Wooden handled pocket knife question

R

robertj298

Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Messages
244
Why don't we see many wood handles any more on pocket knives? I have
a Queen trapper in African Zebrawood and a GEC Improved trapper in Mexican Bokote
.Both are beautiful knives. I have a Case Tribal Lock on the way in Ebony but I rarely see
anything with wood handles any more.
 
I think I have more knives with wooden handles than any other material.
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Olive wood

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Boxwood

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Juniper

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Beechwood

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Curly birch

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Rosewood

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African blackwood

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Ebony

And so on. Wood rocks!
 
Those are all very nice but it is hard to find them today.I haven’t really collected for several years but it seems wooden handled knives were much easier to find a few years ago
 
robertj298 said:
Those are all very nice but it is hard to find them today.I haven’t really collected for several years but it seems wooden handled knives were much easier to find a few years ago
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Maybe it was easier to find them in the past before many cutlers went bankrupt. But they're not hard to find. You won't find them at Walmart. Try a good search engine--the Internet is a big place.
 
robertj298 said:
Those are all very nice but it is hard to find them today.I haven’t really collected for several years but it seems wooden handled knives were much easier to find a few years ago
Click to expand...
What brands are you looking at? I don't see many new Case knives in wood, but Boker still offers wood on lots of their traditional patterns. Of course, there's the Buck 110, Opinels, GEC, etc.
 
I hear you. I love wood scales. At this point I have enough synthetic, bone, and stag to last a lifetime with some left over to sell. I doubt I’ll ever have enough wood, particularly Osage, Ironwood, and Rosewoods.

I’ve had some success with GEC (Osage 29, Cocobolo 62), though it has required a ton of patience. Same with Fiddleback Forge for fixed blades.
 
robertj298 said:
Those are all very nice but it is hard to find them today.I haven’t really collected for several years but it seems wooden handled knives were much easier to find a few years ago
Click to expand...

- can only offer my own thoughts here...

Very decent exotic woods and burls are getting more and more scarce. There is worldwide rape being committed of our forests and jungles - one country in particular is buying up banned woods regardless of location and shipping them back to their shores - it is not far short of poaching for tusk.

I once bought many 'stabilised' woods from a highly reputable dealer in USA (I live in London for now) and one very expensive project utilising one of his blocks ended up with that handle shrinking.

So, what am trying to say, many knifemakers are a tad hesitant of using some woods for this reason.

Even as an architect in UK, I see construction timber that is mass produced and not allowed to season due to demand...........with the resultant shrinkage and twisting once it's fitted.

There are still plenty of knives with beautiful wooden handles to be had, but would suggest the situation is only going one way

Edit: grab a coffee and have a good ol' look through these lovely offerings: https://www.collectorknives.net/index.php?s=wood&post_type=product
 
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There seems to be more restrictions and/or bans in place now, for many of the exotic woods previously used in knives and other products, like ebony, desert ironwood, cocobolo, rosewood, etc. Importers or harvesters are required to establish proof that the woods were harvested in an environmentally sustainable way, OR they're simply not allowed to harvest these woods at all anymore. However they go about it, I imagine it's a lot more troublesome & costly to use these woods anymore, and I'd think many vendors don't want to risk the legal exposure if they don't go about it properly.
 
I don't believe American black walnut is an "exotic " wood. And in my opinion one of the most beautiful woods,that can range from light to very dark coloring. And when cut to show figuring it can be iridescent and quite stunning imho. I wish more knife makers would utilize figured and crotch cut walnuto_O :thumbsup:
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Misplaced Hillbilly said:
I don't believe American black walnut is an "exotic " wood. And in my opinion one of the most beautiful woods,that can range from light to very dark coloring. And when cut to show figuring it can be iridescent and quite stunning imho. I wish more knife makers would utilize figured and crotch cut walnuto_O :thumbsup:
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Yes... I wish I could get a better pic of this one... it has lots of character and chatoyance... walnut can be stunning...

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Misplaced Hillbilly said:
I don't believe American black walnut is an "exotic " wood. And in my opinion one of the most beautiful woods,that can range from light to very dark coloring. And when cut to show figuring it can be iridescent and quite stunning imho. I wish more knife makers would utilize figured and crotch cut walnuto_O :thumbsup:
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Walnut you say? Certainly, sir, and what kind of ducks would you like with your walnut?

Schrade had you covered with their annual Federal Duck Stamp Commemorative knives. How about a mirror-polished blade with an Aurum etch? Schrade did that too.

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/FLYERS/DS/Federal_Duck_Stamps.htm

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