Scrimable handle material

S

shane justice

Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
1,606
Is that a word? Maybe I should have said "scrimshanable"?

Dang...anyhow.

I am working on a very special knife and I need a white colored handle that will work for scrimshaw.

As far as I can see...

I can use white micarta..tru-ivory...

White bone is not my favorite because I always seem to have it chip out...

Stag can vary so much in color...and i want somethin that wil hold a white or off-white color.

Real ivory is out of my price range...

I need some other ideas.

Shane
 
Hi Shane. I don't know how fancy your knife needs to be but white corian would work pretty nicely if it didn't need to be anything special.
 
Hey Bill!

Fancy meeting you here!

How ya been?

This is a knife going to my brother in law...to commemorate his commission as an officer in the Navy.

He worked all the way up the enlisted ranks to??? Chief Petty Officer? (That's prolly ot right The Air FOrce Equivalent is "Master Chief") Then he earned his bachelors and got commissioned.

It is quite a deal.

So I wanted to muddle through putting a knife together.(It ain't up to your standards by any means)

Now I am at that point to actually putting a handle on it.

Corian....hmmmm....never thought of that.

Is it pretty durable?

Good to hear from you Bill. Your the best. I still need to get up there and learn damascus from you, if I ever get able to swing a hammer again.

WHen you gonna get that MS after your name?


I still wanna se a bunch of that Dragon's breath in a blade!
Shane
 
Does anybody have any other ideas here?

I need to be ordering this week.

If the threee choices are Corian,Micarta or TRU-IVORY...which offers the most advantages for handle material?

Shane
 
works great but it can be heavy and i dont know how hardy it would be if its handled or god forbid dropped:eek: i use it but i'm not doing handles, i have done a handle 2 slabs and it worked great just heavy, the alternative ivory i used from mascraft worked great and was way lighter.
heres my first wildlife on corian
cheers
ivan
buffalo1.jpg
 
Hey Shane,

You're welcome anytime. corian is about the same as mamoth Ivory as far as weight and strength. However you might consider finding a nice piece of india stag that you can sand smooth. undied stag has a nice creamy interior color that would scrim well and be a little more desirable than (plastic)corian. Are you planning on doing a "Fowler style" knife or something else. It may be difficult to find a piece of stag large enough to make the fowler style handle. Oh and check out my signature line
 
Bill,

I love using stag, and may end up going in that direction.

Finding the right piece is the trick. I have not had good success recieving quality sticks that I have put off using it unless I can pick it myself.

The handle shape I am going for is something like this...

sohttp://www.sanfranciscoknives.com/knives/1530.html

sort of....

I may have to re-think it to fit the available materials...

Or I may end up doing a composite handle.

Hot damn...I am so far away from the bright center of the knife UNiverse that I had not heard you made your MS!

SWEEEEEEEET!

I don't have words for how happy I am for you!

Shane
 
Shane call chuck Bybee at alpha knife supply and tell him what you are looking for and what you are planning on doing. I believe that he has some larger pieces of stag that are fairly smooth and straight. you can tell him that I told you to call but he might charge you more if you do. Not really but he is a really great guy to deal with.
 
Whoops, looks like you were posting more handle info while I was composing my post. Best of luck with your project.
 
Guys,

Many thanks for you help.

Phil;, I looked at the Giraffe bone..that gorgoues white stuff was sold. It was a beuatiful white though...would have really pooped with a scrim.


Ivan, I did not say so before, but the scrim on that corian was really great. You have a steady hand and a keen eye. I did some reading on corian. From what I could gather it needs to be sealed? And I talked to a local cabinet maker who also does counter tops...he said he has had it break/shatter when dropped. So I am sliding away from corian.

I actually looked at some more precious exotic materials but it will be a lot of years before I can afford anything so dear.

And I do not have the skills to work them. I barely trust myself to drill antler anymore.

Phil, I was looikng to do a one piece handle. Fancy composite handles are beyond me. I understand how they are put together and if I cannot find another way to craft this handle I will try to go that way. Using two slabs with fancy spacers in between to build the handle so the whole arrangment can slip over the tang and be pinned in place. It may take months for me to accomplish, but if thats what it takes...I will keep at it.

Bill,

You are right. Chuck is good people. If he doesn't have it....he might know where to get it. I will give him a ring.

If this knife comes out ok and if it isn't not too embarassing I will try to post pics of it after I am done. (I reserve the right to back out of this deal if I end up building a POS.)

Shane
 
Does it work for you guys?

If not...search engine to ...antique knives,san francisco...click on san francisco knives by maker...click on michael price...it is the third one...the double ring dagger...

I like that smooth shaped handle...sleek and gorgeous.

As far as I know...most of his are like that...

Anyway...now you can see what I had in mind...

It looks like I amy have to change up what i was thinking and try something a bit different.

It happens.

Shane
 
the corian doesnt really need to be sealed at least i dont seal it, i do sand it up to 600 and then use micro sanding sheets to 12000 (thats what the manufacturer rates it at , its like leather then i use ren wax and polish it to as close to glass transfer my drawing then start!) works alright for me, im finishing up an elk right now, much easier than the buffalo:)
good luck with whatever ya choose and post some picts
thanks for the kind words, just started so i'm still getting the hang of it
cheers
ivan
 
shane edit your link and take one of the http: things off so that it looks like this.

http//www.sanfransiscoknives....
 
Sorry it took me so long to get back...was having computer problems...

Anyhow...I will try to post the link....


http://www.sanfranciscoknives.com/makers.html

I hope that did it...for anybody who likes the knives of Michael Price...or the Gold Rush Era San Francisco School...it is a pretty cool site.

I haven't decided what to use...I need ot call Chuck at Alpha to see what goodies he has tucked away.

I really appreciate evereybody helping out.

Shane
 
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