greenwood

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Hi when I think of greenwood as in a greenwood handle on the Kukuuri,s it makes me think of evergreen or a wood that isn,t seasoned could someone post a few words about its nature and maybe a second name it goes by ?
 
I've never heard of greenwood as a khukuri handle. I also did a search of the forum and could find no reference to greenwood. There have been a couple of khuks lately with an evergreen handle. Is this what you were asking about?

Steve
 
I think Fergusson might have cleared up an error on my part . The wood in question was the handle on a knife recently offered for sale by H:I: Evergreen is still a mystery to me . It makes me think of evergreen forests .
 
I'm not sure which wood it is exactly, but yesterday, I was google searching all the different types of wood that are used in kukri handles, and one of them is an evergreen tree. I'll look again to see if I can't figure out which one.


mike
 
Okay, All I could find, was that both Neem and Chandan are both evergreen trees. I couldn't find hardly anything for Karam though. (It looks more like the "evergreen" wood handles. Very light in color.



mike
 
Thanks for the responses so far . Maybe its just me . Are there handles made from softwoods ? I know there are some durable softwoods but there is a limit .
 
Kevin the grey said:
Thanks for the responses so far . Maybe its just me . Are there handles made from softwoods ? I know there are some durable softwoods but there is a limit .
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Kevin, not all evergreens are softwood. The Chandan is pretty hard and it's evergreen. Live Oak is an evergreen and was once used in ship building for heavy duty braces. I don't think the kamis would use something that wasn't durable, just enjoy the khuk.;) :D

If it should fail it's under warranty anyway.:thumbup:
 
Thanks for the info on evergreen . I have heard of live oak. I did not know that it was a softwood . My Kukuuri has a horn handle and I have no qualms about horn or wood .
I am interested by everything . There is nothing in this great big old universe that is not of interest to me . . I try to learn as many skills as I can . I have even learned from my own ignorance
Learning of different woods used for knife handles is just another way for me to understand the way things work .I do set aside some things I learn as not useful for the moment . I find that the more I know the better I am at problem solving . Just knowing a second or third language will give you skills beyond the verbal . It gives you different perspectives .
Softwoods for knife handles ? Its not a big deal for me . My next knife may not have a handle at all . I guess I,ll be on the cutting edge ! L:O:L
 
Actually the term "hardwood" means a deciduous tree. If it loses leaves in the winter it is a hardwood. Has little to do with density.

Strangely enough "balsa," (Spanish for 'raft') one of the lightest woods known is classed as a "hardwood."

We need new definitions for hardwoods
 
As the resident biology teacher, I am amused that Yvsa has once again beat me to the punch. Yvsa, you hit it on the head :D You are absolutely correct.
 
Bill Marsh said:
Actually the term "hardwood" means a deciduous tree. If it loses leaves in the winter it is a hardwood. Has little to do with density.

Strangely enough "balsa," (Spanish for 'raft') one of the lightest woods known is classed as a "hardwood."

We need new definitions for hardwoods
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Kevin will be happy here in his thirst for knowledge as methinks most of us learn something new almost everyday.
I sure didn't know any of that Bill although there is a faint ringing of a bell in the dark recesses of my mind telling me I had heard that about Balsa before.
I wonder what Cork is classified as now?:rolleyes: ;) :o :D
 
jurassicnarc44 said:
As the resident biology teacher, I am amused that Yvsa has once again beat me to the punch. Yvsa, you hit it on the head :D You are absolutely correct.
Click to expand...

Now I'm thoroughly confused.:confused: Did you mean the info about the Live Oak I posted Mac?:o

I was pretty amazed when I found out that the scaracity of the old and huge Live Oak as well as other large hardwoods was because of the early shipbuilding and ship repair trade of days gone by.
I realized that the wood was tough and strong enough for the applications but what I didn't know was that the beams that changed directions was cut from the crotch wood of the old trees making them doubly strong and apt to last forever if properly cared for.
Trying to make some of those pieces out of straight grained wood would have been a lesson in futility and the old shipwrights were well aware of that as they would've failed the first time any load was put on them at all.
 
"I realized that the wood was tough and strong enough for the applications but what I didn't know was that the beams that changed directions was cut from the crotch wood of the old trees making them doubly strong and apt to last forever if properly cared for."

Interesting Do you mean they use the angle inherent in the wood as the angle in an angled brace ? It gives "don,t fight mother nature" a new shade of meaning .
 
In the area that I live..........some of the wood are called 'tans' ........like ZITAN !

I think they are a hard wood specy that is almost and/or already extincted......which are famous as chinese furniture wood that is so hard and dense that it sinks in water !

I have collected some .....same family but different specy little ormaments which has wood in green color and gives off a slight aroma like camphor.........dunno whether that the wood you guys are referring to.....?
 
Astrodada , whatever wood it is it sounds interesting . As an archer I look for yew trees in my area . They do grow in some of the mountainous areas near me though they do not get overly large . I think if we wisely use the abundance given to us by trees and plants our world is a limitless cornucopia . .
 
true Kevin that posts a question about wood that if its too hard that it can become brittle .................like steel..........like a kukri......... :) .....toughness is the name of the game........ :)

btw......yew is the the best material.............with soft and heart wood combined to make a long bow ? that's what i heard .........
 
In the matter of woods that are hard and woods that are soft, it's important to remember that soft woods can harden up and vice versa. Let's take a moment to discuss my usual opponent, petrified pine.

Now, we all know that green pine is pretty soft, right? Right. Hell, if the trunk is less than 4" or so diameter, I don't even need an edged tool to bring it down...the weight of my body, some enthusiastic wrestling, and plenty of cursing will get the job done. When tools are used they keep an edge pretty much indefinitely on the stuff.

Now, let's take a pine that's been growing for a few decades and has led a rough life. The soil is poor. It floods in the spring and fall, there's drought in the summer, snow and ice in the winter and strong winds year round. Bucks and other critters tear up the bark all the time. Bugs bore holes in the trunk. After fifty years or so of this the poor tree gives it up and dies - and remains standing for a few decades more.

This is not soft wood anymore.

The heartwood is impregnated with sap that, over the years, hardened up just like epoxy. If you were to remove a chunk of that wood you'd find that it looks and feels like very hard plastic. Axes and khukuris bounce off the stuff, and if all you've got is a 'hawk or hatchet, don't even waste your time - just find another source of wood. If you do have the time and the calories to spare, and you chop through it, you'll find that your blade is too hot to touch afterwards.

All that...from pine. A soft wood. There are some other woods that change their nature depending on when and how they're harvested, how they're cured, etc., and our resident woodchucks can tell us more about it.

My madrona staves cracked, unfortunately, and I was planning on using them for handles, but now that I think about it, petrified pine wouldn't be bad either. (Naturally stabilized wood? I can't imagine this stuff absorbing water...)
 
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