Knives quickly became part of this tradition. Sailors already carried folding and fixed blades as everyday tools, and it was natural to treat the handles as canvases for engraving. Some of the earliest surviving scrimshaw knives feature whalebone or ivory scales decorated with simple patterns, while others display maritime scenes carved in intricate detail. These knives were still tools, used for rope work or daily shipboard tasks, but the addition of scrimshaw transformed them into deeply personal artifacts. They reflected the dual nature of life at sea, where practical objects also served as carriers of memory and identity.

As whaling declined in the latter half of the nineteenth century, scrimshaw shifted from shipboard pastime to collectible folk art. Whalers sold or traded pieces when they returned to port, and examples began appearing in maritime towns along the American East Coast and in Europe. By the twentieth century, scrimshaw was firmly established as a recognized art form with cultural and historical value. Knife makers took notice, and decorated blades became one of the ways the tradition continued. In the 1970s and 1980s, production lines such as the Schrade Scrimshaw series brought the style to a wide audience. These knives typically used synthetic or bone handle materials etched with wildlife or outdoor scenes, making scrimshaw part of everyday sporting and hunting knives rather than a purely maritime artifact. Custom knife makers also embraced the art form, producing one-of-a-kind pieces that treated the handle scale as a space for engraving.

Antique Sailor's Knife featuring a scrimshaw handle

Schrade Scrimshaw Lockback

As a result, modern scrimshaw has adapted to new materials. Knife makers and engravers today most often use cattle bone, antler, or synthetic substitutes that offer similar engraving surfaces. Fossilized ivory from mammoths and mastodons is another common choice. Because these animals have been extinct for thousands of years, their ivory is not subject to the same restrictions as whale or elephant ivory. These materials provide both a legal and practical medium for engraving, allowing the art form to continue without conflicting with conservation law.

Today, the engraving process itself remains similar to the shipboard practice of two centuries ago. Artists scratch fine lines into the polished surface with sharp tools, often under magnification for accuracy. Dots and crosshatching build shading and depth, while pigment rubbed into the cuts makes the design stand out. This technique can produce strikingly detailed imagery despite its simplicity. On knives, the designs range from traditional nautical scenes to wildlife, western vignettes, and even portraits. Some artisans create full knife series with themed artwork, while others focus on single custom commissions that treat each knife as a one-of-a-kind canvas.

Marble's Moose Scrimshaw