Selecting Stag on traditionals...

[waynorth]

Here is a small knife, a hair over 3", that carries larger because of the well-fitted Stag. The handles of course follow the pattern, and swell a bit at the butt, giving a great grip. The handles are perfect in thickness, IMO, and the sunk joint makes it a super pocket knife!! Snaps like a biggie too!! What's not to love??

 

[black mamba]

John does do an amazing job of hafting stag with matching sides. Beauty, Charlie!

 

[Peregrin]

John does do an amazing job of hafting stag with matching sides. Beauty, Charlie!

That's a wonderful looking little sway back, Charlie. Phenomenal stag on that beauty.

 

[John L]

I cut swayback covers from tapers. It works! Correct curvature. Biggest problem now is no more stag available and has not been for 9-10 years. Only going to get tighter and then nonexistent unless you have a stash.

 

[Ebbtide]

I don't want to see any pith on my stag handles.
Zero.
None.
Dyed, burnt or filled, pith is still pith.
Beyond a deal breaker... It shows lack of expertise by the maker.

I like figure / texture on my stag. In the 80's it was in vogue to grind off the texture to make the stag look like ivory.
Not a fan.

The proper way to thin stag scales for a folder is from the back, leaving the front alone.
The king of great stag on folders is PJ Tomes MS.
I'd table sit for him at the NYC show while he shopped for stag and when he returned I'd get a lesson on what he picked and why.

Stag is my all time favorite handle material.

 

[lambertiana]

This Puma is a good representation of what I like for texture (mellowed out by a lot of carry)

Modern makers just don't cut stag like they used to, with the bark going all the way to the bolster and not really thick. This old Utica is a good example of the old cutler's art with stag:

 

[Easyrider]

I like both covers to be almost the same thickness. I also don't want super fat covers either.

 

[Peregrin]

I cut swayback covers from tapers. It works! Correct curvature. Biggest problem now is no more stag available and has not been for 9-10 years. Only going to get tighter and then nonexistent unless you have a stash.

John Lloyd, Nice to see you stop by! We love your work! If I recall correctly you have quite the stash?

 

[007hunter]

Thanks everyone for the incredible posts and photos!! Starting to put some of this sage advice/opinions to use in picking out some stag this morning.

In terms of side to side shape and thickness, take a look at these 3 photos and let me know your thoughts. Which one would be your "goldilocks" for proper thickness/shape and why???

 

[joeradza]

I like stag the best and have what I consider some excellent examples. These two from John Lloyd being the most recent and easily among the finest.

 

[Elgatodeacero]

Waynorth and Lambertin and JoeRadza- those handles are what stag should look like!!!

It seems like most stag today is sanded down so it’s almost like bone.

When i buy stag I want bark bark bark. Hard to find now.

I believe Elk antler bark will soon replace stag. Companies may even start to dye it amber to look like stag. Some will call it Sambar Stag Elk or something murky like that.

 

[black mamba]

In terms of side to side shape and thickness, take a look at these 3 photos and let me know your thoughts. Which one would be your "goldilocks" for proper thickness/shape and why???

#3 is way too thick for me, and #2 is borderline, only OK for me if the character is extremely nice. #1 looks good, because it seems to have a lot of popcorn character, but even thinner is better. Even with, or only slightly wider than the bolsters is my preference.

 

[chivaceae]

I cut swayback covers from tapers. It works! Correct curvature. Biggest problem now is no more stag available and has not been for 9-10 years. Only going to get tighter and then nonexistent unless you have a stash.

I have a couple of examples of Mr. Lloyd's craftsmanship with stag covers, and I love them, specially the little (3 1/4" closed) swayback.

 

[kamagong]

I'm with Jeff. But I don't like how thin the stag is near the sides for both #1 and #2.

 

[Old Engineer]

Thanks everyone for the incredible posts and photos!! Starting to put some of this sage advice/opinions to use in picking out some stag this morning.

In terms of side to side shape and thickness, take a look at these 3 photos and let me know your thoughts. Which one would be your "goldilocks" for proper thickness/shape and why???

Number 1 would appear to be the best because it has the Least Amount of Texture removed . But in order to really choose one of the 3 , I would have to see frontals of both the Mark and Pile sides. The Thicker ones may be more comfortable in the hand , but that is not what I choose Stag for . I can get " Comfortable " for a lot less money . Also you have to look close at # 1 on the Pile side right beside the blade swedge , it appears that the Texture of the Stag dips down to almost nothing .

Harry

 

[007hunter]

Number 1 would appear to be the best because it has the Least Amount of Texture removed . But in order to really choose one of the 3 , I would have to see frontals of both the Mark and Pile sides. The Thicker ones may be more comfortable in the hand , but that is not what I choose Stag for . I can get " Comfortable " for a lot less money . Also you have to look close at # 1 on the Pile side right beside the blade swedge , it appears that the Texture of the Stag dips down to almost nothing .

Harry

Thanks for your response Harry, here are the frontals (w/tops as before) per your request:

#1

#2

 

[glennbad]

I have such respect for makers that can get their stag thin on their builds. Seems to me you'd have to start out with quite a fat piece so as not to have a lot of curve and taper at the edges of the liners. That's the biggest hurdle I have when fitting stag, the battle between thinning it out enough, but still having enough width to cover the liners/scales. Here's one of my more decent attempts, on this Miller Bros. re-do. You just can't cheat on a knife this thin and skinny. While not as good as I wanted to achieve, it was acceptable IMO.

 

[Old Engineer]

Thanks for your response Harry, here are the frontals (w/tops as before) per your request:

#1

#2

That is a little harder to choose than I thought it would be . With the Stag that is out here now , I would not have much of a problem with either one but I think I would choose # 2 because they look a little closer matched side to side . I really like the color on both and I really like the Mark side of # 1 . I hope that you own both of them my friend . If you do , carry them both in a Slip , carry them in good health , and walk with a bounce in your step . Thanks very much for showing them to us .

Harry

 

[glennbad]

Here's another attempt of mine. A very thin knife. Still not where I would have liked it to be, but close. Always learning...

 

[glennbad]

Thanks everyone for the incredible posts and photos!! Starting to put some of this sage advice/opinions to use in picking out some stag this morning.

In terms of side to side shape and thickness, take a look at these 3 photos and let me know your thoughts. Which one would be your "goldilocks" for proper thickness/shape and why???

I would have to go with #1, just for my near loathing of fat stag...