Favorite knife handle material

[Dawg2019]

I have seen Kudu bone that looks good, don’t know about the import issues with kudu? Warthog tusk always has a nice appearance as well.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

"Favorite" really depends on the context and the intended use of the knife for me...

I love working with African Wild Olive wood.. it smells great when being grinded and sanded on.. has wonderful figuring and looks beautiful.. is pretty easy and forgiving to work with, etc.. but.. its on the softer end of being a "hardwood" and isnt anything I'd consider using on a hard use knife unless I put it through the stabilization process first (which then makes it a little more difficult to work with, and removes the great scent you get when working on it)..

For hard use, I lean toward modern materials like micarta and G10.. my current skinner has olive drab G10 scales.. I just take them to 500 grit and leave them slightly rough and tacky so that I can keep a good grip on the knife when using it.. you'll never get the aesthetic impact using G10 over something beautiful like a really figured piece of burled maple or some other great hardwood.. but its damn near indestructible.. and hard to beat for a hard use knife in terms of cost vs performance..

For "pretty".. I've found some presentation grade absolutely beautiful pieces of crotch black walnut that has really tight figuring that works well for small projects like knife handles.. its pretty hard to work with though and relatively unforgiving..

but probably the prettiest wood I have ever used was a couple of blocks of african leadwood that @Gert Odendaal gifted me back in 2019.. it was as black/dark as a really dark piece of ebony.. but had some incredible light tan figuring throughout... my only regret is my wood skills werent nearly as good 3 years ago as they are today.. I could have probably made something 10x nicer if I had held on to it a little longer before putting it to use and gotten my skill set up to par first..

Midwest , I still have a lot of the Red Bush Willow wood for you , you can take as many pieces you are able to get on a airplane , did you manage to get your belt sander to the USA??? Please let me know, I can possibly get it into a crate with trophies from my side..will drive to Rustenburg to fetch it if I can manage to send it with a crate..
Your Olive /Leadwood in a box is still here in SA..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I love olivewood as well and use it very frequently on my kitchen knives along with an ebony bolster. View attachment 456073View attachment 456074View attachment 456075

Beautiful wood and knifes you are making, I have available for you a few beautiful pieces of Olive/Redbush Willow wood and Lead wood as well as Camel Thorn....I still need to send wood to my friend Garry McKeown in New Zealand, it seems the postal services are open from South Africa to New Zealand

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Let me know if you know about visiting hunters to SA that is willing to take wood from here to the USA for you..

 

[CBeck]

Beautiful wood and knifes you are making, I have available for you a few beautiful pieces of Olive/Redbush Willow wood and Lead wood as well as Camel Thorn....I still need to send wood to my friend Garry McKeown in New Zealand, it seems the postal services are open from South Africa to New Zealand

That would be fantastic and a kind offer.

 

[CBH Australia]

Warthog tusk has been mentioned, any pics to show?
How hard is it to get suitable pieces for knife handles.? Cost?

 

[CBeck]

Warthog tusk has been mentioned, any pics to show?
How hard is it to get suitable pieces for knife handles.? Cost?

I’ve looked at some photos some have been beautiful but no source I’ve found

 

[1dirthawker]

i would say your iron wood or cocobolo are maybe the most beautiful and certainly tough enough.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I assume Giraffe bone exporting to Australia /USA and New Zealand is banned/

 

[freefall]

I would like to try some mopane wood without having to go to Africa to pick up a stick.

 

[nztimb]

I assume Giraffe bone exporting to Australia /USA and New Zealand is banned/

Not if you get the cites certificates Gert.

 

[CBH Australia]

I would like to try some mopane wood without having to go to Africa to pick up a stick.

Umm, maybe you could have a hunt while you go find the correct stick. There is always an upside.

 

[Sika98k]

I assume Giraffe bone exporting to Australia /USA and New Zealand is banned/

Strange . I bought a giraffe leg bone off eBay.de with no grief.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I would like to try some mopane wood without having to go to Africa to pick up a stick.

Arrange with a visiting hunter to South Africa that is willing to take wood from me here in SA to the USA for you..I would give you different species of South African hard wood to make handles with

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Not if you get the cites certificates Gert.

Garry, how do I go about this?? I really would like to send your wood as soon as possible ..it seems the post link is open between SA and New Zealand , you parcel with wood is already lying a long time in my work shop..I keep tripping over it, not a good thing , I can hurt myself

 

[nztimb]

Garry, how do I go about this?? I really would like to send your wood as soon as possible ..it seems the post link is open between SA and New Zealand , you parcel with wood is already lying a long time in my work shop..I keep tripping over it, not a good thing , I can hurt myself

This is the national authority in South Africa https://cites.org/eng/parties/country-profiles/za/national-authorities

 

[Gert Odendaal]

This is the national authority in South Africa https://cites.org/eng/parties/country-profiles/za/national-authorities

Will this be true for USA as well?

 

[nztimb]

Will this be true for USA as well?

I believe the cites paperwork is country specific so if you contact them, you will have to give destination so that will be on the certificate.

 

[freefall]

Umm, maybe you could have a hunt while you go find the correct stick. There is always an upside.

I don't multi-task well.

 

[CBeck]

Well since I couldn’t decide, I just went ahead and made me one with ivory G 10 and one with Desert Ironwood.

I didn’t make the blades subtly different… The ivory more fin and feather and the wood more for medium game though either would crossover fine.