FOR FUN: Handle 1, 2 or 3

Handle 1, 2 or 3

  • #1 Desert Ironwood

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • #2 Ancient Bog Oak

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • #3 Stabilized Koa

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
Erin Burke

Erin Burke

KnifeMaker...ish
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
1,330
Good morning gentlefolks...
I normally make these decisions on my own, but input from my wife has me questioning my choice.

I'm in the process of building this wee harpoon-recurve fighter/bowie type knife ;), and am looking for outside input on selecting the handle material.

Knife
8880009700_ef95e2d2ff_z.jpg


I've narrowed it down to these three... though honestly, at this point I'm only really considering two of them. Keep in mind that the fittings will be black... this may influence your opinion.

#1 Desert Ironwood
9282443870_3d39576372_o.jpg


#2 Ancient Bog Oak
9282444054_898b8f742a_o.jpg



#3 Koa
9279662033_eca2e14bb5_o.jpg


Shout-out to Will Morrison for the idea to cut a window in a copy of my sketch to pre-vis the handle. :thumbup:

What do you think?

I can't guarantee that I'll agree with the majority -- being stubborn and all -- but I'd like to hear your thoughts... and I'll take them under advisement. ;)

EDITED 10/10/13: For those who are interested to see how this one turned out, you can visit it HERE." Thanks.
 
Last edited:
I like the bog oak myself. There's just something about black/almost black that make it go with anything. I think with all black fittings it would look sweet.
 
I like the desert ironwood best, then the koa. Bog Oak is cool becasue of it's age and all that, but the appearance doesn't do that much for me. I would use it on something if I had some though, just not my first pick.

That is a good looking drawing you have there. I would leave out the holes though.
 
I picked the Koa by a hair with the Desert Ironwood a close second. I prefer more contrast between the handle color and the fittings. The fiddleback curl in the Koa should pick up the vertical pattern of the fittings.
 
Is the bog oak stabilized?

I think I would still go with the Ironwood. Tough stuff and takes a wonderful finish.

TedP
 
I just finished a knife with bog oak and am impressed by how it looks
It has a subtile beauty.
BUT it might look better on a classicly shaped knife.
To me this design screams out : Man made handle material! Black canvas micarta!
 
Ironwood has nice patterns as opposed to the plain color in the oak, making it my first choice. The koa is a close second though
 
Well, for the most part it looks like my choice is in the lead. But most of the input falls in line with my thoughts.

Widerstand said:
I say go with the Desert Ironwood, I love how the color fades from light to dark on it.
Click to expand...

This is one of my major considerations. The burl transitions from light to dark as it approaches the dark fittings. I think that this will look good.


Broomhead said:
I like the bog oak myself. There's just something about black/almost black that make it go with anything. I think with all black fittings it would look sweet.
Click to expand...

The bog oak IS sweet, and I think it would be my #1 choice if I were using stainless fittings :thumbup:... but seems a bit overwhelming to me when paired with the black fittings.

M forge said:
I like the desert ironwood best, then the koa. Bog Oak is cool becasue of it's age and all that, but the appearance doesn't do that much for me. I would use it on something if I had some though, just not my first pick.

That is a good looking drawing you have there. I would leave out the holes though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are all great blocks. I started with about 60 blocks and narrowed it down to these... any of which would work fine on this knife. But I think that your aesthetic is similar to mine.

The holes are already drilled though dude. ;):D


Dan Pierson said:
I picked the Koa by a hair with the Desert Ironwood a close second. I prefer more contrast between the handle color and the fittings. The fiddleback curl in the Koa should pick up the vertical pattern of the fittings.
Click to expand...

Dan, the koa is beautiful in person. I had a handful of koa blocks in my stash (and nearly just as many ironwood)... but this koa seemed to fit the design the best. I also noticed how the spacing of the koa figure seems to match up with the groove filework in the guard and spacer. Very tempting.

phillipsted said:
Is the bog oak stabilized?

I think I would still go with the Ironwood. Tough stuff and takes a wonderful finish.
Click to expand...

Ted, this particular piece of bog oak is not chemically stabilized. Having used some of this in the past, however, I am not overly concerned about the stability of the old wood... but given the heft of this blade, I feel that it may benefit from a denser handle than the bog oak.

One piece of the puzzle that I didn't mention is the blade itself. It is differentially heat-treated W2 and should have a bit of a rollicking hamon (though I still have one temper cycle to do before clean-up). This also makes me lean toward the burliness of the ironwood over the curliness of the koa. The koa, I imagine would look better with a more defined/regular hamon... or possibly a ladder-pattern dammyscammymus. ;)

I'm feeling better about my thought process. My wife, on the other hand, thinks you're all cray-cray... except Dan. :p
Erin
 
FWIW now that you mention the hamon I definitely think the ironwood also. That koa is also a really nice piece of wood as is the bog oak. If it matter I will definetly go with you knowing about the hamon.

Please post up the finished knife. Now that we had had a hand in making it. LOL:D
 
the blade info clinches the decision for me go with the iron wood. I like your though with the Koa and the spacing but in my mind it will contradictory handle/ spacers vs blade/hamon where if you use the iron wood you have a visual distinction between handle and blade with the spacers/ gaurd but over all continuity with hamon and iron wood grain .
chris
 
I'd save that bog oak for a more rustic blade, perhaps one with some forge finish; now, between the ironwood and koa, I'd pick the koa and here's why---there's lot'sa blades out there with ironwood, less with koa. Makes it more special plus it just looks damned good. My two cents!
 
Thanks for the input guys. I'm feeling good about the direction this knife is taking.

Hengelo_77 said:
To me this design screams out : Man made handle material! Black canvas micarta!
Click to expand...

Well now... that's one that I hadn't really thought of. I could definitely see that being cool, but don't have any black canvas micarta in my stash. I'll probably stick with wood for this one, but should add some more man-made stuff to the storage locker.

M forge said:
Please post up the finished knife. Now that we had had a hand in making it. LOL:D
Click to expand...

I'll post up some glamour shots when it's done... assuming I don't mess it up somewhere along the line. ;)

Thanks again guys.
Erin
 
I personally like contrast and flow, so I would recommend something out of the box here- a straight grained piece of walnut for a rick look, won't take away from the hamon, or quarter sawn zebrano, with the stripes running down the length of the handle. The curly wood flows 90deg out from the flow of the knife, The zebrano will flow along its length. The fittings have nice detail, and the blade has a lot of character, so I wouldn't detract from them with the handle. If you PM me your address, I will send you a piece of zebrano. Its unstabilized but does not need it. The pieces I have less aren't super high contrast, but medium contrast, which would be great on this knife.
 
that iron wood seems to fit best . those three holes in the blade keep making me think of the word "nautilus" , I cant help but picture this as a full tapered tang with some tiger coral slabs :)
 
DI is so "common" these days. I'd go with the Koa. That Bog oak is the blandest piece of timber i've seen for a while. Great structurally, but for a knife handle? A nice piece of Bog Oak with plenty of Medullar rays and a bit of movement in the grain, with perhaps a touch of lightening in the tone and then you've got a winner.
Maybe something like this? Please note this was a mobile phone pic (The table cloth is actually mauve) and The wood is actually Black not green and has the faintest tinge of orange/red in the top left corner

the sides of the block has parallel banding that does that 3D dancing in the light trick you get on tiger maple
 
Desert Ironwood with a brass guard the Bog Oak with nickel silver or stainless. It depends on the material you put in front of the scales
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top