Black Walnut as scale material

[Charlie Mike]

I decided to dress up my Dalton Companion. I used 600 and 1500 grit silicon carbide for the blade and button. It still looked lacking, and I thought a natural scale material would top it off. I cut the blanks out of Black Walnut and after lots of elbow grease, they fit nicely. The screws pertty much tapped themselves (I did pre drill them) and I put a drop of Elmers wood glue for peace of mind before I assembled everything. For a finish, I used Shooters Choice and Rem Oil, rubbed in well. This morning I went over it again with 600 and 1500 to get any grain that might have raised. After that I gave it a final rub with some lemon furniture oil.

I don't have a digicam, so pics won't be up for a while. I just want to know if I did this right. Will the finish hold up? I want it to get darker with use and develop its own shine so superglue finishing is ruled out. If I missed anything, please tell me. This is my first major knife modification.

 

[Danbo]

The finish should hold up, but you might want to prepare yourself for the inevitable shrinkage of the walnut. I would keep the handles well oiled down or use some kind of stabilizer. Walnut is a pretty lightweight wood anyway, and if those slabs were not stabilized, you are going to have some shrinkage, and it may be sooner than you think. Wood shrinkage is one of my pet peeves on a full tang knife. So much so, that I wont buy a full tang knife that has any kind of wood unless it is ironwood or some kind of stabilized wood.

 

[Charlie Mike]

What is a good stabilizer?

 

[peter nap]

There's a never ending list. Minwax woodsaver, any of the urathanes, Antique oil, Tung oil Etc, Etc. The work best if thinned. I use acetone for most of the thinning but it depends on what you use. For my fighters I use the blood of my slain enemies thinned with flat Budweiser. :footinmou

 

[Charlie Mike]

Originally posted by peter nap
For my fighters I use the blood of my slain enemies thinned with flat Budweiser.

I'm petty low in the kills department so would red food color and some 10 minute old Bud Lite work?

For the last two days, I've been rubbing lemon furniture oil into it and hitting it with 1500 grit between coats. Yesterday I rubbed some Kiwi black into it and it really brought out the grain. I went to the mall last night and walked into the jeweler and asked him about doing a polish for me. He took a look at the knife and said he'd do it free, so now the blade is almost a true mirror polish.

 

[Lynn]

I have used black walnut on several kitchen knives and one forged hunter. Going with a video that I remembered seeing (don't know who at this, senior?, moment. I soaked the wood in boiled linseed oil for a couple of days. No problems with the ones that I've been using in my kitchen.
Lynn

 

[peter nap]

Matt, one of the nice things about knifemaaking is that you get to do things over and over. The Furniture polish won't do much to stabalize. On the next one or just to play, try taking wood and soaking it in different stabalizers. Some people use a vacume pump. I most always just weight them with a piece of lead and leave them in a sealed container from a few days to a few weeks. When you take it out wipe it off and let it dry. This fills the wood and doesn't allow room for moisture to get in. Another benefit is that after the scale is finish shaped a quick buff will produce the most beautiful luster you can imagine.
A quick note on blood. If you have trouble finding enemies to slay, get in touch with the local blood bank and ask for some of their expired stock. Should be able to get a good price. The Budweiser fives it a tougher finish. You know how much bigger and stronger you feel after a few Buds.:footinmou

 

[Terrill]

I have wondered myself why makers don't use more walnut. If it is cured or aged long enough it is rather stable. So far I have had three knives maded using walnut as a handle material without problem. My first one was done using a piece of walnut from a tree that was blown over on my property. I diced it up and let it dry in a shed for two to three years. Jerry Drew, a maker from Asheville,NC, used it on a little hunter for me. That was about four years ago and so far no trouble at all.