Great thoughts to keep in mind! Handles shrinking or expanding can certainly effect whether a knife would pass or not. If it worries you, I'd consider using another material.

Concerning the sambar stag..... my recommendation is NO! Being what it is, the curves/bends in a piece of stag can make the handle and blade of any knife it's used on, look out of alignment. Personally I would be more concerned with the expansion/contraction of the stag then I would maple..... another reason I don't recommend it for JS test knives.

There are basically two way to view testing at either the JS or the MS level....

1. The mindset of doing all you can to pass. Knowing what the judges want to see, and giving it to them, in the cleanest, crispest knife you can make.

2. The mindset of wanting to win awards. Very few, especially at the JS level, have the skill set and experience to be sure about going this route. Many times at the JS testing, I have seen individuals who's goal was to impress the judges. And in order to do so, attempt something that was obviously beyond their skill set....and it ends up causing them to fail.

What you must realize/keep in mind, is that ALL the judges are Mastersmiths. There is likely nothing that a JS applicant could display, that the judges either don't do well, or at least haven't tried.

The best advice I can offer you is to KNOW what the judges want to see, and do that. Make/present knives that follow the ABS style, of simple designs, that are executed to the Nth degree. Those things impress judges more then anything else a JS applicant could do.

Well I did use stag on one of mine and it passed with no issues, as did several others that tested with me if I remember correctly. I did do a heritage fit on the stag because i was concerned it would move. (slightly larger than the bolster and but cap then rounded evenly to the fit up.) The rest of the knives in my set I used stabilized wood, and coated them in a LOT of oil before sending them on there way to atlanta.

I'm glad it worked for you Matt! You beat the odds. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Can you get the maple stabilized? Or can you get stabilized maple? I've heard that stabilizing is the way to go, especially for those of us traveling to Atlanta from very different climates. That is one way to keep it from moving as much.

Steve