I use a wide range of interesting materials like English Neolithic Bog Oak (5,000 years old), Mammoth Ivory, African Blackwood, Sambar Stag, Snakewood, Rosewood, Thuya, Amboyna, Australian Red Gum, Mallee, Coolabah, Jarrah and Eucalyptus burls, English Box wood as well as Micarta and Kirinite. Most of the wood is stabilised to provide improve water resistance and dimensional stability; all these materials make great handles.

I really like bog oak which sounds a bit derogatory when, actually, there is nothing ordinary about it, it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. When the European ice caps melted the British Isles were isolated from Europe, in the ensuing flood massive oaks with trunks 100ft tall lost their footings and were preserved in the peaty soil; this species is now extinct. My supply is from a world expert who harvests the trunks, planks and then dries them for two years which he then uses as a highly skilled furniture maker. He has had it radio-carbon dated at 5000 years old so it’s older than the pyramids at Giza and older than Stonehenge thus, “Neolithic Oak” properly respects its heritage.

All my handles are either secured with corby bolts or, for Japanese style handles, are precisely fitted and glued on. They will not come loose - under testing they have to be destroyed to actually remove or loosen them. 

A Kirinite handle in their Patriot pattern with a nickel silver spacer and butt cap, there are luminous layers in this material which makes stunning handles