Granit scales..?

[Kimall]

Hi guys I have not posted for ages as I have been busy house building and not knife making.This must change so I am on a new one now and am going to put granite on as scales on a full tang.Any thoughts..? I understand it may be too brittle but have been experimenting with some bits of late and dont think it will be much more so than some of the really hard timbers I have used before.I can drill it so pinning wont be a problem..
Cheers KIM

[Anthony Chaney]

Seems like it would make the knife handle heavy and out if balance.

[Crex]

Depends on blade design/geometry on the balance, but most likely be handle heavy. Most stone is going to be brittle in thin enough slabs for handles. Jade is the only "tough" stone I know of that can take some impact/blows without cracking or chipping, it will break if hit hard.
Some granite really has a look though. Have seen stone used successfully in smaller apps like folders.

[Doug Lester]

There's a maker over, I believe, in Rome who has posted some knives that he has put some marble slabs on as handles. They would seem for looks only, or no more than light use.

Doug

[AUBE]

As has been pointed out it will be quite heavy and fairly brittle., but it can make some nice looking handles.

It can also be a bit of a pain to work. The few times I worked it I used diamond coated blades for the majority of the stock removal. Make sure to keep the piece nice and cool. It will take quite a bit longer to shape than something like wood.

As far as stone goes its an "ok" choice. There are easier stones to work (marble), and there are harder. At least with granite you don't have issues with chipping while working the material like you can with some stones like tigers eye, labradorite, etc. Another material you might want to check into is "jasper" it comes in some pretty nice patterns, is relatively cheap, and its relatively strong.

I think the area stone excels at is thin inlays. The weight won't be such an issue and if its inlaid where the stone doesn't reach the edge of the handle then you won't have problems with it chipping when dropped.

[Kimall]

Thanks guys, very much what I was thinking myself but I have some beatiful stone here I just have to give it a go I dont sell the knives I make so if it fails so be it.I gues the dropping and breaking is the biggest consern and I think that if you did the same to a knife a few years old with hard timber scales it would result in a similiar thing and I cant remember dropping a knife in all the years I have been using them.Anyway thanks for your thoughts and I will post some pics.
Cheers KIM

[Kimall]

It is really nice to work with and I will be making many more...
You can not see it in the pics but along ther spine of the handle and the belly it is polished like a kitchen bench top and the sides of the handle is left more raw.I thought it might get a bit slippery when wet but it is the oppisite with it getting nice and grippy when wet.

[Crex]

Nicely done Kim. That is some nice granite and it looks like you got it fitted well. Just don't set it on a matching counter top....might be hard to find.
If you have access to a sandblaster, you could put even a rougher texture on the handle sides in all kinds of designs with some planned masking.
I've got some interesting color variations of rough that have green and black streaks much like zoisite.
May have to try it now. Have to drag out my lapidary equip. Did you have any trouble with the steel sanding polishing differently than the stone or clogging your diamond laps?

[AUBE]

Very nice! I'm surprised to see a finished result this soon. The majority of the time I see people ask about working stone the follow up posts are "yes this stuff is a royal pain to work!" Looks like you've got the process downpat, congrats!

[Imakethings]

I like it!

[ckluftinger]

I use marble, alabaster and soap stone in some of my work, but haven't tried granite. I figured it would be too hard to work. Now I'll have to try it...
Looks very nice!

[ranger1]

That looks really nice. What did you use to grind it? Man that is really cool. A chef's knife with granite handles and a matching cutting board would be awsome. I have done that with corian but with real stone would kick butt.

[cbsmith111]

Well I don't know how brittle or heavy it is, but that looks awesome! I didn't picture it that way for some reason. I didn't think I would like it, but I do. Beautifully fitted.

[Kimall]

Wow thanks so much guys on all the positive comments I am very happy with it for the first one.I am half way through a kitchen knife and have some granite from the north pole for it.It is from a place called the vulga valley in Russia and can only be collected a few months of the year and looks out of this world.I will do a bit of a build along soon on one of these knives I just want to get the process all sorted first.
Cheers KIM

[piggy]

Wasn't what I expected at all. I am most familiar w/ JF's stone handles and his are always flat. I was thinking maybe it had to be done that way. So seeing this one rounded is very different and nice. Well done!!

A good market for granite might be a knife for cutting wedding cakes. Granite is good for engraving. Makers mark on blade, wedding name and date on handle. I am seeing dollar signs.