Source for good, larger amber stag scale set?

[gdpolk]

I'm a hobbyist and want to put some amber stag on a personal knife. Anyone got a good source for a piece of quality amber stag that is about 5"x1/5" A little curved is OK as the handle has some drop in the heel but I'd like the set to have very little pith/marrow, be dyed evenly, have good character that's consistent throughout the length and between both pieces, and be thick enough for a decent sized fixed blade with a tapered tang.

I'm looking for a set of scales that is at least 5.019"x1.514" so they will need to be fairly large.

 

[Horsewright]

Culpepper.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Sadly, those will be two things - hard to find, and expensive. Stag has become difficult to find and the price has quadrupled ( or more). The width you ask for is very scarce.

Culpepper & Company is the source for many of us, but inventory has been very low lately. Right now they have four sets in your size at $150 a set.
Ebay has some good prices occasionally. I see nothing that wide on there right now. 5"X1.25" will run $75 a pair.

 

[Don Hanson III]

Holy Grail of handle material that you ask for.

 

[jdm61]

Like others said, Culpepper is low on inventory and Rootes of Ohio is saying that when what little stock they have is gone, they will have no more. IIRC, the last batch that was released from India may have been like 2006-2008. We have been living left overs since then. There were a couple of years at Blade say from 2008-2009 when the nice couple from Origindia had Rubbermade bins chocked full of nice, unprocessed carvers for like $25-35 for the really good stuff. Some it had popcorn like a movie concession stand. Come 2011 or so, all you saw was stuff for $75-90 for a bowie sized piece from the dealers/suppliers. i have about 25 or so carvers left. Over half which are small and gnarly. I have had some of those for years and never thought them to be suitable. I have maybe 6 or 7 big carvers suitable for bowies. I plan to sit on those.

 

[gdpolk]

I found what I was looking for from a private seller who bought some for a project that wasn't finished. It wasn't cheap but it's the right size for the project and apparently there isn't much chance of any more this size any time soon.