Anybody like to see Spyderco use natural materials more ?.

[3f8]

No.

[MatthewSB]

Natural materials shrink and grow. I've seen wood handles break the 2 ton epoxy that I thought was unbreakable.

I would like to see a folder with linen or canvas micarta, but even that swells and shrinks a small amount.

[bh49]

Meanwhile, I choose engineered synthetic industrialized over artistic natural handicraft anytime.

Of cause. Everybody is different. And this is great that we can coexist. Some prefer "engineered synthetic industrialized" designs, some prefer "artistic natural handicraft" and some love both. Also there are environments and times, when you do not want to pull Military, Endura or Manix out of your pocket. But Kopa, Kiwi or Chap will be fine.

[Bladekeeper]

Not wanting to start a debate on ethics of which I actually think everything used should be done so responsibly .
Farming Toucans no I'm talking wood , mop which can be farmed and is used under strict catch quota , and bone or horn from animals that have lived not killed for the material if you get me .
Also on the ethic front when you consider the making , the pollution the labour of some plastics materials there is damage along the way too .
But everybody is different and opinions tastes differ that's why we have so much diversity , personally I can't stand 'Trophy' hunting where a bear is shot then a glory photo is taken .
I'd be fine if the bear was adult and had been taken down with a warrior or Temperance but shooting no no .
But I don't again think its my right to enforce my superior moral high ground over somebody who does so its about respecting others and agreeing to disagree .

[dschur]

I would love to see a Temperance 2 in Sambar Stag.

Light, durable, grip, and just plain looks cool.

[ZL1]

I like Micarta a bit

[dschur]

I like micarta too, in my Temperance 2, and Street Beat, but AFAIK it is not a natural material (It is an engineered material, designed for electrical insulation in a thermosetting plastic).

[RadioactiveSpyder]

This thread makes me want to drool over the scales available on the Cuscadi website some more! Plus having bolsters is a must....

Perhaps some lessons could be learned from the Kopa series? Do the more senior forum members know if there were issues with some of the natural materials used in that series? Perusing the scale material offerings on the Spyderco website, most of the exotic materials seem to have been used on them.

It also seems it would be more feasible to make larger quantities of knives as regular catalog offerings if the knife had a smaller chassis, on the order of the Dfly or Chapparal but nothing much bigger than a Native or Caly. Can I just make a plea here for more Caly sprints in general please? Exotic, G-10, whatever!

[dschur]

Not wanting to start a debate on ethics of which I actually think everything used should be done so responsibly .
Farming Toucans no I'm talking wood , mop which can be farmed and is used under strict catch quota , and bone or horn from animals that have lived not killed for the material if you get me .
...
But I don't again think its my right to enforce my superior moral high ground over somebody who does so its about respecting others and agreeing to disagree .

We all need to keep in mind please that Sambar Stag (like all stag, but it sambar -indian deer- is much more stable for knives due to its solid core) is harvested from the antlers of deer that fall off naturally from deer every year and otherwise go to waste by rotting in the earth, The only problem comes in when a criminal kills to take it (very wrong an must be prosecuted), or as I have heard has the issue in India in the past, may burn to find the antlers after they are shed.

We are not killing baby whales here. Stag can be had very naturally and very responsibly, in fact by coming to enjoy and lobe it we can all do a lot to support the deer population.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Can you use the more common white-tailed deer here in the US as a source of antler material? Is so, please come to the northeastern US and take ours, they are freaking everywhere! They eat my landscaping, run over innocent pedestrians and bikers, I tell you they are a menace!

[dschur]

As I understand it, the only issue with deer antler from the US is the core is not very stable, sort of a honeycomb. I cant see why it can't be stabilized like some woods are, or the outer section used for knife scales. Gotta agree with your observation of white tales in the Norheast, I know they are like rabbits in upstate NY where I used to live. Here in Illinois though, I think our shotgun season is down to 35 minutes/year.

Regardless, you never need to kill a stag to pick up it's antlers.

[Raylas]

Can you use the more common white-tailed deer here in the US as a source of antler material? Is so, please come to the northeastern US and take ours, they are freaking everywhere! They eat my landscaping, run over innocent pedestrians and bikers, I tell you they are a menace!

I second this, we can't eat them fast enough!

As for natural materials..... not really. I prefer the feel and look of CF, titanium, or colored glass fiber to stag or bone. Besides that, if one of my knives had wood handles..... they would crack in about 20 minutes during the humid summers I get here.

[xceptnl]

Gotta agree with your observation of white tales in the Norheast, I know they are like rabbits in upstate NY where I used to live. Here in Illinois though, I think our shotgun season is down to 35 minutes/year.

So sorry to hear this about you. Fortunately here we have a fair season, but we still have a rampant population. I have some Kudu horn from Namibia that my boss brought back a few years ago. The dimensions are not large enough for a mule scale and the curvature isn't right either, but it would make a beautiful inlay.

FYI: most Kudu horn could be 3-4 ft long each and possibly make 30 to 35 small slabs for a Chaparral.

