End Grain Slabs - A Warning

P. McKinley

P. McKinley

Joined
Jan 27, 2008
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This is a two year old knife that has sat untouched in my display case for the whole time. I know what happened and will never go this route again. Way to much movement and way to little structural integrity. Live and learn.

End grain, natural Bubinga with G-Flex and two brass pins on a skeletonized tang:







-Peter
 
I had the same thing happen with Munn Ebony end grain. The Munn Ebony had been in my shop for several years before I used it. Several months later it had cracked.
 
that looks liek it did a good deal of shrinking by how much tang is exposed
i have had some woods do that to me too thats why i try to not use some types and if im going to use stuff i know coud be an issue i try to saw cut them and let them sit a few months (this doesnt fix the problem all the time but it helps )
 
That's too bad because that is an otherwise beautiful piece of wood!
 
Yeah that wood is purdy, I have a set of end grain cut ebony that's beautiful but I have been holding off using it because of that same fear.
 
i have had things happen like that too. i got a moisture meter and hopefully it will prevent it in the future. even if you leave wood outside for 8 years, the moisture content will be around 12%. i read on a cabinetry forum wood is not used until it reaches 5-8%. otherwise it will shrink in normal household atmospheres. i bought a "dried" koa block from hawaii, it measured 14% moisture. 2 months later it read 6% after being kept indoors.
 
Dang!!! Now that is what I call "movement!"
 
Is that repairable? My Uncle has made various instruments, furniture, etc. over the span of 50+ years and one thing I remember him saying is that you can hide damage sometimes with the right wood etc. A combination of glue and sanding with some TLC and an artistic eye for detail. That crack is fairly pronounced though...
 
Make me wonder if this is a good argument for enlarging one of the bolt/pin holes in the tang lengthwise when using less stable materials?
 
I quit using end grain wood for the same reason. Eventually, it has a high risk of cracking. The only end grain I use now is bias cut black palm which has been heavily stabilized.
 
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Interesting that both of the scales split at the same place.
And also interesting that the opposite direction hasn't been affected at all, the pin are still flush! A different orientation would have just the pin rims protruding a bit.
I don't believe that slotting the tang for the pin shift would have been helpful in this situation, the glue itself won't allow this much movement

A big thank you for this warning
 
had a beautiful end grain spalted maple set split as i was working on them... not from shrinking, but just from the force of the bolts when i was tightening them to sand the peripheral of the tang and handles to match. end grain is beautiful stuff but it won't be on my knives anytime soon.
 
When you say "natural" Bubinga, I'm assuming you mean it wasn't stabilized correct, as opposed to not dyed? So wouldn't it be quite a bit less "risky" to use certain end grain pieces if they have been dried and stabilized properly? I'm still learning about working with wood so this is an honest question out of curiosity. :)

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been quite a while since I've posted any new vids)
 
That's a shame. I think most of us know the feeling of having a problem show up not planned for. Drill or drift out those pins and restock the knife immediately so you can go on and not see it anymore. Thanks for sharing your problem so some of us might avoid the same thing. Larry
 
Would hidden pins with more clearance or hidden epoxy pins mitigated this condition any. An epoxy designed to give a bit?
 
Paul -
When you say "natural" Bubinga, I'm assuming you mean it wasn't stabilized correct,
Click to expand...
Correct.:thumbup:

I think the answer to the stabilizing is yes, I think it would likely have helped prevent this. I see folks here using that end grain spalted maple all the time with no apparent issues so I'll just guess its the stabilizing. For me though, this is probably the last time I use end grain. Visually gorgeous - structurally unusable.

-Peter
 
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