Can someone help!

Rene E. Roy

Rene E. Roy

Joined
Oct 4, 1999
Messages
709
I want to build a cabinet to hold all of my handle materials, I've seen in knife magazines that some people use a light bulb in theres. Does the light need to be on all of the time? If so what watt bulb? Do you need a light? HHEELLPP!!!

Rene Roy
www.geocities.com/roy_knives/blades.html

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If at first you don't succeed, buy more knifemaking equipment!


 
depends, some use that to keep there handles material a certain temp during cold weather, and to stop it from cracking. i buy handle material in 2'- 5' boards, and large blocks so i usually just keep them inside. cold causes a mosture change in the material and cracks it. if you stock small handle material slabs, then i'd say, keep them in sealed bags, and keep them warm, im not to sure about the light bulb idea. you may be able to avoid temp change if your shop is insulated, and heated. also in the summer, don't let them cook, that will cuase cracking to, or anything that causes mosture change. you may want to build a small chest for them and keep them indoors, especially for ivory, pink ivory wood, any ebony, and iron wood.
 
Be careful to either vent your cabinet top and bottom, or use a thermostat to control your bulb. In a tightly sealed cabinet even a 25 watt bulb will build up very high temps if left on all the time. But a drying cabinet is a very good ideal if you keep lots of wood around especially if it's already cut into thin slabs.

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I love my country! I just don't trust my government!
 
I am not sure that keeping handle materials in a heated drying cabinet after they have been dried initially is a good idea.. I think the handle material should be kept in the shop where it can achieve a balance with the normal humidity in your area so when it is attached to a knife it will not have to react to humidity in the air. This major rapid change could cause problems.

I keep all of my handle materials on shelves in the shop or in burlap bags until they dry naturally. I do not force dry any handle material.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com

 
Do a web search woodworking, turners that use green wood use some type of drying cabinet. I have seen them but lost all my bookmarks when the puter crashed. One Ausralian site had lots of handy homebuilt gadgets. Also try Timber drying in a search. I have dryed some wood in a refrigerator with a light bulb, the door left open slightly for ventilation and a 5lb. bag of descicant with the wood to soak up moisture.
 
I have seen several makers use a wooden cabinet, varying in size depending on ammount of material generally in use. The ones I have seen used a cabinet arround 30" x 18" x 30" and used a 40 watt bulb. They vented the cabinet and kept the bulb on all the time. I personally would advise to have some sort of thermostat installed. Blade Mag did an article about 2 years ago I think on this topic. The other option although more space is needed would be an old fridge with the light switch removed. This is air tight and a small bulb will keep the humidity level quite low. In my field, welding, we use this also to keep some type of rod dry. Hope this helps!
 
The old fridge with a piece of stovepipe and a damper in the top and some vent holes in the bottom works well. You can use a small light bulb in the bottom vent so the heat rises through the shelves. Watch out for too much heat, however. Good idea to wire in a baseboard heater thermostat and set it on about 80 to 90 degrees. It will cycle the light on and off as needed.

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Ben R. Ogletree, Jr.
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions! I just finished making a cabinet! Came back from the New York show with a bunch of handle material! Now I have the perfect place to put it.
Rene

www.geocities.com/roy_knives/blades.html

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If at first you don't succeed, buy more knifemaking equipment!


 
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