American hardwood for kitchen knife handles?

T

Tenebr0s

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When I don’t use stabilized wood on my kitchen knife handles, I use oily exotic hardwoods (lignum vitae, rosewood, African Blackwood, mainly). I was just curious if there’s an American hardwood (specifically one that grows in the Northeast) that would be suitable for kitchen knives. Black cherry heartwood maybe?

My grandparents used to live in Vermont, and I’ve often wondered if anything from the forest there would be good for kitchen knives without the need to stabilize.
 
Hmm, I'm not an authoritative source for an answer, but I have used white oak quite a bit. It has a larger grain than one might want, but you can seal it up with Tru-oil, load it full of boiled linseed oil, or just wax the snot out of it periodically. It sands quite smooth at 400-600. Quartersawn oak, particularly with knots and crotch sections can be quite beautiful. It's very tough stuff, doesn't dent or break easily. Hickory is tougher, but very boring. I've used both kiln-dried lumber scraps and naturally dried firewood pieces both from in-state delivery and from cleaning up my mom's yard with 100yo+ oaks. It does shink a bit after shaping. Usually I shape and finish, and then a month or two later go back and hit it with 400x again to knock down proud pins or micarta/G10 joints. Mostly I use white oak on my own blades, not for customers, with one notable exception. And oak has a nice sort of tannic vanilla bourbon-barrel smell when you grind it. :)

I find cherry and maple both dent or check far more than oak, and are probably best stabilized.

If you're willing to go as far south for wood as you are for lunch, Mexican katalox is a nice option for a dramatically dark wood. The figure is a subtle black/brown contrast, but it's there and sometimes curly. I've done 3 or 4 pieces in natural katalox, and it's burly stuff.

But in any case, I'd recommend micarta or G10 (ideally) bolsters for hidden tang knives, sealed with a good epoxy to prevent water intrusion. It's the front of the handle that takes the most beating.

This isn't a kitchen knife, but it sure was a ragged oak scrap that turned out nice. This was an iffy piece of wood, but I filled the little gaps with superglue, and they sanded out smooth:

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And a small deba:

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And a pair in katalox:

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I’ve used walnut, hickory and maple, and there are plenty of others. If it’s not burl or crotch wood then it’s fine. Just use a quality finish and treat it like a wood handle and it’ll be fine.
 
I've used Osage Orange (Hedge wood), Olive, Holly, and Yew,all unstabilized. walnut oil finish.
Jim A
 
I put a lovely piece of curly walnut on a kitchen knife (5" utility fruit knife) that I use every day, but it really demands oil, and has a much more open grain than oak.
 
Desert Ironwood would be pretty much the only one from North America that i would put on a kitchen knife without it being stabilized.
 
Persimmon is American Ebony. It makes great kitchen handles. I stabilize it and it is really attractive. If you need a piece, I have plenty.
 
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Osage Orange for sure! Super dense and oily, and it’ll change colors over time, from orange to purple, with exposure to UV light! Nifty stuff!!
 
I think sugar/rock maple (1450 janka hardness) might grow up there and a decent choice non-stabilized for a kitchen knife handle. Black cherry (950 janka) is supposedly a little softer than black walnut (1010 janka), so it might get dinged a bit. I have a kitchen knife that I handled with unstabilized but kiln dried black walnut and it has a few small dings from banging around in a drawer and being taken on trips. I sanded up to 400 grit then filled and sealed the grain by wet sanding an oil varnish (Watco Tung Oil Finish, tho I've used Tru Oil too) multiple times at 400 grit into it until all the visible pores were sealed like what people do when finishing gunstocks. Then I kept wet sanding the oil varnish up to final grit, think it was 3000 grit. It's lasted in the kitchen three years no problem.

I googled trees that grow in Vermont and two choices that might work well unstabilized are black locust/robinia/"false acacia" (1700 janka) and apple (1730 janka). One thing to remember though is these are average values, so any individual piece of wood could vary a bit. Also these should be values for the heartwood, sapwood is usually softer.

I don't think any of these are oily/waxy, so if it were me, I'd do the wet sanding routine with Tru Oil or the like to fill the grain and seal up the wood. Definitely want to make sure the wood is totally dried before use. That could be a couple of years or more after harvesting it green, if you're just air drying (depending).
 
Moriah Cowles of Orcahrd Steel is from Vermont and I recall that she likes to use local wood for her kitchen knife handles, You might want to drop her a line.
 
I’ve got one with Osage on it in the kitchen now for I think around 5 years. Even survived the dishwasher thanks to a whoops moment by someone. I like it quite a bit.

Jeremy
 
Are you looking for something that can be purchased that is locally harvested or something you will harvest yourself. Our locust trees are notoriously hard. Many farms around here traditionally use locust for their fence posts because it’s hard and it lasts. I don’t know that it’s something you can purchase even from a specialty lumber yard. Be forewarned if you want to harvest yourself, it’s hash stuff on your saw. If you aren’t running a carbide chain, plan to have a couple chains sharp and ready to go because you will need to change the chain part way through bucking. It’s not necessarily the most interesting looking wood, but tough as nails.

For local stuff that can be purchased there is Birch (that might want stabilizing), a couple maple options, and oak options that come to mind. There is a place called Treehouse Hardwoods in South Burlington if you still have family in Vermont that carries locally harvested wood. I like to go in and peruse their drops section for interesting bits.
 
Thanks all for the replies! Yes, I was hoping to harvest myself eventually, and so I was wondering what I should be on the look out for in the forest the next time I'm up there (the place is still in the family). I know we have black cherry; I will look for locust as well. Osage orange is an interesting thought. I always assumed it didn't grow that far north.
 
curly maple , aqua fortis and tru oil is pretty darn attractive
 
+1 for Black Locust. Amazingly durable. They call it 100 year fence post wood for a reason! This set of steak knives is about 4 years old, and is handled in Black Locust with TruOil.

Michael

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Apple wood was a major wood used in US kitchen and tool type knives through WWII. It was also used in saw handle production for many years.
 
@Tenebr0s

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens) , Janka Hardness 2,350 lbf , shrubland regions of western North America

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I have Black Walnut, White Oak, Southern Red Oak and Hickory on my property. I just took a trailer load to my local sawmill for slabbing.

If anyone wants a small set of wood for a knife, LMK.
 
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