Cracked ironwood scales

[made2cut]

I received my new custom yesterday and it arrived with a crack on both sides running from the rear steel pin to the underside of the knife. The cracks are completely though the material. The scales are ironwood about 3/32 thick. I assume the scales are bonded to the tang so my question is how serious is this problem from a structural stand point. Will the cracks start to run up the top part eventually and cause failure of the scales under use?

I have not heard back from the dealer about the blade or how they want to handle the situation. At the very least I should be entitled to some cash back on the deal. If this problem remains strictly cosmetic I can live with the knife.

 

[Rifter]

Any custom maker should make it right, im assuming it wasnt shipped in that condition. Was it insured?

 

[Cougar Allen]

Ironwood does that. It's beautiful but it often cracks. It probably wasn't cracked when the dealer shipped it -- change of temperature and humidity does it; they often crack in shipping especially if sent by air mail. The baggage compartment of an airplane isn't pressurized or heated; it's like throwing a piece of wood into Antarctica for a few hours.

You can fill the crack with epoxy and it's unlikely to ever crack again because the stresses and strains have been relieved. If you color the epoxy or mix in sawdust you can make it invisible. You can color epoxy with food coloring or watercolor paint or acrylic paint or just about anything. If it's a thin crack use superglue instead. There are a lot of posts on the Himalayan Imports forum here about repairing cracks, with detailed instructions.

Just the idea of having a repaired crack bothers some people but it's really better after cracking and being repaired. Don't think of it as a repaired handle -- think of it as a stress-relieved handle.

 

[made2cut]

The dealer has offered to replace the knife so I'm happy on that part of the deal. I'm not sure when the cracks occurred, I do know I didn't cause them!

I'm still interested if anyone else has had this problem with ironwood or any other natural materials and what extended use would do to the scales.

 

[Danbo]

Just about every ironwood knife I have ever seen has some small cracks or voids. Usually, the maker just fills in those voids with super glue gel or epoxy. That's why you see shiny spots on ironwood handles. It doesnt bother me in the least, unless it becomes VERY noticeable and appears to affect the construction strength of the handle.

 

[Mike Hull]

Yeah, like Danbo said. Also, I agree with Cougar. I have had scales crack, sitting on my bench, once right in front of me, a metallic "clink", I looked for the source of the noise, and discovered the scales I had just unpacked, split right up the middle.
I know they were not that way minutes before, as I had examined them.
Had a species of rosewood do the same thing once. I was finishing a knife handle, set it on my bench for a minute, as I was doing something else, heard the same "clink", picked up the knife, split bad. I live in a very dry state, and some woods will split when shipped to wetter climates.
I try to use mostly stabilized woods now, except Ironwood.