New Materials for blades, handles, sheaths, cases, stands!

I've started this new page because from time to time, I acquire new materials for knives. I'm always on the lookout for gemstone, exotic and domestic woods, sheath material and exotic skins, stand and knife case material. From time to time, I come up with new and exciting items for use in my projects, and available for use in custom knives for you! In my travels and with my contacts, I come up with some pretty unusual and sometimes downright rare materials. Some materials are more conventional, but all are beautiful and interesting in their own way. That is one of the most exciting things about this career, and I love to share my fascination of these materials with you, my clients.

If you have or know of sources for rare and exotic materials, either domestic or imported, please don't hesitate to contact me! I've been known to trade money off of knives and art projects toward a client's investment of unique materials, sometimes complete knives can be trade for really special stuff!

I'll update this list when I receive new stuff, but that doesn't guarantee that I'll have enough for every particular request. Just like with the rest of my material supply and inventory, we'll have to go on a case by case basis. Please do contact me if you want more information on using any of these or any other materials for custom projects. Some of the materials have pictures available of either similar pieces of the same type of material, or the material itself. They are linked in blue to those pictures. Of course, if the material is already on a finished knife, the new bulk material will vary some in appearance.

About the appearance: most of these pictures are of the raw stone or wood, and may not give an absolutely true rendition of how the material looks when slabbed, ground, sanded, polished and finished. In every case, the finished material will look much more stunning than the rough rock. Rock that is fractured, or oxidized usually has a surface patina that hides its true appearance. You can see it as a rusty or powdery surface, and to eliminate this in the pictures, I've sprayed the rock with soapy water to bring out the color. This is how I select rock in the field, so you can see that it takes some interpretation and experience to determine just what is a good, useful stone.

Here's an example:

Malachite, rough

Malachite on finished handle

Metals for blades, bolsters, fittings, mounts

Gemstone handle materials

Woods for handles, stands

Man made and unusual materials