Composite handle materials vs environmental impact

[fionsladder]

I have been searching for the perfect handle material. Many times I thought that I had found it. When I used my first burl, I thought "yes" this is it! But then it is still hard to finish without time and patience and it never had that luster that I was looking for. Then I went looking for the hardest wood I could find. Eureka! Cocobolo rosewood! The most beautiful and dense wood that there is. Then I find out these very special trees took forever to grow and were part of the ever dissapearing rainforest. I tricked myself for a long time that "this piece of wood is already cut", but it did start to bother me. Now it is on a list with ivory to be banned. That was the end of my wood handle dream and the search continued. Then acrylized stabilized wood! Great, beautiful, but it still loaded up useing fine belts and needed to be sealed the same as any wood. The search continued. Micarta and Corian have been my focus as of late. The corian lets face it is beautiful with many colours and limitless possiblilties, but can be cracked during construction if not careful. With a silicone sealant it is completely water resistant. Sufice to say Corian is my new thing. I will get back with an update soon.
Steven Tedford/Tedford Knives and Swords

 

[CWL]

So what is the carbon footprint of Corian? It's composed of 1/3 PolyMethyl MethAcrylate and 2/3 Aluminium TriHydrate -which uses lots of electricity to separate from bauxite ore.

How about bamboo?

 

[knarfeng]

IIRC Corian is relatively soft and is therefore subject to damage in use. You might do better with micarta.

 

[Bob W]

Sufice to say Corian is my new thing.

It seems to me that any manmade material is always going to be less environmentally friendly when compared to natural materials. If that's a critical shopping factor for you.

Corian = mining, manufacturing, processing... and the energy requirements and bi-products of each process.

Bone and stag seem like the least damaging to the environment when looking at the big picture. Stag antlers grow back each year and fall off on their own, the perfect renewable resource. Bone handles usually come from cow (shin?) bones that might otherwise be wasted after the cattle are slaughtered for food. Can't get much more eco-friendly than using something that might otherwise be discarded.

Wood is a good choice too, but you have a good point with regards to specific species and sources. No problem though, lots of knives are made from local, renewable, woods that don't have to be transported halfway around the planet. Oak, walnut, olive, pear, maple... depending on where you live.

 

[Skimo]

There's ironwood and osage as well.

I'd go with Micarta® myself, if it's going to be synthetic.

There are some great trees that aren't normally available but can become available after fires or storms, good hard woods.

 

[gundude73]

i honestly dont care. i just buy what looks nice and what has good grip. no matter what you are going to do you are gonna "damage" the enviorment.

 

[Bob W]

Leather, too. Some dyes and chemicals used in treating the leather, but relatively minor eco-impact compared to completely synthetic handle materials.

 

[Bob W]

i honestly dont care. i just buy what looks nice and what has good grip. no matter what you are going to do you are gonna "damage" the enviorment.

That's not unreasonable, considering the drop-in-the-bucket nature of knife handles compared to other consumer products that we buy and use every day.