Need some help in wa handle design

A Dutch knife maker is going to make a handle for a 210 mm gyuto of mine. The ferrule is going to be made of mammoth ivory . It'll probably be like the mamoth invory you can see here: http://www.schmiedeglut.de/shop-mes...n-knochen-fossilien/mammutelfenbein-ivory-xc/

Most of the blocks have white, brown and black colors in them. This makes me wonder what sort of wood would fit to this ivory. I don't like too much bling on my handles, so I think burl-type woods are out for this handle (because the mammoth ivory is already quite varied in pattern). But I also think a simple brown wood would not contrast too much. So what wood would you choose? And what material/color for a spacer (if there is a spacer)? Personally I was thinking of a plain (ebony-like) black wood, but I'm not sure.

Alternatively I could also go for much more colored mammoth ivory, like this: http://www.nordisches-handwerk.de/s...tbackenzahn_bloecke,rid,217,produktliste.html

Your ideas about the complete handle are appreciated!

If it's possible, maybe do the ivory (white) as the main part of the handle and have it capped at both ends using a dark (black) wood. Bog oak maybe?
Or reverse it and have the ivory capping the dark wood center?
To blingy?

I too was thinking Bog oak or African blackwood

Claro walnut

Well, you could also stay with the fossil theme and use bog oak wood for the handle...

I think that since you have such a killer handle material that you dont want anything to detract from it. So I would suggest a more simple looking wood that is still awesome. The ones suggested above are good options. Claro Walnut is good. I love the idea of Bog Oak because it is the same age as the Mamoth ivory just about, and I think that is killer.

Black and white ebony might look good

A while ago I did one with mammoth ferrule and big oak, and I really liked it. B&W Ebony can be a bit iffy, I have seen a lot of that material cracking over time...

Stefan

I'd also vote bog oak. Simple but it has history and some character. Maybe a matching mammoth ivory butt cap.

Another vote for bog oak.

Sorry for being offtopic, but could someone who speaks German translate OP site and tell me if that ivory is synthetic or natural. It says Raffir, and I was under impression that Raffir is purely synthetic material, but that site makes me wonder if that's true or not.

Sure....

"Raffir-Ivory XC" ist ein speziell stabilisiertes Mammutelfenbein und wird in Dänemark von der Firma Raffir hergestellt.
Das Elfenbein ist ca. 10.000 bis 30.000 Jahre alt und stammt von dem Stosszahn des Mammuts. Da es sich um fossiles Material handelt ist kein CITES notwendig!

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Raffic Ivory XC is a specially stabilized mammoth ivory and is being produced by Raffir in Denmark. The ivory itself is from a approximately 10-30k years old mammoth tusk. Since it is fossil material, it doesn't falls under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

So it is real fossil ivory, but it got a stabilizing treatment...

Raffir is synthetic material used to stabilize the mammoth ivory.

I speak German (sort of - the Germans here probably remember Rudi Carrell ), so if there is anything specific you'd like to know, please let me know .

mark76 said:

Raffir is synthetic material used to stabilize the mammoth ivory.

I speak German (sort of - the Germans here probably remember Rudi Carrell ), so if there is anything specific you'd like to know, please let me know .

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Your German most likely beats my Dutch hands down..guess living 45km away from Venlo is still not close to the dutch border...