exotic wood

[bill may]

Alright I bought a block of Hawaiian silk oak off ebay for $6. It has a birds eye look to it so I thought why not.
My question is does anyone know anything about it and what I need to do with it to make it good handle material?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Usually called Silky Oak, it is an evergreen not related to the oak tree. It has a pretty look, and is often used like koa in decorative Hawaiian things. It should be stabilized for best knife use. IIRC, Burl Source often carries it.

 

[Burl Source]

Once it is dry send it to K&G and get it stabilized.
Most wood from Hawaii, even kiln dried stuff will be about 16% moisture content because of their humidity.
You want the wood to be under 10% when you get it stabilized.
While drying seal the end grain because silky oak is prone to end checking.
Otherwise......it stabilizes well and can be beautiful wood.

 

[bill may]

thank you for the info. what should I use to seal the ends up with?

 

[john april]

use wax.