Combining wood with other handle materials

F

FiliKnives

Joined
Aug 25, 2017
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Hello!

I have some questions about combinig wood with synthetic handle materials - g10, micarta.
In the past I made some handles combining micarta, g10 and vulcanized fiber liners and it was good, handles are still in shape and condition as they were on day 1.

Than I made a handle with vulcanized fiber liner and wenge wood (which is not extremely hard), and over time, it shrinked a little bit, along with vulcanized fiber liner, and now i can slightly feel corners of steel, if you know what I mean (it is full tang knife).

I like how many of you combine for example wood and micarta, or wood with g10 liner etc. I would like to try that, but I am affraid that wood will "work" over time (shrink or expand), and will no longer be in line with g10 or micarta.

What kind of wood I have to use that wont change over time? I work a lot wit bubinga wood, which is pretty hard and oily, will it be good? Or does the wood have to be stabilized for that purpose? With what kind of wood you have good experience that is not very expensive?
 
I take it that the Wenge was not stabilized...the heater running in winter keeps the air dryer and wood shrinks a little, wait a few more months (summertime humidity) and it will swell back and you probably wont feel the corners. Using stabilized wood will help alot
 
Wood that is 5-8% can still expand with humidity. It depends on the environment it is kept in.
 
You are right, that Wenge wasn't stabilized.
So what would be your recommendation, which wood to use for knives that will be used by hunters (often in contact with animal blood, fat, and washed with water)?
 
Desert ironwood is known to be quite stable as well as hard, a classic wood for knife handles. African blackwood is another good choice for a pretty stable natural wood. While now and then I see people put these two woods through their stabilization apparatus, I doubt it really helps, and it's possible unpolymerized resin would weep out of these. Cocobolo and kingwood are probably good wood choices for handles too.

Even stabilized woods can still move but usually expect much less movement in service than natural woods.
 
FiliKnives said:
So what would be your recommendation, which wood to use for knives that will be used by hunters
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Personally anything stabilized. Milkbaby gave some good choices for stuff thats not stabilized , I would add Katalox to that list. He is right that stabilized woods can still move but usually its much less than nonstabilized.
 
Just did this with stabilized burl bought off this site. hope it holds up but putting several layers of tru oil to help.
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FiliKnives said:
Hello!

I have some questions about combinig wood with synthetic handle materials - g10, micarta.
In the past I made some handles combining micarta, g10 and vulcanized fiber liners and it was good, handles are still in shape and condition as they were on day 1.

Than I made a handle with vulcanized fiber liner and wenge wood (which is not extremely hard), and over time, it shrinked a little bit, along with vulcanized fiber liner, and now i can slightly feel corners of steel, if you know what I mean (it is full tang knife).

I like how many of you combine for example wood and micarta, or wood with g10 liner etc. I would like to try that, but I am affraid that wood will "work" over time (shrink or expand), and will no longer be in line with g10 or micarta.

What kind of wood I have to use that wont change over time? I work a lot wit bubinga wood, which is pretty hard and oily, will it be good? Or does the wood have to be stabilized for that purpose? With what kind of wood you have good experience that is not very expensive?
Click to expand...

If you want natural wood that will be stable, Kingwood, Cocobolo, desert ironwood and african blackwood are all great choices.

If you want to try stabilized wood, I would recommend something on the lower budget end for your first time. Stabilzied Mango, walnut, or maple.

If you are interested in any of those woods, I have photos of them all and carry them on my website, the link to which you can find in my signature line. Please let me know if you have any questions.
 
Thank you all for your time.
Knox, i like the handle, this is what I was talking about in 1st post.

I made one handle with cocobolo and loved the look of it, and how hard it was. Also I know that Ironwood, Kingwood and African blackwood are very hard but all these wood are pretty expensive. I am beginner knife maker and can't yet sell my knives for the price that would be profitable. That is why I am looking for more affordable wood, that will be somewhat stable.

One more question; What do you think about "Lophira alata" wood, a.k.a. Ekki, Azobe, Red Ironwood ? From what I found wood is very dense and hard, almost as Cocobolo or Ironwood, but I dont know if it shrink or expand over time in weather and moisture changing conditions. I found source of this wood at reasonable price.

Also I would like to hear if someone of you have experience with Bubinga wood?

(Sorry if I wrote something wrong, english is not my native language.)
 
"Also I would like to hear if someone of you have experience with Bubinga wood?" -FiliKnives

I've used Bubinga a couple of times. It's quite stable and works well for knife handles in it's natural state when fully dried.

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Here's a few shots of my first custom folder of how I did the handle... just got the blade back from ht so should be finishing it up soon. The wood I got from Greenberg (above), stabilized mango burl and it's absolutely beautiful. No oil required, just satin finish through about 800 grit and buff. The black bolster seperators are g10 that I tapped from the back side, and the bottom is white juma.

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FiliKnives said:
Thank you all for your time.
Knox, i like the handle, this is what I was talking about in 1st post.

I made one handle with cocobolo and loved the look of it, and how hard it was. Also I know that Ironwood, Kingwood and African blackwood are very hard but all these wood are pretty expensive. I am beginner knife maker and can't yet sell my knives for the price that would be profitable. That is why I am looking for more affordable wood, that will be somewhat stable.

One more question; What do you think about "Lophira alata" wood, a.k.a. Ekki, Azobe, Red Ironwood ? From what I found wood is very dense and hard, almost as Cocobolo or Ironwood, but I dont know if it shrink or expand over time in weather and moisture changing conditions. I found source of this wood at reasonable price.

Also I would like to hear if someone of you have experience with Bubinga wood?

(Sorry if I wrote something wrong, english is not my native language.)
Click to expand...

Blackwood, kingwood and cocobolo sell for about 17 usd on my site. While not free, i think that is a very affordable price for a knife you will be putting hours of work into.
 
Adam Buttry said:
I've used Bubinga a couple of times. It's quite stable and works well for knife handles in it's natural state when fully dried.
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Thank you, I was hoping to hear that. Beautiful knife, btw. Bubinga looks very good to me, an is only ~4$ per knife.

Razor-edge-knives, I like that white-black-wood combination, looks great!

Greenberg Woods, Thank you too, when I'll be in market for wood like that, I know where to look.


Last question - "What do you think about "Lophira alata" wood, a.k.a. Ekki, Azobe, Red Ironwood ? From what I found wood is very dense and hard, almost as Cocobolo or Ironwood, but I dont know if it shrink or expand over time in weather and moisture changing conditions. I found source of this wood at reasonable price."
 
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