Texas Knifemakers Supply: Polypearl Knife Handle Scales (Sold as a Pair)

Arrived on time. Looks good but the description says 5” long and it is not. I’ll make it work with a smaller knife. Must have been a Friday afternoon cut off.

Great stuff, lots a fun to work with. You could make a knife lamp the way those scales light up.

Though not pretty to start with, these scales worked out well and turned out fantastic. My first impression was negative because you don't expect bubbles, etc. But, given the beautiful results, I suggest looking at these as a rough draft. They're not shipped ready to mount. They're shipped ready to craft. The surface imperfections were just that- surface. The end results are fantastic. The colors are vibrant and the transparencies are impressive once the scales are polished.

Edges are pretty rough, but fine otherwise

I’ve made a LOT of handles for knives for decades. I’m currently making a special-order custom hybrid handle for a vintage Santoku blade that I refurbished.The customer wanted a “cool look” and he suggested that I use this exact product from Texas Knife Makers. He saw it on Amazon and wanted it to be used between the new walnut handle I’m crafting and the Deba blade. I had my doubts, my experience with these mass-produced synthetic scales is NOT good.The lesson here is to NEVER take material and design suggestions from customers, and I’ll never do it again because it inevitably becomes warranty work for me down the road when I have to repair/replace than handle (for free).I cut the piece I intended to use for the knife (see photo with walnut block and this polypearl) and It would not sit flat on the dead flat walnut. The top and bottom of the polypearl were so badly warped that I lapping both sides of the polypearl on an Atoma diamond stone until the sides were both flat but I lost most of the swirl color and it was simply a black bolster. And there were other issues.The edges are badly chipped all around each piece. Locating this material on the end of the new walnut handle near the blade seemed like a really bad idea to me because I KNEW it would eventually chipso I called the customer and said we had to move on to better material.Even when you try to polish this product, if you’re not really careful it will chip from heat. Any bump into a hard surface and it’s dented or chipped.Look at the photo where I’m holding the uncut piece of polypearl in my hand and you can see how jagged the edges are and that defective edge chipping is all around both pieces. Against my advice, I did indeed incorporate this polypearl into the handle at the customers insistence with the caveat that if it chips or cracks during normal use, it's not something I can easily fix and I will not cover any such damage as "free" repair.I’m not fond of 1 star reviews, it goes against my nature but when something is this cheesy, useless and bad, I don’t have a choice - this is on the seller. Hope that helps.

Nothing like the picture or description and the two scales don't even match

I made this knife for my daughter's 17th birthday. It's my first completed knife. The blade steel is from an old lawn mower blade. The butt and guard are made from buffalo horn, and these awesome slats that happened to be my daughter's favorite color. They were easy to shape. Had to be careful not to crack them. I cracked the first one I drilled. But still had plenty to work with. They worked our perfect and the daughter loved the hand crafted knife and sheath. I recommend these 100%.

There are absolutely nothing wrong with these scales ! Yes, if you get to rough you can break them. As far as chipping when you drill them just put some painters tape on the off side . And yes if you grind to deep they will scratch. Just a matter of sanding to the shine you desire. And they are very well priced! Also, they are easy to use and make any knife look better. Be sure and wear the appropriate ppe when working. I would recommend them to any knife maker.