High grade Bias cut black palm

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

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Hey guys, its a beautiful day here in Santa Cruz, so i photographed one my my favorite handle materials, bias cut black palm. The blocks are strong and heavy, and the bias cut nature gives a lot of visual interest.

Black palm is an interesting wood, with the unstabalized version being very prone to tear out, but when stabilized and bias cut, it gains a magical property. It sells knives better than just about any other handle. This is a thread where some makers talk about the selling power of palm.


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s.../Greenbergwoods/Bp 1-3b_zps59fx0gem.jpg[/IMG]
Blocks 1-3 back


Blocks 4-6 front

Blocks 4-6 back


Blocks 7-9 front

Blocks 7-9 back


Thanks for looking! Let me know if you have any questions!
 
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Hey Marc, i mailed the block off a few hours ago. I didnt see your note abbout working and finishing till i was already mailing it.

When you're working Palm, be sure to use a sharp blade to cut it in half. Its some strong stuff, and a dull blade can have some tear out along the edges of the cut "this is diminished by stabilization but not totally removed"

Dont use any rasps for files on the wood, as again this can cause tear out. Profile with sharp belts and just climb the grits. The brown area will take on a very attractive almost translucent gold tone. The wood has more grip than other woods because there will be some texture to the handle due to the dark fibers wearing away much slower. Its over all a great wood to use and a better one to sell!
 
I won't be cutting it in half as it will likely end up on a hidden tang bowie. Do you think files would be ok if used running away from the black fiber ends, as opposed to into or towards the end of the fibers? I would naturally finish with sandpaper once all the shape tweaking was done.
 
i4Marc said:
Do you think files would be ok if used running away from the black fiber ends, as opposed to into or towards the end of the fibers
Click to expand...

Yep. This stuff is bias cut and heavily stabilized, so that should be a safe move. Just dont go wild hogging off tons of material with them like you would on other handles.
 
I just received some of this wood. It is really dense.

When done with the handle and sanded to the final grit (400+), take to the buffing wheel and buff hard with some carnauba wax. It will "raise" the black hard tubes just a tad above the softer brown matrix wood and make a grippy look and feel.
 
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