Cherry for handels?

T

tgw914

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Aug 4, 2005
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I have some cherry wood and I was wondering if this was suitable for knife handels? I also have some mapel(I think).
 
Any finishing tips for cherry, nc? As luck would have it, I've just come into some myself and have never used it before. Thanks
 
Use fresh belts and go easy. Cherry will burn(turn dark) under a heavy hand and a dull belt. I use wet or dry paper for hand sanding up to 400 grit, then hand buff with 0000 steelwool.
 
I've used cherry for handles before, as well. Like mike said, it'll burn pretty easily, if you're not careful. I only rough shape my wooden handles with my grinder. I do the rest with a rasp and 60 grit paper, and then sandpaper in progressively finer grits until I'm satisfied. I use linseed oil and then Johnson's floor wax for the finish. The last cherry I used was on a kitchen knife for my wife about a year ago, and seems to be holding up really well.

Todd
 
Cherry is a fairly unstable hardwood unless stabilized. The grain structure is tight and linear. it has a habit of checking and splitting. There are many other woods available on the market that you will get better results with. The handle material represents such a small portion of the cost of making a knife you should use one that will give you both beauty and longivity. I recommend using stabilized materiall only. my .02 cents Fred
 
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