Camphor burl scales?

E

edgehead60

Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
2
Anybody have any experience working with camphor wood? From my basic research, it appears to be an oily wood & doesn't take well to stabilizing. Any suggestions as to working or finishing would be greatly appreciated!
 
You didn't mention whether or not you already had the wood so...
There is a guy selling stabilized Camphor scales on eBay (Bob's Exotic Woods). I have never used this material, so I can't comment on its capacity to be stabilized. The seller seems to have good ratings, however, I have never purchased from hims and can't vouch for him.
 
I have some nice Red Camphor Burl . It is soft,oily, and has to dry for years to get ready for stabilizing. When I had Mike at WSSI do some it came out gummy and not nice at all (like Thuya, it does not stabilize well). I sanded it down and used it anyway. It came out OK, but was not as nice as I would like. Camphor burl is a good wood for Jewelery boxes and lingerie chests,but the only knife I ever made from it that looked good was a small ladies knife with a red Camphor Burl handle and sheath.The wood was sanded to a 1000 grit finish and buffed with a soft cloth. I do love the smell of this stuff.
I can't speak for or against your seller's stabilizing, but I have always had the impression his wood is not "stabilized" in the same way as knifemakers are talking about. I think he may use something like PEG or Nelsonite.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
I have always had the impression his wood is not "stabilized" in the same way as knifemakers are talking about. I think he may use something like PEG or Nelsonite.
Click to expand...

Nelsonite is a pretty quick proccess. Other then the smell going away that is. ;) The seller says to allow 1 to 2 weeks for delivery. That kind of gives the impression that he is stabilising the 'normal' way. I could be wrong of coarse.

It will be interesting to hear how they work out for edgehead.

-DD
 
:jerkit: You can buff to a fine finish and then theroughly coat with VIC'S VAPO RUB.....:D LOL I am just kidding I have no idea but felt the need to joke a bit
 
Camphor laural was used exstensively down here in the 50s and 60s to make a type of fishing reel much like a giant fly reel unique to Australia. ( Alvey reels ) The timber which has a fantastic smell was used for its light weight, strength, beauty and oiliness, all necesarry attributes for a salt water reel.

I would imagine it to be too soft without stabilization and its oiliness would pose a lot of problems for the stabilizing process. Good luck with it.

Peter.
 
I just bought some redwood burl scales from Bob's Exotic Woods on eBay. Inside the packaging the scales were enclosed in a zip-lock sandwich bag. The first thing I noticed is that the scales seemed much lighter than other stabilized wood I have purchased. The second thing I noticed was that the scales smell horrible! They have such a powerful chemical smell that I can smell them even though they are still in the bag.

I don't know what Bob's uses to stabilize their wood or whether it works, but it can't be the same stuff that K&G uses. Not too long ago I bought a block of stabilized maple burl from Dave Peterson over on the Knife Network Forums (he uses K&G) and that wood was much heavier and didn't have a bad smell. I think I'll skip Bob's in the future.
 
Chitswood on ebay has a nice selection of boards for great prices. You can stabilize at WSSI afterwards that way.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top