Recent Handle Material Thread?

B

bgmills

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Nov 25, 2002
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Thanks to everyone for posting photos of those fantastic knives and different handle materials. With that said, why does giraffe bone have somewhat of a stigma? It is said it is stable, makes a good handle and is beautiful. Can someone explain? Thanks.

Bill
 
At one point (as I understand it) giraffe bone became extremely abundant and flooded the market. Anyone and everyone started using it for knife handles as it was dirt cheap. As if that wasn't bad enough, some started dying it all kinds of bizarre colors so it soon became associated with cheap and tacky knives.

Unfortunately, even now that it's become pretty rare some still associate it with inferior knives.
As you saw from the examples posted on the other thread that's simply not true. Giraffe bone in it's natural aged color can make beautiful and durable knife handles. But unfortunately not such good investments as a result of these lingering prejudices.
 
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Prejudice or not, giraffe bone doesn't enjoy a place of prominence among handle materials. If you are buying it on a knife you plan to use and/or keep for life - fine - enjoy. But count on the knife being harder to re-sell with that handle material.

I don't mind the stuff - particularly when it is left un-died to look like what it is - bone. The tie-dyed pastel-looking stuff is definitely not to my taste. But in either case, the list of materials I would choose for a custom knife ahead of giraffe bone is sufficiently long as to render it highly improbable that I would select it for one of my knives. It wouldn't be a deal-breaker on the righ non-ordered knife, though.

Roger
 
I would be more interested in where the bone was coming from and how it was harvested.

Richard
 
RogerP said:
Prejudice or not, giraffe bone doesn't enjoy a place of prominence among handle materials. If you are buying it on a knife you plan to use and/or keep for life - fine - enjoy. But count on the knife being harder to re-sell with that handle material.

I don't mind the stuff - particularly when it is left un-died to look like what it is - bone. The tie-dyed pastel-looking stuff is definitely not to my taste. But in either case, the list of materials I would choose for a custom knife ahead of giraffe bone is sufficiently long as to render it highly improbable that I would select it for one of my knives. It wouldn't be a deal-breaker on the righ non-ordered knife, though.

Roger
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I wouldn't buy it either, purely because of the negative impact on secondary market value. Even when the look is enhanced by it's use, giraffe bone handle material will attract less of a possible population of buyers than many, many other handle materials.
 
I just don't think its as pretty as 'figured' ivory. Also I have had more experience with G bone cracking.
 
jonathan brand said:
I just don't think its as pretty as 'figured' ivory. Also I have had more experience with G bone cracking.
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The material looks "cracked" on the surface in many cases, and that is the same problem that I have with ivory. It is reasonable to purchase natural handle materials that have better than a 50% chance of being stable.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The only giraffe bone that I have had any luck selling is that which has been dyed black. I wish that I could get more that took the dye like this one that I inletted some ivory into but unfortunately you never know how the dye will be accepted:

2294709931_6a2395cd0d.jpg


Gary
 
Life isn't fair to giraffe bone, but it's not going to change anytime soon.

Have you ever seen a store at a location go bust? Then the next store comes in there... and goes bust. After that, you can't give ANY business at the same location any credit, unless they raze the building.

It's kinda like that. :confused:

Coop
 
But check out how fantastic giraffe bone grips can look on my 1911A1 - when it's the right pair. Grey and tan streaks worked out beautifully against the nickel.
 
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My first, and so far only giraffe bone handled knife:

Reiner Grosche "African Queen":

AfricanQueen1_big.jpg


And I don't care about resale value, I don't plan on selling it anyway. I don't buy knives as an investment.

Kind regards,

Jos
 
Kevin Jones said:
At one point (as I understand it) giraffe bone became extremely abundant and flooded the market. Anyone and everyone started using it for knife handles as it was dirt cheap. As if that wasn't bad enough, some started dying it all kinds of bizarre colors so it soon became associated with cheap and tacky knives. SNIP
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Actually, when giraffe bone was in it's heyday it was a good bit higher than traditional jigged bone (cow bone). A nice pair of small to medium sized (for slipjoints and similar sizes) giraffe bone scales went for $30 and up at most knife shows, while high quality traditional jigged bone was going for as little as $8.00 a pair.

Giraffe bone is a cuss word to me now, but it was once an easy sell in the less gaudy colors:D As posted above. It was also very unpredictable on how it would finish out. I picked out a gorgeous matched pair a few years back, but when they were finished out they looked like a salesman sample or magic knife!
 
I personally think that it is a material that suffered from being 'overly hyped'. Maybe over promoted. Bust out on the scene too fast and too big.

I'd heard the bone was harvested from giraffe 'road kill', but that doesn't sound right to me. I mean, c'mon! You'd have to be a damn terrible driver to run into something like a giraffe. Or asleep.

You think it would be a pretty good material. I imagine that supporting all that weight and having the kind of toughness to resist the torque those ankle bones would see at the end of those long legs, that bone would be a pretty solid choice. Good dense stuff, I'll bet, although I've never seen any in real life.
 
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It seems too dense to me, but I could be wrong. I've dropped mammoth ivory knives. The ivory dents a bit. I've also dropped G bone and had it crack and chip. And visually natural ivory just seems more organic looking for me. I don't have tons of experience but this is all just my observation so far.

Bob, it does look nice on that gun. I'm a knife collector though not a gun collector so i'm more picky with knives.
 
I have had one knife with GB handle and it looked great, and had no trouble selling it either. When it looks aged and has a natural color I don't mind buying or owning it. I hate the gaudy colors by the way, but that goes for all the colored burl woods as well as far as I'm concerned.

Take a look at this beautiful J.D. Smith Bowie with GB handle scales...yes folks it is GB:);):D

Marcel
 

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Haha, kevin the point is that Ive had more problems with G bone then other ivory. The knives I drop are my carry knives. Your collection would be perfectly safe around me, well except maybe a few of those gorgeous peices you have. :)

Wait a minute Kevin. I OWN one of your knives!!!! Well actually, its really mine now. But I treat it like a king and love every minute of its existence.
 
jonathan brand said:
Haha, kevin the point is that Ive had more problems with G bone then other ivory. The knives I drop are my carry knives. Your collection would be perfectly safe around me, well except maybe a few of those gorgeous peices you have. :)

Wait a minute Kevin. I OWN one of your knives!!!! Well actually, its really mine now. But I treat it like a king and love every minute of its existence.
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Just sounds like you had a case of the dropsies. ;) :)

But seriously, I'm not comparing giraffe bone to ivory as ivory costs 10-20+ times more. Just suggesting that it's not necessarily the foul and ugly handle material that some make it out to be.
 
Here's a GB handled knife that I like. It's by Bill Buxton. No disco-dye, just bone looking like bone:

orig.jpg


Roger
 
RogerP said:
Here's a GB handled knife that I like. It's by Bill Buxton. No disco-dye, just bone looking like bone:

orig.jpg


Roger
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That looks like camel bone to me Roger....are you SURE it's giraffe?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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