Handle Wood ID

J

John Frankl

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
Messages
1,917
The handle in my most recent Plumb restoration was incredibly hard. Stopped the drill on several occasions so that I thought I was hitting a metal wedge, but it was only wood.

When I got it out I saved a slice because it had an extremely interesting grain. It seems to have rings going in one direction and grain in another direction, if that makes any sense. I have seen some pictures of cherry that look a bit similar, but am wondering if any of the wood experts out there have seen anything like this?

Thanks.

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Looks like white oak to me too. The growth rings in your picture run left to right. The grain lines you see going from top to bottom are what you get when white oak is quatersawn , they are called medullary rays.
 
Thanks a lot!

How does that work? Are we seeing growth rings in one direction and grain in the other due to the direction it was sawn?
 
Hey John , it is because of the way it was sawn. Look at the pictures in post#8 of this thread - http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?76703-Oak-for-knife-scales
The "tiger stripes" you see are the medullary rays. Quatersawing the log is the only way to get it. Quatersawn oak usually cost at least twice what plain sawn oak does because it takes a lot more labor when sawing. And usually the wood will be more stable than plain sawn oak.
 
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