I saw the thread about bamboo for knife handles and it reminded me that I was going to ask about handle material.
I've never been much of a hunter, but I have considered taking it up to supply some food and cut back on a grocery bill if possible. Since I missed our hunter safety courses this year, I mentioned to a guy at work that I would like to have some deer meat. Well, he mentioned it to our maintenance supervisor who showed up with two deer shoulders and a ham for me yesterday. This got me thinking. Could I use the bone for knife handle material? I know a respirator of descent quality is in order to protect from particles and I'll have to buy one. But is it usable, or pretty if done right?

I feed my pitbulls raw meat and over time I have found out its extremely expensive!!! So I cut up ever deer I kill and process the meat myself for my dogs, in doing that I end up with alot of deer bones and yes they do make good handles. Now everyone has their own way of doing it, heres mine.. I take all the meat I can off the bone and put them into a big cast iron tub and boil them. I then put them up for awhile and wait on them to cure outside. I have bone that been outside for along time I still havent gotten to yet but I dont really have a certain time its ready. Usually around a couple of months, its just a guess. It also smells pretty rip if done in the summer. I hope this helps, If their is pasture land in your area get to know the owners and ask premission to look for old bones, thats a good source and usually its real old and cured. Good luck and Godbless hope I helped,CHarlie

Bone handled knives do work, stabilizing is popular with the pros (you'll have to ask them how they go about it, I'm just now aware of the process). Shins are symmetrical, and have a nice slight flare at the butt that prevents the hand from slipping too much, so that's nice. You could also do the ball joint, but I'd reserve it for something like a sword, if you ever felt like doing one. some might argue against it, but you could fill the void with epoxy. You can also take silver solder and cast a decorative bolster at the same time. it's a little expensive, but offers immediate gratification, since you can buy it off the shelf, unlike pewter.

Heck, you got fire ants down there, when it warms up, throw the bone on the pile and leave it for a spell. it will be clean in no time. I got some bear feet this summer and never thought I wanted to see another fireant until that day... :)

Thanks for the help guys.
Yeah, there's plenty of meat on the bones at the present. Once I cut off as much as I can, I'll try boiling it down and setting the bones somewhere that neighborhood dogs don't get them. (Dog says, "Ooo! A treat!" I say, "Where'd my knife handles go?")

Fire ants. I remember the time before they came this far north. Those were the good ole days. I've got Jim Hrisoulas' The Complete Bladesmith I think he covers stabalization of bone it there. I also have a couple of antlers that will work. I just have to start putting out some knives. There are three sitting in front of me right now and two more in my bedroom.

Boone: How far is that from Waynesboro? I and my son are going to Waynesboro in December to meet with the guy who runs Calerin Forge. He's going to start teaching us the fine arts of blacksmithing and- I'm sure -help me in my knife making skills.

Some guy sells giraffe bone for knife handles so I suppose deer would be our exotic bone for handle material.:cool:

I saw a knife with giraffe bone handles somewhere recently. It was really pretty. Yeah, deer is our exotic animal. :D

I guess that you could use what is close. Say maybe javelina, pronghorn antelope, black bear, mountain lion, elk, moose, big horn mountain sheep, Russian boar, or one of the exotic imports they have in Texas. They have an ostrich ranch between Phoenix and Tucson or emu perhaps. Alligator for the folk in the deep south, laminated opossum from road kill., armadillo. Then the horns and antlers of these critters too.

i think agrussel is selling a line of giraffe bone knives they look pretty good i dont think much of the blade but the scales are nice

Boar tusks can be worked in too, if there big enough, and dont forget jaw bones those work great as well.

Waynesboro is the wrong side of Raleigh for me I'm up in the mountains. It's closer to Greenville, where I went to school

Did it again! :mad: I didn't mean Waynesboro. I always confuse Waynesboro and Waynesville. I went to Haywood Tech a few years ago to learn my day job. But I learned about Waynesboro when I was into Civ War reenacting and went to a couple of living history events there. Sorry 'bout that.

Do you ever use a Clorox soak on bones especially when found wild and not harvested by yourself?

1 hour ago, Edwin h said:

use a Clorox soak

Welcome to IFI Edwin. Have you read this yet? READ THIS FIRST  It will help in getting the best out of the forum. If you edit your profile you may be surprised how many members are near you and a lot of answers depend on knowing the location.

I doubt if the original posters will respond since they haven't been on the forum in years. 

When treating any bone for knife handles, I don't recommend soaking in bleach or boiling them as it tends to make the bones brittle. To whiten them I use food grade 35% peroxide or better yet let them sit outside and let the sun along with ants do it. A friend of mine raises Bison for food and is an excellent knife maker, he uses the bones for handles and that is what he recommended.

Thanks, that is what I needed .  Had some difficulty getting into this part of the site so reply late.

First knife I ever made was deer bone handle. It does good. It has held up too. Made that knife 37 years ago.