Giraffe Bone??

This has been intresting, but , for what it's worth, IMHO, G-bone to mammoth is like , that plastic shit, to MOP. Been there , done that:)
 
The only bones that I really like as a handle material are those that have sat in the ground for thousands of years and absorbed minerals that have added great beauty. I don't care for deer, giraffe or camel bone, and I don't like cow bone except when jigged and on traditional slipjoints. It comes from many years of considering bones to be what you throw away when butchering an animal. To me, bones are garbage that get taken to the dump.
 
Hi Les,
I'm surprised that you seemed to miss my point. Either that or it wasn't really worth the minute or two I took to type it. Lemme try again.

I don't care either way for or against any handle material. I don't think it has much bearing on a true, valuable collectible knife. Maybe it does for a commodity type knife, but I don't really know or care why, as some times those reasons are either political, environmental or capitalistic.

A long term investment is different than a short term one, so maybe that's where I'm having a hard time understanding why the materials preferences are continually being shown to have a bearing on a knife's investment value. If I have an 'investment' knife, it's for my child to draw value from, not me. So that's where I'm coming from, not a giraffe farm in Africa.

If a knifemaker of esteem makes a knife using a particular material, the knife's value is less tied up in the material and more in the maker's renown. In the long term.

I'll bet Les is squirreling away all the giraffe bone handled knives made over the past few years so he can sell them when they're rare because no one uses the material anymore! I'm kidding, and that was sarcastic. Sorry:).
 
David Schott said:
I wasn't accusing....I was suggesting that he may be influencing the market. Doesnt mean he is doing it consciously....
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Everyone influences the market. It's a good thing we do.

David Schott said:
As for your second point, I am going to go out on a limb and say that if a lot of the top ABS MS guys started putting out high volumes of knives with giraffe bone handles, dealers would start stocking them. Would it mean a change in opinion on the material? I think that if we started see classier, fantastic designs like some posted here recently, there could indeed be a change in heart. Lobsters used to be thought of as food for the poor, after all.
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We can inch back towards the center of the tree and say that the top makers are the top makers because they're able to skillfully make the knives that the customers want the most. Coca Cola put out millions of dollars worth of 'New' Coke in the late 1980s and spent millions more in advertizing and, well, we have Classic Coke instead. Mixed with the right rum or blended Scotch, 'New' Coke is fine (just as giraffe bone mixed with the right maker is fine) in limited quantities. Do you really think giraffe bone will be any different? Neat stuff, but I prefer canvass, linen, paper, fiberglass, and carbon fiber all saturated with epoxy resin much more.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
The only bones that I really like as a handle material are those that have sat in the ground for thousands of years and absorbed minerals that have added great beauty. I don't care for deer, giraffe or camel bone, and I don't like cow bone except when jigged and on traditional slipjoints. It comes from many years of considering bones to be what you throw away when butchering an animal. To me, bones are garbage that get taken to the dump.
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You hit the point here... :thumbup:
Compare Giraffe bone to cow bone. Jig it, dye it, use it, compare it to cow bone.
Apples to apples.

Is cow bone compared to some of the exotics like ivory, mammoth, etc..?
Why hold a different standard to giraffe?

How is it to work with, look at, and touch as compared to bone?


Why throw up a different criteria than another animal's shin bone? :confused:
 
Hi Lorien,

Here is an oxymoron for you "investment grade giraffe bone".

Short term or long term.

First define short term and long term.

If you are investing for your child. Open up a Roth IRA for them and max it out every year. :D

A maker can only drive a market so far. Then it is up to the collectors to run with it....collectors make and break markets.

What I have been saying (in this an other threads) and I think you can see several other people agree that G-Bone is not a favored material for numerous.

If you think that G-Bone had potential long term, perhaps you should buy the material out right. That way if it does come back into favor, you can pick and choose the favored makers of the day and have them handle your knives with it.

Some people did this with "Remington Bone". A jigged bone that for some reason seems to "superior" qualities to just plain jigged cow bone. Remington bone has found a favor with collectors, as such certain collectors will pay extra for this bone. Maybe it has special jigging or something...I don't know.

I felt this was germane to your question about long term investment with regards to G-Bone.

The only G-bone I have or will have is if Bill actually goes to Africa and brings me back a box of it. :D

If I still haven't answered your question, feel free to clarify again.

Les Robertson
Cornering the Market on Camel Bone!
 
