Hi guys,
Coming from a perspective of a person who have done some khukuri handles, here are my views:
- Material wise, in the condition of my country with 80% plus humidity, cracking is rarely a problem. I just look at them as different colors, grains, structures and choose any of them as I want.
- An interesting point is that making the handle of khukuri, especially hidden full tang (rat tail) type is the process of "stock removal". The maker have to shave from a block of material towards the center of the handle which is the tang. In the case of horn the outer bark is drier and tougher. The inner part has higher humidity with younger "horn cells", then it is more prone to shrinking and splitting as the finished handle loose its humidity. Same for bone and antler, the outer is tougher, denser with better color and texture while the inner part is more spongy and softer. It is always a pain to remove those beautiful outer part. Bone and antler has a limit as they are hollow and is always a challenge to work at the palm ring - butt cap area. For a bone / antler handle, if you shave too deep, you will reach the spongy part which looks not so nice. Both horn and bone has limit in size and might not fit large handle designs like the Chitlange type, and also handles with a strong curve / drop. Wood is another story. The material is large enough to cope up with almost any handle design, and their toughness as well as texture is almost consistent across.
Then base on their characteristics to pick the proper material for your project.
Cheers,
Hung