Has anyone used old furniture for knife scales?

C

CapnCook

Joined
Mar 23, 2016
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3
Hello,

I have been researching places around Vancouver, Canada to find nice wood for the knife I am making right now. It seems like I have very few choices. I cant find many places that sell it, the ones that do are far away and me not having a car doesn't help. Ebay has lots but its either I pay $20 for the wood plus $30 - 50 for shipping and importation taxes. Nearly everything that Amazon cannot be shipped to Canada. So, I think the easiest way to get some wood is to go to the nearby Value Village and buy some cheap chair or table that has nice looking wood and tear that apart. I would be able to get 10+ scales for either one for less than $50. My only concerns are I dont know what wood it is and I am not sure that it is stabilized/ needs to be. If I did do that, I would most likely use some tung oil as I have some lying around somewhere. Is this a good idea and has anyone tried this? Any help would be very appreciated.
 
Look around for some woodworkers in your area. The size wood you need may be a scrap for somebody else and they may give it to you cheap. Do a search for knife scale woods to get an idea of what to look for and what needs to be stabilized. I'm sure you can find something that will work if you get creative. You can also use a broken axe or tool handle.
 
If you can get around to the Abbotsford Chilliwack area look up Andy at Andy's woodbarn. Great prices and tons of scrap around. I bought enough fiddleback maple off him to make 25+ handles but made native american flutes instead. Paid $20 for 11 pieces that were 1.25x2x25

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Also look up Artisan Wood to Works in Chilliwack. They have an online store with some really nice stuff in it too for pretty reasonable prices too.

Check out Canadian Knife Maker too. They have categories for Stabilized wood and scales and blocks. I don't see any images though. You might have to call them to see what they have.

Other trick is to use a receiving company on the US side of the border. I live near Sumas so I have US purchases shipped to Pic It Up who hold it for me on the US side. I cross the border, pick up my parcels for $3 and bring them across the border in person. Save a lot of $ that way. I'm pretty sure there are shipping receiving places like that at the Blaine crossing too.
 
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Furniture rarely looks the same under the finish as it does to the eye. It is stained and varnished for looks. Normally the wood underneath is plain pine .. or the fancy surface is veneer.

You can occasionally find some usable hardwood in old furniture - walnut, maple, oak, cherry - but these will generally make plain looking knife handles. Unless the furniture was very expensive, it is unlikely made from highly figured or burl wood ... and if so, it may be far more valuable as furniture than knife handles.
 
Windsor plywood has locations in Vancouver and Burnaby. Both are close to skytrain stations. They have some exotic woods there that would do well as knife handles.

Some exotics are oily and dense woods that don't require stabilization. Do a search of this site and you will find info on which woods don't need stabilizing. Off the top of my head there is cocobolo, and rosewood at Windsor Plywood that fit those criteria.

Oh, and unless you're good at identifying wood species, I wouldn't go buying scrap furniture for handles. You could end up with a pile of firewood.
 
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This knife is mahogany from some kind of furniture leg. No dyes or stains involved.

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If you want good wood, you'll have to look for old furniture. Most new stuff is junk.
 
Try Value Village, Salvation army and those kinds of thrift shops.

Ask them for broken furniture that they throw away.

It's free
 
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It has no character but is very stable and extremely tough is wood closet hanger rods. Its some kind of indonesian hardwood, probably some kind of ash, but it whittled like plastic and doesnt warp, already dried and straightened. I made a machete handle with it that is very well holding up through hard use, the recesses for the bolts left only and 1/8" underneath too. Little stain and its good for more utilitarian uses, not gorgeous or anything but it was a great whittling wood and like I said tough as hell, made to hold a couple hundred pounds of clothes if need be.
 
S.Alexander said:
Windsor plywood has locations in Vancouver and Burnaby. Both are close to skytrain stations. They have some exotic woods there that would do well as knife handles.

Some exotics are oily and dense woods that don't require stabilization. Do a search of this site and you will find info on which woods don't need stabilizing. Off the top of my head there is cocobolo, and rosewood at Windsor Plywood that fit those criteria.

Oh, and unless you're good at identifying wood species, I wouldn't go buying scrap furniture for handles. You could end up with a pile of firewood.
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This thread does a great job of giving you an idea of which woods should be stabilized and which ones can be used without stabilizing. It will help you if you buy from Windsor Plywood.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Knife-handles-*updated*?highlight=stabilized

I think it should be included in the super sticky at the top of this forum.

I dont know how big a knife hand you are making but you might pull something off from Lee Valley Tools. They have some pretty nice looking stabilized pen blanks that are 3/4x3/4x5 which is likely a bit small.
 
Randy is on to something though, if you check out the penmaker supply websites they have pieces for turning larger items like peppermills and bottle stoppers that cut up into nice sized wood knife scales. I bought a 3x3x12 piece of spalted tamarind, and it cut up into a bunch of scales. Worth a look, if you need some pen making suppliers websites, just send me a PM
 
Randydb said:
This thread does a great job of giving you an idea of which woods should be stabilized and which ones can be used without stabilizing. It will help you if you buy from Windsor Plywood.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Knife-handles-*updated*?highlight=stabilized

I think it should be included in the super sticky at the top of this forum.

I dont know how big a knife hand you are making but you might pull something off from Lee Valley Tools. They have some pretty nice looking stabilized pen blanks that are 3/4x3/4x5 which is likely a bit small.
Click to expand...

Hey! People still read that piece I wrote!

As a lot of people have commented, furniture is a poor place to find woods. I worked in furniture for a while, and the qualities you look for in furniture are mainly stability and workabilty. That leaves you with a lot of oak, plain maple, plain walnut and cherry. Wood sellers can simply get more money for figured woods elsewhere, and as stacy pointed out, the furniture that IS made of beautiful woods like cocobolo or rosewood is to valuable to break down for parts.
 
I got a great piece of walnut burl that was a wall hanging at Value Village for $40. It's been turned into 3 flutes, and 3 knife handles so far and I have enough for 4 more knife handles. It was a screaming find.
 
Look for iron wood carved sculptures. I have bought a whale and a dolphin in the last year for under $5 ea , there will be a Bowie size block and plenty of left overs. And some of the best and hardest maple I've used came from the feet on my mom's old arm chair me and a buddy tore apart when I was in high school as it was being trashed (knife below) So it's out there just expand your search a bit.
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Chris
 
craigslist has a lot of free stuff /for the hauling away/i have also used broken hockey sticks/pallet company's have a lot of cut off stock/motor cycles come in wooden crates/some interesting types on wood on them /lumber mills have a lot of first cut slabs /and other material that can't be used/knots /burl's etc. broken baseball bats are made of maple .hickory. ash . good hunting
K
 
I'm friends with a carpenter who makes high end staircases.

Scraps for him I can make many MANY handles out of.
 
Phillip Patton said:
This knife is mahogany from some kind of furniture leg. No dyes or stains involved.

011816-4.jpg



011816-1.jpg






If you want good wood, you'll have to look for old furniture. Most new stuff is junk.
Click to expand...

An old 1/4 sawn white oak vanity or a tiger maple desk from the late 1800 to early 1900s that is too damaged to restore would yield some usable pieces. Ive got an old maple chest of drawers that has some nice curl spots I've threatened to cut out.
 
I found an old amarillo carving at a thrift shop. Ironwood believe it or not. Couple of bucks got me a lot of knife handles. Second on the custom rifle makers. That has worked very well for me. I have 3 large boxes of Exhibition Grade Turkish Walnut from one. He was gonna have a bonfire.
 
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