My Ebony and Mammoth Ivory Alaskan Skinner with Zebra sheath

Speechless!
What a nice setup.

Graham,

Striking beautiful contrast; well done!

Tom Flynn

Graham

Superb, congratulations!

I like that one. Can't get one with Ivory now.

Why not?

Steven,

'We the people' who live in the home of the free & the brave cannot get one with Ivory!!!!! The great people from down under can get whatever they want; and look at it while drinking a frosty cold Fosters!

Are we screwed up or what!

Tom Flynn

LOL

We can't have elephant Ivory but we can still have fossil ivory, my knife is mammoth and it was purchased a a few years ago now, I think it was around the time James moved to Missoula.

No one in Australia drinks Fosters anymore, last time I saw Fosters it was in the Outback Steak House in Roanoke VA it was 2009.

We cannot have Mammoth either; they want them to be protected from being shot by poachers!!! LOL

That's crazy, what's the reasoning behind that? Have they banned Ivorite and white paper micarta as well?

There are literally tons of ivory going into Asia, stopping the trade of some pre-CITES ivory will do nothing to stop that.

That is logic; and that is why you and I are not politicians!

Tom Flynn

Hey guys, the legislation is still in process, I believe. But regardless, I may or may not have a beautiful chunk of elephant ivory on hand just waiting to be ordered....

To all--

There are a couple of threads on the Forums about the Federal initiative to ban the sale of elephant ivory within the US unless the seller could prove the age of the ivory, when it was imported, through with ports, etc.

I have not tried to keep those threads updated, but at this time it appears that there is a bit of standoff between the USFWS and proponents of the ban on the one hand, and the Congress on the other hand. The last word I have is that Congress has put language in the funding for USFWS that none of the funds can be used to enforce such a ban. There are also a couple of other Bills in preparation which I have not read, so I cannot comment on what they say.

Meanwhile, New York might have already passed their own ban--the last I heard they had persuaded Governor Cuomo to sign it.

And the New Jersey legislature passed its own ban overwhemingly--with the bill now pending Governor Christie's signature.

And you are right--I have not read the NY bill, but the NJ bill included the ivory from extinct species such as mastodons and mammoths!

If you care about this--speak up to your Representatives and Senators, and tell them to write Federal legislation that makes sense and that preempts foolish state laws in California, NY, and NJ!

Larry

P.S.: Not long ago I read how (I think) Romania's orchestra had the bows for its stringed instruments impounded by Customs because the law says that ivory cannot be imported! The orchestra came on into the US anyway, and played with borrowed bows. Then, when they wanted to recover their own bows from Customs, they were told they would have to pay a $500 fine on each bow in order to get them back.

No body in Mexico drinks Corona except the American tourist.

Tom,

Great looking knife-love the ebony and Ivory; the sheath too!

Tom Flynn

Beautiful knife Tom.

BTTT after a long nap.
These two discovered in my recent collection of Treeman and early Montana knives. I know of at least 2 others not listed here; Chief has one and not certain about the whereabouts of Kevin's knife.
James said he believes about 10 knives were made. All were different in some way. I passed on the opportunity back in the day and never thought they would come around again.
It was called "Project Zebra"

Warren,

Love the Zebras; looking good.

Tom Flynn

Looks great Warren.

Thanks guys. Would like to see more of these.

Mine.

Nice one Chief.

Thanks bro for posting. Yours was one of the best especially with the pin lock sheath. I need to get Amy to make one of those. I believe yours was a Rowe?

So blade shapes as far as I can tell, Graham's was an Alaskan, maybe TTB can repost, my two are DE Fighter, and a Woodcraft, and yours is a Hunter.

I have a zebra sheath as well. They are both Mosher sheaths.

Ok, thank you for the update.

That black/white theme is really nice.

Wasn't this project done when James was still working with Jim?

For some reason that's what I have in my mind, but then again it's been awhile since they were done.

Mike,

These were our of Missoula.

The official "Project Zebra" builds were a Montana thing, yes, but that is not to say that Jim (and/or James) had not produced similar handle stacks prior to these. I know Kevin Lough played a part in getting the ball rolling, but I'll have to ask James to breakdown the full story. He's showing an old Michigan buddy around our woods this weekend, so conversation will have to continue Monday on that one. For me anway

Warren put a ruler next to the Dagger you listed please.

Here ya go!

Thanks Boss.

So whatyathinkin'? Sounds like a project.....

The middle dagger in ox is a longer blade than yours.
I like daggers a lot I have had at least 6 BMK daggers, so far I have 2 that are users.
They are both more on the longer slim blade style.
Think it's time for as in today's Harley world a Fat Boy! Back when I rode one it was a Fat Bob.
Now to find a killer piece of handle material & it's on.
Well I also need to get width & length down & a hilt style a little different this time around.

Like this?

Yes but blade to the hilt.
Maybe a forward curve to the hilt.

Harder to get the edge to the hilt without a choil. FCH might make that even more difficult.

Rummaging through some knives, found this:

Well what do you know. Another one surfaces. Nice Mike.

Dang Michael! I want that one! Is the white material elephant ivory or something similar?

elephant...

how much would that knife be in Halloween sale??

Michael,

As discussed, that is a Michigan made knife.
Any blade stamped "Handmade" is a Michigan made knife.

Thank You Warren, it’s here for the long haul. Not going anywhere !!
Appreciate the info !!

And for the record it may have been the impetus to the Missoula knives which followed. Only James would be able to give provenance.

Here's a group of 5 just received today. Not all ebony and ivory but they do belong together. All are Michigan knives except one which is Missoula made. None of these were part of Project Zebra either. That series was all Missoula knives.
The Missoula knife has a Studebaker stamp that I have not previously seen. It must have had very limited use.

So it's clearly stated for any and all eyes that see these, we have not and will not work with elephant ivory since the ban took effect!! Walrus / mammoth / etc are all on the table however- we do not utilize or possess any materials that are deemed illegal by the Fed.

So all that said, good job on snagging those WP!!

The Studebaker stamp was used when we were able to source pre WWII Studebaker leaf springs. The quality of the steel diminished in wartime, and the older ones are harder to find.

There were probably a couple hundred blades made from them in our shop. The stamp is not officially retired, but I no longer have the time to try to source the old good stuff. If you do however, be my guest

Thanks Grant for the update. The stamp was something I had not seen before and now it's clear.

Warren, Grant, James, and whoever else was involved,

Those knives are AWESOME!!!

Coach,

All but one is vintage Michigan and the other an early Missoula knife. I was not part of the build back in the day but was aware the discussion. I was offered "in" but passed on the Missoula group which was roughly 10 or so knives which included Mosher sheaths with Zebra inlays.
Each knife was unique in its own way; no two were alike as I recall and confirmed as they now surface. My most recent group is not part of that build.

Well,,,

They are really nice!

Well,

I really appreciate the comments!