Hi all,
I was wondering about a few different materials and was hoping that you guys might share your thoughts,
Oosic,Bone,horn and the like,or should i also be considering man made equivalents,
Do any of these have trouble with sweaty hands,all as good as each other ?
I'ts a consideration for a two handed grip,other than wire over rayskin,
Gratefull for any advice,
Lee.

I am from alaska. oosic definitely. make people hold and admire the grip then tell them what it is. plus it is near ivory.youcould probably find someone in alska to make oosik grips for you. I could, but not legaly. to ship an ivvory product out of alaska. it has to be carved by an oficial alaska native. ( tlingit, haida, upic, etc...) people don't value oosics too much up there. use them for door handles to the steam bath....

What is oosic?

Hi Allen,

Oosic is... well... the penile bone of a walrus (sometimes fossilized, I think). Thus Zach's suggestion that Lee allow people to hold it before twlling them what it is. ;)

David

Hi Guy's,
Thanks,
Hold and admire,lol,nice one,
The Oosic i have seen on texas knife supplies and remembered one of the high end katana smiths using it as it's said to give an excellent grip more so with slippy hands,
I was under the impression it was available without any restrictions,that nugget of info alone could save me no end of grief with customs,guess i better check with them before trying to source some,
Cheer's,

Oosic should be the same as mastadon ivory and exempt from the ivory bans. I've got several pieces of fossil ivory, oosic and even a few fossil walrus ribs from Alaska and Canada without any problems. I've never actually looked it up on the customs rules, though. I was just buying it off ebay.

As to the original question...oosic polishes to a glass-like finish, but doesn't seem as slick to me as other naturals with sweaty hands. I've never put it on a sword sized blade though..only used it on ~15" or smaller blades. I think the synthetics feel more slippery to me than the naturals, with the same level of finish. water buffalo horn being an exception. To me, it's the slickest next to polished reconstituted stone. Then again I've had a lot of sensory nerve damage to my hands so it may just be my imagination! ;)

it is like slightly porous ivory with a bone core.[/i]

If you want to go the route of wood, I recomend african blackwood, its not too pricey and has a very pretty deep deep purple to it. It it also strong enough to withstand the shock from a blade. Relatively easy to work too. My .02

~Ryan

Yes i'll have to take a look at the african blackwood, but if it's along the lines of ebony and other exotic woods,for longer time spent handling gloves are ideal but i'm leaning towards materials that are as grippy without them,hope i'm making sense,
Handle material i've had experience with would be,
Ebony,Walnut,oak
An old malay kris,some form of dark hard wood,alot of deep carving,adds to the final grip finish,
Old sabres,wire over rayskin/fishskin,looking the favourite choice,if i cant get the oosic in the right sizes,
Leather over wood,smooth,corded,wire wrapped,resined cord over wood
On the manmade materials i have one of the old point gallery swords,kevlar/carbonfibre mix the grip is quite good,not perfect compared to some materials though,and the appearance is ivory/bone,
The main reason for the Q (apart from the grippy part) is to find a handle material that is not going to need much in the way of maintanence or actual replacement over time and maybe actually improve with time,hence the old fossilized material's,
appreciate the help and info,
lee

Check out www.boonetrading.com They have elephant (pre-ban), mammoth, walrus and hippo ivory, oosic and narwhal tusk. Got a bunch of other stuff, too, including pre-cut elephant ivory slabs in a variety of sizes for handles. They are located in WA state. I haven't bought any of their ivory products yet, so I can't attest to quality. Prices seem okay, but I don't have much to compare them to.

Cheer's Brock,
Loads and more on that link,
The real old stuff looks interesting,
Thank's all,

what an excellent source for cool materials. the narwhol stuff looked very cool. I didn't know that kind of thing could be had so easily