Antler, Horn & Tusk Selection

antlers 1SAMBAR STAG: Imported from India, it's the most widely used and liked, natural material for knife handles, highly valued for its hardness, density, texture and color. The antlers of both the Sambar and Chital deer are shed annually, then hand picked and processed into handle scales. Mother Nature controls how the antler is shaped, colored and textured. The range being from a rich brown with heavy texture, all the way to the very rare Amber Stag, which is lightly colored with slight texture.


antlers 2WATER BUFFALO HORN: The very best "select" grades come from India. A beautiful jet black horn, with random streaks of white fiber. This horn mades a very distinctive handle material, that polishes to a high luster.


antlers 3ASIAN RAMS HORN: An unusual and dramatic handle material, offering a rough textured top surface for a secure grip. After sanding and polishing the handle, its sides become almost clear enough to see the brass pins.


antlers 5Another example of Asian Rams Horn.


antlers 4MAMMOTH AND MASTADON IVORY: Frozen in the permafrost of Alaska and Siberia for 10,000 - 20,000 years or more, this ivory makes the ultimate knife handle. The outer surface of the tusks, called "bark" takes on the colors of the ground minerals its been buried in. This process produces the most beautiful blues, greens and browns. Due to its great age, it may have natural stress cracks running through it, which I stabilize so they don't continue to spread.



7 ivoryMAMMOTH IVORY: A matched set of very rare and expensive blue/green "bark" ivory scales. Cut from a tusk, unearthed in the Siberian area of Russia, and are over 10,000 years old. They were used on the Big Game Skinner, shown in the accompanying photo.



7b ivory


6 antlersAll the elephant, hippo and walrus ivory I offer was imported into the U.S. in the 1960's & early 1970's, and has been purchased from estates. Supplies are very limited, but worth the wait. Its great beauty is due to the warm, creamy color, rich grain patterns, and it takes on a natural, lustrous shine.


8 warthogWARTHOG TUSKS: An interesting ivory handle material with lots of exotic appeal. These tusks are just the right size for a hidden tang-style knife handle.



8a warthog


9 warthogEbony and Ivory - a small 3" san mi blade gets a new home. A single finger, nickel silver guard with a spacer set of N. S. and ebony wood. All fixed into an ivory warthog tusk.