How to tell what handle material is what?

sqoon

sqoon

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Jan 1, 2010
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Is there a way to tell what material is used in a knife without destroying it? How can I know what is ivory, bone, antler, etc? When I took geology in college, one way to know which mineral was which was to see what could scratch it. Topaz can scratch quartz, fluorite scratches talc, paper covers rock, etc. (See Mohs hardness cale). Can one apply similar tests to the materials in question to tell what it is? Is there a less destructive way?

Pete
 
This may be an over simplification, but you can just get familiar with what the materials look like. It would be difficult not to tell Ivory from Stag. I can't imagine you would want to scratch up your knife scales when there is a much easier way to determine what was used (e.g., get familiar with the different materials). Sorry if I misunderstood your question, but there are a lot of knives posted on here each day and I can only think of a few cases where it has been difficult to tell what handle material was used (e.g., Waynorth's post re is it stag or bone...and that was difficult to determine)
 
Second best thing to do is to just ask someone on here if you don't know what the material is. You'll get a flurry of responses I'm sure...
 
I'm inclined to agree with cnas122. Familiarity will come with time, so long as you take the time to really look these materials over when you get the opportunity.

As for my 2 cents' worth, I've noticed most bone-handled knives usually take & have a higher polish, and even more so with time (Case duplicates the effect with their 'Pocket Worn' bone series, which are finished to a smoother, shinier effect). With polished bone, I've also noticed a certain 'depth' to the finish, almost looks liquid (like a deep, highly polished finish on a car). When tested with a fingernail, bone is usually quite hard. The fingernail will usually just skate across it, without 'biting' or leaving any mark behind. If you inspect the ends of the scales, or the inside surfaces of the jigging marks, bone will have a lot of 'pores' in it (use a magnifier, and very bright light). Some jigged wood handles look like they could be bone, but won't be as hard or scratch-resistant under a fingernail. If inspected under magnification, wood will show it's grain, which won't be seen with otherwise similarly finished bone. Synthetic handles that are made to look like bone or stag won't show any pores or (real) grain at all. That's a dead giveaway. Plastic always looks like plastic, close up.

With stag, I haven't seen too many examples as shiny as bone. Most of the smooth antler handles I've seen have a somewhat greyish or 'salt & pepper' look to them, whereas smooth, undyed bone will usually look whiter, kind of milky. Also, with the black, rougher finish usually seen in the recesses of 'gnarly' stag handles, the black stuff is often somewhat flaky in nature. Sometimes it'll peel off, if you get a fingernail or toothpick under it. Some bone handles are carved (jigged) to resemble stag ('bone stag', or 'stag bone'), but the man-made carving/jigging usually can't hide from close inspection. Most stag doesn't feel quite as hard or slick to me, compared to bone, when tested with a fingernail.

The very few ivory handles I've actually looked closely at, have a somewhat 'creamy' or 'buttery' appearance to them, with some 'depth' in the finish (similar to bone), especially when polished.
 
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Yes,experience is the key.Ive had even experienced knife guys ask me if it was delrin or bone.Some delrin looks really good,but it all has a flat appearance with no depth as mentioned before.Ive heard of people using a hot pin to test,but destructive testing is not a good idea.
 
Using a powerful magnifying lens can help-when you look at the grain in bone, pores in antler, uniformity in composites etc.
As has been written, experience (and the feel of the stuff) is invaluable.
 
With regard to visual identification of ivory v. bone, see the US Fish & Wildlife Service IVORY IDENTIFICATION GUIDE.
Polished cross-sections of elephant and mammoth ivory dentine display uniquely characteristic Schreger lines Schreger lines are commonly referred to as cross-hatchings, engine turnings, or stacked chevrons.

Compact bone, which is most often used as an ivory substitute, is extensively permeated by a series of canals through which fluid flows. This is the Haversian System. The Haversian canals can be seen on a polished bone surface using a 10X hand lens. These canals appear as pits or scratch like irregularities. Their appearance is often accentuated by the presence of discolored organic material which adheres to the pit walls.
Click to expand...
 
the guys gave you some pretty good pointers . the moh's hardness scale does'nt translate to handle materials. minerals & natural handle materials are mostly in different ball parks. find a collector in your area & take him a 6 pack of beer & he will probably clear it up for you.---dennis
 
DennisStrickland said:
the guys gave you some pretty good pointers . the moh's hardness scale does'nt translate to handle materials. minerals & natural handle materials are mostly in different ball parks. find a collector in your area & take him a 6 pack of beer & he will probably clear it up for you.---dennis
Click to expand...

Yeah, the advice here has really been great. I knew that the Mohs scale didn't translate to handle materials. I was using it as an analogy, and a poor one at that.

I figure the only way I'm really going to know is to simply buy more knives. Yep. That's it. Gotta buy more knives.
 
As Berkley mentioned, polished white bone might be hard to distinguish from ivory to an untrained eye, but on close inspection, you can tell them apart. Ivory will have a "grain", while bone will have those tiny little specks from the Haversian Canals. On dyed bone you should see dark little freckles from where the dye seeped into the canals, which is how you can tell it's actual bone and not a man-made material like delrin.
 
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