Black Cherry Crotch

robotech

robotech

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A couple of months ago, I purchase a set of scales from an individual. The seller said they were Black Cherry Crotch. I bought them from a picture. In the pic, the scales were a RED wood grain.
When I got the wood, it surprised me that it was a very unassuming color/grain. Also, the wood they cut from were "supposedly" stored in a building and naturally dried for over 6 years.
They were slightly warped, but after sanding them flat on both flats, they are still near 3/8" thick.
ARE these Black Cherry? Reason why I ask is they are HARD! Took a over 30 minutes to get then sanded down on a 60 grit 4X36" belt!
Here they are, before and after sanding. And MOISTENED in the last pic.
I was going to stabilize them, but they are HARD!
But, to get a slightly darker grain/color, I still may stabilize them, even if it is a hard wood. I have the resources and equipment to stab a couple of sets at a time.
Top scale is the Black Cherry, the other two are Flaming Box Elder that's in the stew right now.
scale.jpg

This is after sanding
bcherry1.jpg

and moistened
bcherry2.jpg

Surprising, isn't it?
Should I stabilize it to darken the grain? If not, how to finish it?
 
I dunno if that's black cherry or not, but it does look nice! & if it's that hard & fully-dried, wouldn't Tung oil both protect it and bring out the contrast a bit?
 
fishface5 said:
I dunno if that's black cherry or not, but it does look nice! & if it's that hard & fully-dried, wouldn't Tung oil both protect it and bring out the contrast a bit?
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It's possible
I have a set of Jamaican Blue Mahoe already on a blade. I am going to go get some Tung oil for that today.
I still don't have a blade to use the Black Cherry (if it's black cherry) and may be a few weeks. So, I have time to stabilize although it's very hard. There are a few small cracks, so stabilizing it may be in order.
I just don't know as I am new to wood working.
 
If you sand the edge a bit you should be able to smell if it's cherry.There are of course a number of different types of cherry. In any case it's a nice piece of wood -stabilize and use it.
 
mete said:
If you sand the edge a bit you should be able to smell if it's cherry.There are of course a number of different types of cherry. In any case it's a nice piece of wood -stabilize and use it.
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You can smell it?
See, I am a novice.
What do you mean?
Does it smell like Black Cherries?
Honestly, My smeller is messed up right now and I cant smell much of anything but MinWax Hardener.
I'll set the scales out in the sunlight today and see what it smells like later.
 
If you have a good smeller you can distinguish the various woods. You have to scrape or sand to get fresh wood exposed.BTW light , even inside type , will darken most woods. Hard maple is very pale at first but within a year it gets a nice warm honey tone !
 
Robo:
Do you like that Blue Mahoe? I have been looking at some lately, but have been hesitant on buying it just because I don't know much about it. What do you think?
 
brokenspearpoint said:
Robo:
Do you like that Blue Mahoe? I have been looking at some lately, but have been hesitant on buying it just because I don't know much about it. What do you think?
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I gotta tell ya, I love the angle changing colors and shimmer in the wood.
At first I thought it was too lite to be hard, but after I started working it and seen how close the grain is, I was wrong. However, it will need a finish to protect it as it seems to scratch easy (at least for an edc knife handle)
I just put some ona Damascus Tanto and being my 2nd project and first with power abrasives, I made mistakes. It is easy to shape, but I did chip out a piece when tapping in a thong tube. Too tight and hit it too hard. TOTALLY my fault, not the wood.
I got disheartened and haphazardly changed the handle. When I saw how forgiving the wood was, I bucked up and tried to do a good job.
Here is a pic. I have taken it down to 600 grit w&d and is ready to do a tung oil treatment. The black circles are where I put half 1/4" ss pins, and then embedded 6mm half flat black opal gems. Then uses a clear drying jewelers epoxy to embed. The setting still needs to be polished, but looking straight down on them, you can already see the gems. But not from this angle. I should have used a med blue gem, but, live and learn. Also, see that lanyard hole? That used to be surrounded by handle until I got stupid and broke it. So now, it's bare.

dtanto.jpg


I am going to order another set and try stabilizing them, next time,
 
Oh, and I was going to post a log on the project to show newbies what NOT to do when rescaling a blade. Then lost heart for a while and stopped taking pics. I MAY put up a thread with what I have, anyway.
Oh, and I just noticed that the pic above doesn't show where I finished peening edges of the tang to simulate wrought iron. It looks like the thong area, now. VERY time consuming and another mistake as after the handles broke when I was just thinking experiment instead of knife.
 
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Robo:
Thanks for sharing that info. Send a photo or two of your finished product; I would like to see it. Nothing like having to change course in mid-stream, but sometimes those "mistakes" can really be suprisingly good in the end. I think I will try that Mahoe wood since it seems to be different than most in the subtle colorations. Thanks again.
 
Mete,

If you sand the edge a bit you should be able to smell if it's cherry.
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This is the proverbial "dumb question", does Cherry Wood smell like Cherri's or some other smell? I've been given a mess of the stuff ( kiln dried) by one of my buddies who owns a wood molding business. I've made a few knives with it so far......but, like many folks here, my sense of smell is not what it used to be.
 
It vaguely smells like cherry but a distinct smell .BTW the photo shows, on the right side, another characteristic of cherry.Small black areas but I can't remember what causes it.
 
Thanks Mete,

I usually am smoking either a cigar or a tobacco pipe while I'm sanding/shaping my handles. I do recall a unique smell working with the Cherry Wood, kinda sweet maybe? The grain pattern can be beautiful though.
 
Yup, cherry all right. That typical bright pinkish color will darken with exposure and when a oil finish is added. Thw wave in the grain tells us it is inded crotch wood. A nice techniques is to use a wash of weak potassium permanganate solution to pre-oxidize and deepen the color. It really will come out rich.
 
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