[dschur]

As for natural materials..... not really. I prefer the feel and look of CF, titanium, or colored glass fiber to stag or bone. Besides that, if one of my knives had wood handles..... they would crack in about 20 minutes during the humid summers I get here.

While I am also a huge fan of CF also, I have to seriously doubt if sambar stag would crack in your environs in in 20 minutes, let alone 20 years. if you prefer CF, that's fine, but many years have shown that stag holds up quite well over time. From what I've heard stabilized woods, as well as those that don't need it do quite well also.

[Bladekeeper]

As I understand it, the only issue with deer antler from the US is the core is not very stable, sort of a honeycomb. I cant see why it can't be stabilized like some woods are, or the outer section used for knife scales. Gotta agree with your observation of white tales in the Norheast, I know they are like rabbits in upstate NY where I used to live. Here in Illinois though, I think our shotgun season is down to 35 minutes/year.

Regardless, you never need to kill a stag to pick up it's antlers.

It can be stabilised as far as I know I have a pukko with Camel bone for a guard that is porous but has been stabilised .
Can't see why Sambar stag can't be the issue is embargo with sambar , but the centre the marrow is what is soft if I've listened correctly to people whom have explained .
Stick tangs are then placed into it and then filled with epoxy however there would have to be some other process after stabilisation .
Its all about the balance but the point about the materials going to waste is where I'm coming from in one respect .
I won't use snake or lizard as a perfectly healthy snake/lizard has to be killed , shredded skin or dead skin has no pigment so is useless .
Crocodile is farmed for its leather and its meat so I can sort of live with that despite loving crocs .
Here in the uk our leather makers years ago realised Bull leather was better for car seats for example as cows leave stretch marks from the udders filling up and pregnancy .
I'm not sure how it works with leather I know cows that are eaten/farmed for beef are on a completely different diet to milk cows .
As one or the other ruins the taste of one product if allowed to graze on grass , so if we could use leather from animals that are being eaten then that's great .
For anyone to eat meat but try and make a case for not farming cows or whatever for leather is being slightly hypocritical but again that's not the aim of the thread .
It seems there are those that would buy and those that wouldn't those that are happy with what's out there already and those who would like to see more .
Obviously the key issue is stability and Qc maybe as suggested synthetic material like Kirinite and linen micarta may be good options.
Yes linen micarta soaks up and expands but if produced right expells the moisture once dry , actually just this week it was
announced that scientists have created artificial mop .
It has the shimmer of natural mop but is extremely strong the structure of mop is incredibly strong and this is what they wanted to replicate but I'm not sure what for .
It may not be long before its on knife handles .

[kennethsime]

I'm inspired by the wooden scaled tenacious mods I've seen. Also, the Deacon's bolstered Stretch is beautiful. I think the Sage is a good candidate for natural material use.

[The Mastiff]

I like plain hardwoods. Nothing fancy. Walnut, Oak, plus a few tropicals. Desert Ironwood is great. Cocobolo, purple heart, bloodwood, Ebony and mahogany if quality. No more burls for me for a while. :)

Joe

[Evil D]

Only on a select few types of knives do I like natural materials. I much prefer exotic steels since they last forever. That said I do really admire the Kopas and gents knives with nice wood inlays.

[bh49]

This thread makes me want to drool over the scales available on the Cuscadi website some more! Plus having bolsters is a must....

me too brother. Old style bolsters, without holes.

Perhaps some lessons could be learned from the Kopa series? Do the more senior forum members know if there were issues with some of the natural materials used in that series?

I cannot recall any issues with any of scale materials. But keep in the mind that Kopas and Kiwis were made by Moki, the company, which has a huge experience with this kind of materials and most likely using different suppliers for these materials than Golden.

It also seems it would be more feasible to make larger quantities of knives as regular catalog offerings if the knife had a smaller chassis, on the order of the Dfly or Chapparal but nothing much bigger than a Native or Caly. Can I just make a plea here for more Caly sprints in general please? Exotic, G-10, whatever!

IMHO all of these models are good candidates for natural scales, but I doubt that larger quantities would sell well. There were 600 max pieces in each run of Kopas. IIRC New Graham, as well as some other dealers had some in stock for couple years after they were discontinued. 600 is a good number, but considering that Spyderco was making 3-4 flavors in annually, there were too many of them. But some flavors like Cocobolo and Black Quince were sold really fast.

I have to seriously doubt if sambar stag would crack in your environs in in 20 minutes, let alone 20 years.

+1 Just recently one friend of mine brought to show me a fixed blade with stag handle, which his father made more than 30 years ago. Stag looked well. No cracks.

[bh49]

Only on a select few types of knives do I like natural materials. I much prefer exotic steels since they last forever. That said I do really admire the Kopas and gents knives with nice wood inlays.

In general I agree with you, but visit Cuscadi web site or their facebook page. I would never think about this, but I found there absolutely stunning Paras and Manixes with wood scales. Currently I have Norfolk pine craving.