Advice Please - Cutting Expensive Wood

Burl Source

Burl Source

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Recently I have purchased some pretty expensive wood.
This is not something that I am selling right away as I still have to finish drying and then send it in to be stabilized.

My question to knife makers who make knives that sell for $500+ is;
What sized blocks would you be looking for, if you were to use this sort of wood as handle material?
If I was just wanting to make the most money possible I would cut the blocks to 5" x 1&1/2" x 1". That is pretty much the standard with a lot of the knife making supply places.
But that would not be usable for a lot of you guys that make fighters and bigger knives.
I thought that with your input, I could do a better job providing what you might need/want.

This is the wood that I am cutting up.

The first pieces are in the Amboyna family. Commonly sold as Golden Amboyna but that is not the real name.
mb001_zps75b2c9f9.jpg

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These arrived today. Some very good fiddleback and curly Koa.
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The Koa is still wet so when I sand it the grain and figure smear. But I still needed to get at least a glimpse. When dry and stabilized it will look a lot better.
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Mark I'm not sure about other people's handles, but I have always found 5" to be short and very limiting. 5.5"x1.5"x1" is just slightly longer but I feel like it really helps, at least for my work.
 
Hi Mark,
This is the way I would cut it up for my self.
One Fantastic piece is better than 2 Good Pieces.
I would pay the price of 2 good blocks to get 1 Top notch piece.
The size I like is 1 1/8" x 2" x 5".
Good Looking Koa BTW.
Dave
 
Thank You Don & Dave.
I had been thinking that 5&1/2"+ x 2"+ x 1"+ would be safe for most fighters.
But pieces like this one I might go a little wider to allow for a big, wiggly butt.
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Mark, the standard size (5" x 1-1/2" x 1") will work on all my hunters, kitchen knives and medium bowie/fighters. Only on my largest bowies do I like larger blocks, (5-1/2" x 2" x 1-1/8).
 
Hi Mark, when I cut materials for some of the big name guys I cut them about 5 1/4 X 1 3/4-2 X 1 1/4-1 3/8. That gives them room for nice sweeping handles. Talk to you later, Mark
 
Thank You Don and Mark.
Looks like I am pretty safe with what I had been thinking.
But I thought it would be a good idea to double check.
I will probably go 50/50 with some 5"+ by 1&1/2"+, and fighter blocks 5" to 6" by 2"+.
Probably some bigger and smaller depending on what the wood allows.

BTW: Dave, I agree with you. Better to have one really good piece than 2 pretty good pieces.
 
Burl Source said:
Thank You Don & Dave.
I had been thinking that 5&1/2"+ x 2"+ x 1"+ would be safe for most fighters.
But pieces like this one I might go a little wider to allow for a big, wiggly butt
Click to expand...

I like big wiggly butts too. Wait, are we talking knives or what? :)

Randy
 
I would love to see a selection of larger blocks in all varieties of woods, not just the very expensive stuff. I'd be looking for blocks in the 5.5 X 2 X 1.375 range.
 
if i can get a few for razor handles im set i ll make due with shorter stuff for other needs. you will sure be having me spend when that stuff gets back fro K&G
 
When I send my personal material out to get stabilized, I always send 5+" X 2+" X 1+".
They will clean up a bit smaller upon return.
When I buy finished material, I buy very few any narrower than 1 7/8".
I look at it like this:
1.) You can get something small out of something big. Not the reverse.
2.) Cutting decently sized pieces out of a larger chunk of material will yield only a few blocks short of what you'd have if you cut smaller pieces. So there is a small loss of material, yet a lot more freedom with what you can make, and you can actually charge a few bucks more for the larger pieces.
So you don't lose money.
Or not.
And everybody is happy.
It's wood.
It's not gold.
 
Don Hanson III said:
Mark, the standard size (5" x 1-1/2" x 1") will work on all my hunters, kitchen knives and medium bowie/fighters. Only on my largest bowies do I like larger blocks, (5-1/2" x 2" x 1-1/8).
Click to expand...

Mark, I have the same size requirements as DH III

I look at the top view and like the grain to run parallel to the blade and the side view grain to wrap around the same as the handle shape. Burl woods should be similar on both sides and perpendicular to the frame or blade from the top view.
I generally don't buy scales because they usually don't match but instead like to cut my own scales from a choice block.
 
Mark, Chuck's "bowie block" size is pretty good in length and width. Sometimes people want them a bit thicker, for the big swept "fat butt" handles like you see form Jason, Burt, Nick, Sam L. and those Krazy Kids from Alaska. Guys who do bigger Moran style stuff would also find larger blocks useful I suspect. :D Jason might b the guy to ask about what would be a good size. IIRC, he and Adam sat down one visit and figure out a formula for those handles they do, right down to the exact dimensions and the contact wheel size you need for grinding each section. The good news is that most people don't need peices qutie as long as some of the guys doing bigger Japanese style kitchen knives do and you can probably figure out a wide block size that you can angle cut into two balnks for bowies, etc.
 
the bog oak blocks i have been getting are great as i can get 2 WA handles out of them or 6 spacers for WA handles the other good way i can cut them is 2 shave brush blocks for turning and still get 2 maybe 3 razor handles out of the rest of the block (2 razor sets pay good and the spare handle is all gravy )

the larger blocks aloso allow me to make say a hunter and a capping knife or parer (keep the wife happy with my new hunter/bowie buy if i give her a nice knife for her to)

im the odd ball tho since i have some blocks in my wood chest 2x4x14
 
I'm not selling expensive knives yet, But I cut my blocks at 6"x1 1/8 x2 to give me some wiggle room. If I was going to buy an expensive piece of wood, I would want that flexibility. It also allows some manipulation to match the grain to the flow of the knife.
 
Bigger is better. 1-1/2" wide is useless to me, most of the time. I like 5.5 X 2 X 1-1/8. I'd really prefer buying it in big chunks and cutting it into blocks myself. Maybe you could consider making that an option too?
 
I too like the 5.5x2x1.125+.. If I need it I like to have it, yes there may be some waste but that's all part of the process.
 
6" x 2" x 1 1/8" is a good measure for me

Although if the mail service here in Argentina would work just fine, to receive, I'd love to buy whole the wood block... :thumbup::)
 
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