How the Selection of Handle material is done

A large percentage of my handle material is wood I cut into scales
myself.  A small percentage I do buy scales. 
Below is a new section of tiger maple for me to work from.

Cutting my own scales does take more time and sometimes can be
difficult.  You never know what you will find when you open up
a piece of wood.

There is allot involved from cutting to flat sanding and fitting but
this also allows me to select each piece of handle material individually. 
If the grain isn't what I'm happy with or if things aren't going good the
wood ends up in my scrap box as you can see below.

Scrap wood that just didn't make the grade or was
from a cut off..

The final results from each piece is very rewarding.  The grain each piece
of wood takes on is very unique and individual.  Below you can see one
of my kephart knives finished in tiger maple with a hand rubbed oil finish.

A custom kephart knife on a new tiger maple board

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com/

Happy Mothers day to all Mom's