Maybe it is me or my monitor, but the handles look green. I guess it could also be the background.
Matched scales don't necessarily come from the same antler. Matched has to do more with how well the texture of one resembles the texture of the other. I would call these well matched.
You also did a good job of fitting the handles to the slab without grinding off the antler texture. Something that I wish Case could do... Case, and many other makers, generally leave large bald areas near the bolsters- a result of improper fitting tech.
I agree that these slabs look better than the majority of modern stag. Very cool that you uses antlers from a deer you shot. I am too partial to the sets that I have to cut them up for scales...
If on a scale of 1 to 10, Case is representative of average (5) and 10 is some etherial perfect set that can never really be attained (due to personal preference, etc) then I would give this a 7.5 for fitting w/o removing the attractive surface material, and a 7 for stag quality (assuming that the green tint is me, my monitor, or the picture).
This is what I have come to expect from case... Could be great, but is not fit to the knife to maximize the beauty of the stag.
Photo by Ken44 in this thread...
Regular Trappers
If the makers would fit the scales by grinding from the
bottom of the stag slab, they could preserve the stag texture that we all like. As it is, you get a chunky handle with thin endcaps...
Below is what I would call way above average stag, but not terribly well matched. A northfield trapper that I own...
!!!
