Dymondwood problems

H

Hesparus

Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
1,442
Hi Everyone,

I've been using dymondwood for a lot of my handles and I'm pleased with it overall. I've been having a couple of problems with it, though.
First, the buffing that I do doesn't take. I sand the handles up to 600 grit before I buff (green rouge). It looks great at this point, but when I wash it with soap and water (no sponge or cloth, just liquid dish soap and my hand) the polish goes away and it's back looking like the 600 grit finish.
Second, there is sometimes a lingering smell. After the handles are assembled, polished and cleaned, they often have the same chemical smell that they give off when I'm grinding the dymondwood. The smell comes off on my hands. It tends to go away after days or weeks or months.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Chris
 
I think you'll find most members of this forum dislike dymondwood for various reasons, so we don't have a lot of experience with it. Not favorable experience, at any rate.
 
If you're buffing pretty much anything at 600 grit, you're not really buffing it at all. You're just smearing compound around in the scratches. Try going up to 1000 grit or even higher.

I don't know what resins they use to dye/laminate Dymondwood, but it's pretty stinky and can off-gas for a while after you're done cutting/grinding/shaping it. I don't think there's any way around that.

I used it a couple times. About the best I can say about is that it's cheap, and it is pretty durable.

Unless you're really into the 70's multi-color layered look, there's really no reason to use d'wood at all. It scratches easily, can be really chippy if there's anything resembling a sharp corner on it, often tears out badly when drilling, and most of all, fairly screams "cheap imported flea market/BudK junk!"

Micarta, G10, carbon fiber and stabilized woods (heck, even well-treated plain woods) all make as-strong or stronger, better-looking handles.
 
Despite its bad reputation, I just used dymondwood for the first time because I wanted to try something different. I had good results finsishing it with Danish Oil....hand sand to 1000 grit then add some Danish oil and continue sanding. This will create a slurry paste....clean it off with a soft cloth...apply another coat of Danish and let it dry......do not wash in soap and water
 
I have used lots of Diamondwood. It's not my favorite handle material, but I sell a lot of it, and the Ladies especially seem to like it. I sand up to 400 grit on the belt sander then buff on a loose buff with a white buffing compound I get from Sheffield Knifemakers Supply Inc. The catalog number is Grade 312 White High Polish Fine.
Diamond wood is a very durable handle material, and compared to other handle materials is relatively inexpensive.
 

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In the interest of fairness, I should point out that I built the Dymondwood* handle for this Ka-Bar blade in 1986, using a "mortised tang" construction and nothing but dime-store super-glue to hold it together. The end of the tang is flush with the butt. Over many years and many camping trips, it has held up very well. I pounded a lot of tent-stakes with this thing. It was never buffed or oiled, just sanded. (This is a recent picture with a modern kydex-type sheath) So yes, it can definitely make a durable handle. Whether or not the layered look is attractive is entirely subjective :o

*back then they called it pakkawood, but I can't tell the difference.
 

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James, you are showing your age when you refer to "dime store". Only us old farts remember "five and dime" stores. ;)
 
tryppyr said:
James, you are showing your age when you refer to "dime store". Only us old farts remember "five and dime" stores. ;)
Click to expand...

WHAT....... Are you saying the "Five and Ten" ain't around any more? Where am I going to get an AMC '57 Chevy model for $1.99? Doggone-it, see what happens when you don't get out much.

I hate progress......... it screws up everything........... Oh well, back to the dungeon.

Robert (I think)
 
Sounds like you may have a bad batch of Dymondwood. It shouldn't make any difference to the finish if you wash it.
If the layers are not properly impregnated with resin they can absorb water and swell. Regardless, try this: after sanding to 600 grit, buff briskly with 0000 steel wool-then polish with green compound. Wipe the handle off-don't wash it. Apply a coat of paste wax or neutral paste shoe polish and buff with a soft cloth.
 
Tom Lewis said:
I have used lots of Diamondwood. It's not my favorite handle material, but I sell a lot of it, and the Ladies especially seem to like it. Diamond wood is a very durable handle material, and compared to other handle materials is relatively inexpensive.
Click to expand...

My experience has been a lot like Tom's. I've used it about a dozen times and it seems to be okay. To most of us knife nuts, it may look cheap, but to the average citizen, it must look out of this world. Especially if you're a female non-knife junky. I swear, I could put Dymondwood on a butter knife and sell it for a handsome profit to a woman! They just Oooo and Ahhh over it as do a lot of guys. I don't get what the see in the stuff. But then again, the same can be said of the Acrylester (sp?) stuff. They go bonkers over it.

At the end of the day, it's a good alternative if you're looking for an inexpensive and durable handle material.
 
tryppyr said:
James, you are showing your age when you refer to "dime store"...
Click to expand...

Dang... busted. I'm officially old and boring now, LOL. Or maybe just *ahem* hillbilly/redneck. (although I assure you, no one in my family ever uttered those terms, and they dang sure didn't identify with them)

Yes, subconsciously it seems I was referring to the "Ben Franklin" chain of "5 & 10" stores, that I was accustomed to in my tender years in the early/mid-70's in Phillips, WI.

I also remember $0.05 cans of Jolly Good soda pop in steel cans, with goofy riddles printed on the bottom, so us kids would chug 'em and regale each other with hilarity, and my Gampe's service station where folks could get a tank of "hi-test", their windows washed, their oil and radiator topped off and their tires thumped'n'pumped for something in the neighborhood of 15cents/gallon... but that's neither here nor there.

What were we talking about agin? Get off my lawn! :D
 
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Thanks for all of the responses. I know that dymondwood is unpopular, but I think some of its reputation is undeserved (FWIW, I only use the single-color stuff).

@Bill DeShivs: This has been a problem with several shipments of dymondwood from two different manufacturers, so I don't think I just got a bad batch. I'll try out your method.

- Chris
 
FWIW, I always sand my stabilized wood handles up to 2000 grit before buffing.
 
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