I thought I'd start this as a couple related threads have considered this. As art knives get more popular, more and more exotics are being considered for handle material. The old timers usually picked the best materials for long life. Stag is nearly bullet proof as is Rhino horn (compacted hair), and many woods, horn, bone, ivory have proven themselves. But as we get more exotic, we use materials that have flaws but are just danged beautiful. Mother of Pearl is a traditional choice but it breaks easily...doesn't stop its use...just too pretty. Stone has recently become more popular. Much of it is hard but brittle. Some is chalky soft.
There is stone and stone. One of the prettiest is jade-nephrite jade and jadeite jade. It is available in many colors and mixed colors, sometimes with crystals, gold, even gold platable magnetite mixed in. It is the best choice in stone as its crystal structure makes it nearly unbreakable. That is the curse of most stones. Many of them are harder than steel but they crack. Steel...even the hardest is less than a 7 in hardness. Most of the dirt around us is silicon which is a 7. Quartz and its varieties of agate and jasper and many other names is silica dioxide...hardness 7. It can be gorgeous...even appear to be wood (petrified or silified wood). But drop it and it can break. Of course, an art knife isn't meant to be thrown so if you wish to use petrified wood or dinosaur bone, go for it. I make pistol grips out of dinosaur bone (some are even identified). I use a backing material like G-10. I also drill the screw holes (diamond drills) a bit larger and then fill with epoxy then drill the regular sized hole through this. It all helps to preserve the dino bone (even after stabilizing). I have used this on the aforementioned stone, also jasper like bloodstone (which was actually petrified wood), ruby in zoisite, real malachite, Brazilian agate, corundum (non-gem sapphire or ruby if red), crysanthemum stone and more others than I can mention.
I had a genstone business for years, was a rockhound and stone cutter, took all the gemology courses, etc. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at peterb at coinet.com if you have a special project and we can likely figure out a way to accomplish it.
There is stone and stone. One of the prettiest is jade-nephrite jade and jadeite jade. It is available in many colors and mixed colors, sometimes with crystals, gold, even gold platable magnetite mixed in. It is the best choice in stone as its crystal structure makes it nearly unbreakable. That is the curse of most stones. Many of them are harder than steel but they crack. Steel...even the hardest is less than a 7 in hardness. Most of the dirt around us is silicon which is a 7. Quartz and its varieties of agate and jasper and many other names is silica dioxide...hardness 7. It can be gorgeous...even appear to be wood (petrified or silified wood). But drop it and it can break. Of course, an art knife isn't meant to be thrown so if you wish to use petrified wood or dinosaur bone, go for it. I make pistol grips out of dinosaur bone (some are even identified). I use a backing material like G-10. I also drill the screw holes (diamond drills) a bit larger and then fill with epoxy then drill the regular sized hole through this. It all helps to preserve the dino bone (even after stabilizing). I have used this on the aforementioned stone, also jasper like bloodstone (which was actually petrified wood), ruby in zoisite, real malachite, Brazilian agate, corundum (non-gem sapphire or ruby if red), crysanthemum stone and more others than I can mention.
I had a genstone business for years, was a rockhound and stone cutter, took all the gemology courses, etc. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at peterb at coinet.com if you have a special project and we can likely figure out a way to accomplish it.
