Direct source for Pakkawood

C L Wilkins

C L Wilkins

Joined
Mar 18, 1999
Messages
2,114
This is source for Pakkawood. This was posted on another forum but thought that I would pass it on here. Another trade name for this is Dymondwood.
If you need more than a couple of pieces it may be worth taking a look. I don't use the stuff but there are those that do.

C Wilkins
 
"I don't use the stuff, but there are those that do". Craig, tell us who they are, so that we may abuse them. :D . Actually, I bought a few sheets in Cocobolo, and earth tones, back in the 90s, for some small using knives.
They were nice people to deal with, but good grief, I have a lot of that stuff left over.;)
 
I have never understood why pakkawood has gotten such a bad rep. It's real wood thats been cut into laminate thicknesses and stuck back together and sealed in phenolic resin under pressure. It's super tough and will last for eons plus it finishes really nice.
Whats with this guys, why do you hate the stuff?
 
Mike, so is plywood^^^^^ :p


Couldn't resist ;)

I used to love it...anymore it just looks low grade to me. It's a cool idea, and some of it is pretty cool looking...but you just don't have that true exotic wood look.

And it's really brittle. If I'm going to use a man-made material it's going to be micarta, G-10, or carbon fiber. Just my tastes....not saying there's anything wrong with liking it.

I usually like brunettes....but that sure doesn't mean there's anything wrong with blondes or red-heads!!!! :D

Nick
 
I do not like the more brightly colored rainbow varieties, but the single colored stuff looks fine to me. I like the way it works and finishes. I hate the two tone and tricolored stuff. I think it is tuff. I made a few kit knifes with it, and they have been seriously abused, and I think it is tough. the only problem I ever had with it was a peice chipping out when I drilled though it. It is not my favorite handle material, but I don't like it any less than Micarta, or G-10.

Hey Nick, what are your experiences with dymondwood being brittle? Every time someone asks a question about it you mention that it is not very tough. I don't remember any one else mentioning this, I have dropped knives with dymondwood handles on concrete from 7 ft in the air, I even have one knife that I used to throw into the wall of my parents garage, I only got it to stick about 3 out of 4 times, and it would crash into the floor, the blade is destroyed but the handle seemed fine. It was a frost cutlery peice of crap knife.
 
Maybe the stuff I had was an acception, but every piece I've ever came in contact with has been brittle. I noticed that it would always chip and fracture on the edges, but I attributed that to it being sharp geometrical edges. So I took a knife I'd handle with it (no sharp edges on the handle of course) and just by whacking it on a counter top there was fracturing in the materail.

I then dropped it from mid-body height to the concrete shop floor and it cracked all over and chipped out.

I use a lot of natural materials (pretty much exclusively) and I've never even had them come out so poorly. Of course I've never tried it with ivory or pearl, but that would be pretty stupid.

Just my experiences with it.
Nick
 
Thanks Nick,
I wonder if the glue used to hold it together would degrade with time, and make the layers come apart, that could explain why you found it to be brittle, I have seen old plywood that after getting wet, I could pull the layers apart with my fingers. I took the old frost cultery knife out, and threw it into the concrete floor of my shop a few times, and i got it to crack right by one of the pin holes.
Kyle Fuglesten
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top