Are all Ironwood good for knife handles??

[Eriksen]

I´ve got connection with a guy in South Africa who can sell me Ironwood. Are all Ironwood good, or do I have to be careful with this.

 

[AwP]

As far as I know, all ironwoods will make good functional handles, though the particular kind will determine what the grain looks like. So you might get a handle material that functions perfectly but might be a bit plain looking compared to a different kind of ironwood. Hope this helps.

 

[R.Coon-Knives]

Several years ago I bought some Austrailian Ironwood - sight unseen. Big mistake. Not very good looking stuff at all. It was dense and suitable for a knife handle but not much to look at. I was told that every continent has some variety of ironwood.

Get a representative sample from the seller and some assurance that future purchases will be the quality you want.

Here's another caution about buying wood from someone who may not know what you need in knife handle material. In the same purchase I bought a couple of dozen sets of scales. I told him the dimensions I wanted and how many. When I received the shipment the scales were not matched. They just sawed them off and dropped them in the box. I guess they didn't know about matching sides for a knife. He gave me my money back on these.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

There are different woods called ironwood.The one we prefer for knife handles is DESERT IRONWOOD.The other species are hardwoods that have good attributes,but beauty isn't usually one of them.Ask for some samples before you purchase this African wood.Also,African woods are called by lots of names that they aren't.Many woods are sold as ebony,rosewood,etc.and are entirely different species.
Stacy