Effects of stabilizing on wood

Daniel Rohde

Daniel Rohde

Joined
Jul 22, 2014
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I was wondering, does stabilizing make a wood ,that we would normally not use for knives, good or equal to other stabilized wood for knives?Example: Maple is a pretty good wood for knives and it stabilizes

well, balsa is obviously horrible but if you properly stabilized both would there finished product be similar in properties(other than weight)? or does the starting wood still matter?

DR...
 
I would say, for the most part, yes. When you stabilize wood, it has a type of hardener that is sucked in all the pockets and voids of the wood. Once it dries, even some softer woods are hard and durable. Most all burl wood needs to be stabilized because of the knots and grain going all different directions. If not, they would likely not be a good candidate for handle material.
 
properly stabilized you are turning your block of wood into a block of plastic, I bet you could stabilize cotton balls and make a good handle out of them
 
John Katt said:
properly stabilized you are turning your block of wood into a block of plastic, I bet you could stabilize cotton balls and make a good handle out of them
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Knifemakers already use stabilizede corn cobs and pinecones already anyways
 
I would say that stabilizing renders serviceable many woods that are otherwise too soft, but it only goes so far... I and others have had issues for instance with some stabilized spalted burl woods. The spalting can make it weak enough that stabilized or not, if the knife is dropped the handle may easily break. Stabilized redwood burl on the other hand, although it starts out soft, is dense and cohesive enough that given the fact it takes the resin very well, I don't hesitate to use it for a blind hidden tang handle.
 
This is a very interesting and timely question. Just watching the custom fixed blade ads here and elsewhere, compare the number of non-stabilized wood handles to those which have been stabilized.

I really hope that we get a knifemaker or woodworker to chime in here.
 
I had a custom edc built that had stabilized corn cob handle scales. After a year and a half the scales began to disintegrate at both ends of the scales (small chips creating irregular edges). The maker graciously replaced the scales for me at no charge. Since this was a knife I carried daily the replacement was G10.
 
I'm with Salem you can only stabilize suitable wood, if too soft or "punky" I would'nt trust
it. Dan said it well about corn cob, usually at least as hard as balsa. With the array of "good"
woods out there why?
Ken.
 
kc custom said:
I'm with Salem you can only stabilize suitable wood, if too soft or "punky" I would'nt trust
it. Dan said it well about corn cob, usually at least as hard as balsa. With the array of "good"
woods out there why?
Ken.
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Yes, but you can form just about anything with acrylic and make it strong enough for a knife handle. It will take more equipment and know how, but can be done. Hell, they make pen blanks out of coffee beans and confetti with it and they are hard as can be.
 
I have had some poor luck with stabilized redwood burl. Also I have had some stabilized soft materials that become brittle and break easily. These are with top notch stabilizers. Just depends...
 
PeterB said:
I have had some poor luck with stabilized redwood burl. Also I have had some stabilized soft materials that become brittle and break easily. These are with top notch stabilizers. Just depends...
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Out of curiosity, were these homebrew stabilized scales or professionally done?
 
Also not all of the well known professional stabilizing outfits are equal, either. Some put out more consistent, fully penetrated product than others.
 
These were with K&G. I find them the best with WSSI being a bit inferior. Another fellow in Eugene is also very good, but doesn't do it too often for others. I have bought stabilized products from others and the home batches tend to be poor. If they don't take a good pollish, I have them restabilized by others. You need full penetration, but you need a decent grain structure to begin with. Imagaine a solid piece of plastic...it is brittle. Some woods and some rotten woods do not make very good grips. Sometimes even some of these can fool you. Individuals.
 
I have decided not to use stabilized redwood burl on knives that will have kydex sheaths anymore. Even though the resin makes them firmer they are still softer then maple and the two that I have made with kydex sheaths showed wear signs rather quickly on the wood from the pressure of the sheath upon insertion and removal.
 
Important to note that there is a huge variance in the quality of different commercially stabilized woods. Before I knew better I used to browse ebay for deals, now I only go to AKS or AZ ironwood after getting some real crap off ebay. I'm working on re-handling one of those knives right now actually.
 
Thanks, all you knifemakers who have responded!

Your generous sharing of specific information is making our community stronger by giving us genuine information with which to make intelligent buying decisions.

I, for one, now expect and look for knifemakers to specifically name the source of their stabilized woods. Yesterday, there was just such a listing.

Yes, I realize that individual samples, even from the best processes/manufacturers, can vary. But my buyers' odds of getting a good handle from a quality producer of stabilized woods far outweigh the risk of disappointment.
 
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