I just can't believe all you guys are so prejudiced against something this adorable......:D
giraffe.jpg
 
Les, I think you need to come with me to Africa so you can face your fear of giraffe's and possibly put this awful nighmare behind you.:D:D:D

This has been fun but I do believe there is no one answer for the strong dislike for G-bone. I throught there might be one deciding factor that really turned collectors off from it, but evidently not. Unless it actually does come down to the name "giraffe" like Don Hanson stated from the get go. Now if we could change the name to something more knife friendly it might become a hit again but until that happens, well, who really knows. ;)

Have a great weekend everyone, I've got G-bone to dye. Send me your address Les and I'll send you a set of killer scales. :D

Bill
 
But yet we LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that micarta. :eek: ;) :D
That comes in all sort of bazar colors too. :barf:
 
Of course I love micarta! It snuggles my hand while I cut and the fibers poking out from the resin expand and become more grippy when sweat or other liquids would have it otherwise become slick. I like the look of well done giraffe bone, too; it's just wood, horn, phenolics, and plastics feel better in my hand and wood, ivory, and phenolics seem to be in the higher-end knives.
 
If there is anyone out there who has any large, handforged knives with giraffe bone handles by the likes of Burt Foster, that you would like to get rid of cheap, please pm me:).
 
Antiques Roadshow, PBS Channel 219750, December 2182 (excerpt of transcript)

"APPRAISER: Yes indeed! The dislike of giraffe bone among collectors at the turn of the 21st century means that very few knives like this one exist. Also, as you know, the last non-GMO giraffe died in the Moon Zoo in 2113. That makes this purple-dyed giraffe bone slipjoint with Power Rangers motif very valuable. At a specialty auction, it could fetch in the range of 60 to 75 thousand units!"

;)
 
We do not see much Giraffe bone up here in the arctic but in the last 28 years I have cut and carved tens of thousands of pounds of ivory and bone.
My favorite handle and carving material has to be fossil walrus ivory. Almost all of the fossil walrus on the market comes from St Lawrence Island. When I started caving it in the early 80s i paid from $10 to $30 per pound for it. When the price started gong up I moved to mammoth ivory and fossil whale bone.
There is a place in the market for all kinds of material. For a user one of my favorites is walrus cheek bone.
I do not understand the popularity of mammoth tooth. Its structure makes it unsuitable for a knife that is going to be used. I have had it put on 5 or 6 knives and with a few exceptions had problems. For the last ten years I have carved about an average of 50 teeth a year. No matter how dry they are or how they are stabilized about 10% of them will come apart.
Chuck
 
RWS said:
I just can't believe all you guys are so prejudiced against something this adorable......:D
giraffe.jpg
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Wow! :eek::eek::eek:

For a second there, I thought we'd get sidetracked onto a debate about using the shin-bone of a Gary Coleman for knife handles! :D
 
akivory said:
We do not see much Giraffe bone up here in the arctic but in the last 28 years I have cut and carved tens of thousands of pounds of ivory and bone.
My favorite handle and carving material has to be fossil walrus ivory. Almost all of the fossil walrus on the market comes from St Lawrence Island. When I started caving it in the early 80s i paid from $10 to $30 per pound for it. When the price started gong up I moved to mammoth ivory and fossil whale bone.
There is a place in the market for all kinds of material. For a user one of my favorites is walrus cheek bone.
I do not understand the popularity of mammoth tooth. Its structure makes it unsuitable for a knife that is going to be used. I have had it put on 5 or 6 knives and with a few exceptions had problems. For the last ten years I have carved about an average of 50 teeth a year. No matter how dry they are or how they are stabilized about 10% of them will come apart.
Chuck
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Good input based on first hand experience. Interesting point on the mammoth - are you talking specifically about the fossilised teeth or the tusks as well?

Stephen
 
Stephen F said:
Good input based on first hand experience. Interesting point on the mammoth - are you talking specifically about the fossilised teeth or the tusks as well?

Stephen
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Chuck's talking about the teeth, they are very unstable. The tusks are fine.
 
All ivory has a grain structure .If it is cut properly it is incredibly durable. Imagine how the tusks are used on the animal. The walrus ivory on your knife was taken by a Siberian Yupik hunter in a skin boat hundreds to thousands of years ago. After being used as a tool it is buried and then it is dug up and makes it way to your knife.
 
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