anyone want to share their wood stock pile photos

[marekz]

i was just curious to see your wood ( haha). im looking to invest in 3-5 different species of wood and want to get an idea of what will work. so far im thinking of 1.african blackwood
2.amboyna burl 3. afzelia burl 4.desert ironwood 5.cocobola. what are your thoughts-thanks-marekz

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Blackwood
Amboyina
Desert Ironwood
cocobola
curly maple
quilted maple ( or some type of maple burl)

I have a lot of afzalia, and like it, but it is not as great as amboyina, and needs professional stabilization to be usable for knife handles.

Stacy

 

[marekz]

African blackwood--is there a big difference in whats desirable. Are the darker African blackwoods worth more than the lighter ones( were you can see more fiquere) or vice versa?!!!!!!! I kinda like the lighter ones they almost look like smokey gray blackwood.

 

[Johnny Warner]

I like a lot of different woods, depends on the character of each piece. Often I choose the wood prior to making the knife to bring out the most character of the wood. Working the blade style with the optimum use of the handle material should compliment each other and flow together. My favorites in no particular order are:

African Blackwood (jet black)
Burls (Amboyna, thuya & redwood)
Cocobolo (more figure the better)
Desert Ironwood
Below are two examples of some nice figured wood IMO.

 

[bjalongi]

Here's a tip before you go dumping a bunch of money on wood.

Stop by a few hardwood flooring stores. Many of them do their own installations and always have pieces left over. There is one near my house that I stop by every few months. The owner lets me go through their pile of scrap in the back room. Last time, I got a #%*& ton of solid exotic hardwoods - FOR FREE. I now have more figured Brazilian bloodwood than I know what to do with. It's worth a shot at least. Most of the left overs just pile up and they end up going to the dump.

Take care, Brook

 

[firebert]

Let's see what I have laying around..

Rosewoods:
-cocobolo
-African blackwood
-tulipwood
-bois de rose
-Panama rosewood
-Honduras rosewood
-palisander
-East Indian rosewood
-camatillo
-kingwood

Ebony-
-Madagascar
-Nigerian/Gabon
-Asian Ebony
-striped Ebony

Others:
-snakewood
-desert ironwood
-pink ivory
-cocuswood
-amboyna
-thuya burl
-figured bubinga
-camphor burl
-pernambucco
-curly teak

and a bunch of others less suitable for handles.

All were purchased from lumber yards, not knife supplies. Most was from the bargain bins. It's easy for a knifemaker to work around defects that would be a deal-breaker for an instrument maker.

Phillip

 

[go mike]

I mostly have American woods, but I do have 6 types from Belize.

Here's a picture (The wood is under the name):