotating mill guided by a jig. It is simply a way of decorating bone. Sometimes Delrin is also jigged. The one that always confused me was pick bone. I don't know the process for cutting that type of scale. I can guess but it would only be a guess.
 
Now for the bad news, the bone used is usually from the shin bone of cows. Some folks prefere this to non natural materials.
 
I think the problem arises when companies use something called "real stag bone" (TM) or similar which is still bone, but tries to make people thing it's stag. We covered this recently didn't we, somewhere?
 
Any kind, of stag, or bone only needs minimal care. You can use a "very light" coat of 100% mineral oil on the handles to preserve them. This is usually most important in a dry enviroment though. As gar as the bone, whether it "peachseed", "winterbottom", etc. etc. etc. its only the pattern of jigging.

As far as shinbone, most all SJ bone handles come from the shin bone of cows. Much of it is imported from S.A. the bone is usually fine for handles. Has been for over 100 years now. Stag that comes from europe is not as dense as stag from india, so its rarely used for handles, most companies will try to get the india stag since it is so dense. of course this does not mean that european stag is not used, just not as much. American stag is "a little" more dense then european stag, but india stag is the most dense that you will find.

2nd cut stag, is usually stag pieces left over (and jigged and) used for a handle, but not the "surface" material. Bone stag is bone made to look like stag, so is queens "carved stag", etc. Cases 6.5 bone stag, is bone put "over a flame" (so to speak) and burnt to resemble stag. In fact real stag is often times "put over a flame" also to make the "pretty" orange, amber colors. usually most knives made in germany have the "natural" appearance of just "plain stag". It varies much with makers, just as patterns do that have an "endless" road of configurations.


Ive made many folders with cow shin bone and it can be brittle, but not more than the bone that comes form the rest fo the cow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top