Scam or not?

[Ken Hurst]

Question ............ How do you know for certain that these water buffalo acales are well cured ? When I worked at the Colt custom shop, Colt bought a large amount of grips made from southeastern asian water buffalo. Within a year or so they stoped selling them as they were warping & cracking in layers. If buffalo isn't well cured (aged/air dried) it will react in this manner. Also, like ivory, it doesn't react well to heat when being worked & should be well sealed after working I'm told. FWIW

 

[richard j]

i was sent the same email and it went right into my spam folder.

 

[Mark Basford]

I got a friend request from these guys on facebook. I thought that it might be a bit fishy, but was interested in seeing what they had to offer anyway.

I bid/won for some buffalo horn scales for $5.99. Will let know everyone know when/if they show up.. I'll also post a comparative photo so we can see if I actually receive what I bid on.

These arrived today from Hong Kong. 12 days or so since the auction ended.

The bottom scale is of uniform thickness and curvature with a slight but even length-wise bow (less than 1/16"), while the top scale is of the same thickness and curvature as the bottom scale on the right side, but flattens at the mid-point to finish 3/32" thinner at the left side.

It would have been really nice if both of them were as even as the bottom scale, but I think they are still usable if trimmed correctly and used on a shorter or blostered knife.

I would say that they are of the same quality as some of the horn scales that I saw at Blade this year, if a few dollars cheaper... a fair value for the money I would say.

 

[ddavelarsen]

That's pretty cool, I'm glad you were willing to risk it and shared your experience with us. Please let us know too how they do when you begin to work with them.