Help Needed Identifying And Cutting Figured Stock For Scales

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alexv59

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Dec 10, 2014
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Hi folks. It's been ages and ages since I participated on these boards. I used to participate in mostly buying and collecting knives and learning as much about them as I could. Now life has thrown me a curve ball and has brought me full circle, not as a collector but as a hobbyist.

Due to life changing events I am now a 55 year old disabled vet with too much time on my hands. So, in order to stay busy I've been buying tools and dabbling in a few areas of interest. I've become really interested in making knife handles. I started with a few kits for practicing and things have progressed pretty well. I've recently turned to buying 2x2x6 and 3x3x6 turning stock and cutting my knife scales from that. I want to now move on to spalted Maple and/or Tamarind or any highly figured wood. The thing holding me back is that I can't seem to get my head around being able to look at one of these blocks and determining if it's a good candidate. In other words, what do I look for on the turning blank that will give me an idea of what I'll find inside when I resaw it. My local Woodcraft has several pieces of spalted Maple and other nicely figured wood so I dropped forty bones for one of these good looking blanks but when I dug into it it seemed that to get the better figured slices I had to cut across the end grain making the end grain of the turning blank the face grain of the resultant scale. That didn't seem right and it was obviously weak and fragile. When I cut at 90 degrees to the first cut the scales were correctly oriented, based on the turning blank, but any desirable figure was hidden in the edge or side grain.

I hope I've been able to get my situation clearly explained. Basically I'm trying to find the secret of turning a nicely figured turning blank into some nice, book-matched knife scales. Also any tips on identifying the physical characteristics of a preferred turning blank. I recently acquired a nice set of steak knives that I now want to make matching scales for. I've already made some nice mosaic pins for them just need to get the wood I tried asking the guys at Woodcraft but unless I'm asking how to do some mortising or fancy joinery they're not really able to help.

Thanks for all of your help. BTW it was the scales WIP, found in these forums that got me started on this path.

Best
 
I don't want my answers to sound self serving so I almost did not post a reply.
But....I will take a chance and post my opinions.
#1 Be very careful about using turning blanks for handle material. They are usually not dry enough. What is good for turning is not always good for handle material.
#2 Do not use spalted wood for handle material that has not been stabilized professionally.
#3 You were correct about the weakness of crosscut endgrain pieces.

If you want inexpensive nonstabilized wood look at woodcraft's thin cut pieces. Some of their stores will have precut scales.
If you want stabilized scales K&G has good prices for wood that has been stabilized correctly for knife handle material.

Trying to save money buying stuff that might work usually ends up with an expensive pile of wood you probably won't use.
These are not absolutes and are only my opinion.
 
Burl Source said:
I don't want my answers to sound self serving so I almost did not post a reply.
<snip> the rest of a very informative reply.

Thanks for making the time to reply. I see you all over the forum and I know your business is doing well so I appreciate your time knowing how valuable it is. In fact I was planning on hitting your site to look for some raw stock.

My thought of using a turning blank for cutting scales was mainly for the learning and wood processing and structure, etc. Yes, cost savings over buying individual scales was also a consideration but I really do enjoy things more when I learn through hands-on experiences, mistakes, advice from the learned, etc. I get a true sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when I learn and put into practice something newly learned. I'm the kind of guy that if I were to ask you what time it was I would enjoy learning how the clock is built. Lol. Besides, I then get to pass this knowledge to my grandkids because they certainly will not get it from school.

So it is as I thought. To get the best figure from a spalted or burl I would have to crosscut? This first block I purchased was, as I said, mainly to learn a bit. If I found any pieces that I liked I most certainly would send it out for stabilizing. All the scraps and waste go to the scroll saw to make puzzles or little doo-dads for the grandkids.

I would like to be better informed the next time I go to Woodcraft. I'll try to stay away from the turning blanks as suggested but I do wish to get something highly figured and my goal is to learn how to "read" the blank in order to get the best scales on resawing. Any tips on what I should be looking for? Do all spalted, ambrosia, or otherwise figured wood need to be crosscut to get the best figure to show?

Again, I truly appreciate everyone's assistance and advice as I head on down the road of new knowledge.
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