How can you tell if a wood needs stabalizing?

I

IrishSteel

Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
88
Hello,

I'm new to knife making and these forums. I'm working on a few starter blades and I'm considering using padauk wood for the handles because of it's rich red coloring (I am aware it tends to fade to a maroon color). I'm not sure though if this wood needs to be stabilized or not. It's fairly soft stuff and I can cut through it like butter, so I'm thinking it needs stabilizing. Anyone happen to know a good way to find out if wood needs stabilizing or not? Also, after wood is stabilized will that affect how I would finish the wood? My go to finish at the moment is Tung oil. Any and all tips are appreciated!
 
I have not gotten to use that wood yet but from what I have read it is very similar to some of the rosewoods and from reading about its uses it sounds like it will be just fine without stabilization. Its hardness is about the same as bolivian rosewood and bubinga both of which I would not stabilize due to the huge increase of cost for minimal gains.

However if it is as easy to cut as you say then it may be smart to stabilize it. Personally I only stabilize what I need to. Burl wood and unstable wood I am all for stabilizing. Things like rosewoods, bubinga, woods of that nature I prefer the natural state even though the stabilizing companys will tell you its a good idea. I would try it out and see how it works natural. Sounds like these are gonna be your learning blades and should be put thru there paces to see how everything is holding up. If you have issues with the handle material then spend the money to get it stabilized. Its not cheap.
 
I'm a bit of an extremist on this subject. I do like most wood stabilized. It's not that the woods all need to be stabilized. It's more about the difference between working stabilized wood and natural wood. I work more confidently with stabilized wood, in most cases.

My rule of thumb is if you can see or feel the pores of the wood, stabilize it. Conversely, if a natural piece of wood after years of drying still feels waxy and shows no pores, I wouldn't bother stabilizing it.

Which brings up another rule of thumb... only stabilize wood after it has been thoroughly dried. Green wood has too much moisture content, which can lead to cracking or breaking during the stabilization process... or so I'm told.

- Greg
 
Thanks for the input! I might just try using the wood un-stabilized at first to see how it handles naturally. If it just completely sucks I'll either find another wood or work on my own stabilizing set up. I like the pores rule of thumb; it makes sense.
 
Paduk is fine unstabilized, its is very dense and strong and I have not had a problem with cracking. I am not sure it can be stabilized, if you contact WSSI they can let you know.

Edit, I see you say it is soft, if so I dont think you have paduk, if it is soft stabilized is best.
 
I'm not so sure about the "pores rule". For example, mahogany and walnut have noticeable pores and don't need stabilizing. Rosewood can be very open-grained and so oily I don't think you could stabilize it if you wanted to.

There is a list on the internet somewhere of how many different woods respond to stabilizing.
 
No wood "needs" stabilizing. If you're willing to live with the checking and movement, that is. ;)
 
As it happens I was putting away some of the many knives made by patrickknives (he thats me) in my collection?? It seems like early in my knife making I collected alot of my own knives. Point being many or most are just wood, and they all seem to be fine. Good wood with no cracks and properly finished should be pretty stable and last a long time. That being said, I have not made a unstabilized wood knife if a couple of years, Once i discovered the magic of stabilization, I get my wood, cut to size, and send the box to WSSI. When I get it back it looks great and is real nice to work with and no worries.

For finishing I did alot of oil soaking, where I would put the handle of the knife in a plastic sandwich bag with a little tung oil, boiled linseed or teak oil and let it set one or two days, wipe it off let it dry and then go again. the other finish I like is crystal hut, its a finish they use on turned pens, very solid and seals real nice.
 
Padauk will go brown on you. I haven't been using it for more than a year, but the ones that I put a light coat of ArmorAll on prior to finish are holding a nice red, as are the ones with TruOil (for some reason).
ArmorAll is designed to resist UV- perhaps not the ideal product for knife handles, but seems to do the job.
 
Thanks again for all the input. I will definitely look into using some Armor all if I stick with the padauk. Yes it is padauk, but I havn't yet built up an intuition on how hard, hard is. I'm probably getting thrown off because I have fairly thin sheets of padauk,1/4 in =/. Does anyone stabilize wood themselves? I've seen some tutorials for making your own set up using a glass jar, wood hardener/sealant, and brake pumps for evacuating air for about $20. I've also seen set ups where folks have boiled water around the glass jar and then put the cap on to produce a vacuum. Do these methods actually work?
 
tryppyr said:
No wood "needs" stabilizing.
Click to expand...

Many burls and a lot of spalted stuff often needs stabilizing, unless you don't mind it crumbling apart when you drill or cut it.

IrishSteel said:
Do these methods actually work?
Click to expand...

I imagine you could put a good seal on the outside of the wood (once it's shaped) that way, but I wouldn't have much confidence in it really penetrating all the way through a block, for various reasons.
 
I've been experimenting with stabilizing my own wood. I made a vacuum chamber with a hand vacuum pump and mason jar from some posts I'd seen on here. It actually works remarkably well and is fun to do. Know however that it isnt quite as good as having it professionally done. I would say try it though it's cheap to do and you can get decent results. You can always get professionally stabilized wood if you don't like the results
 
tryppyr said:
No wood "needs" stabilizing. If you're willing to live with the checking and movement, that is. ;)
Click to expand...

Stabilized wood will still crack on ya if not careful. It will also move on ya, thats why its a good idea to let it sit for a while after you get it back from stabilization. Not saying ya dont know just want guys that have not had it done them selves to make sure they give it a break when they get it back.
 
In my short experiences with knife making and with working with stabilized wood in my humble opinion I think there is a certain security factor in it more then there is a actual need in it. I think knife guys do it for more of an insurance policy per say (or like tripper mentioned they like how it works). This has been discussed before. When your doing scales and grinding it even with the metal it is very easy to notice a minscule change in the woods dimensions. If you do like alot of guys do with hidden tang knives and leave it a little proud where the wood meets with the metal parts it will take up these movements and not show.

For me personally it is a cost point. If you are spending say $250 on a large flat rate box of wood to get it stabilized ($10 a pound) and your paying for the weight of the wood not the weight of the stabilization then its hard to justify stabilizing something like say a rosewood for example. This stuff starts out heavy, you gain very little stabilization material, yet your paying a large chunck of money for it. Will this particular wood last as long if taken care of as the stabilized stuff, not sure but it will last a good 50 or 100 years depending on use if not longer in its natural form. I had some chechen stabilized and to be honest I couldnt tell the difference from before and after once it was cleaned up. Now the burls there is a huge difference.
Woods like walnut it is different because there you are looking at time and time is money. To do the wood properly there is a long process of oils and waxing to get the wood to a point to be ready for the market as a knife handle, if its stabilized then you sand and polish and your on your way. Price and effort would play a roll in this instance.
I called and asked about bubinga and was told that it takes stabilizing great but same situation as the rosewood, this stuff already in its natural form takes a great shine, is pretty darn dense and hard, and I am sure will last a long time on its own. Will it do better being stabilized, not sure all I know is I would pay a very large amount of money for a already heavy wood to maybe fill some of the pores and allow me to be less careful during the finishing process. Not worth it IMHO.

So just in my personal observations I think it depends on the wood, the price you want to pay, how much time it takes to work either stabilized or not, and ofcourse your customer since many people will get on a train and want a particular item regardless of necessity.
 
quint said:
Stabilized wood will still crack on ya if not careful. It will also move on ya, thats why its a good idea to let it sit for a while after you get it back from stabilization. Not saying ya dont know just want guys that have not had it done them selves to make sure they give it a break when they get it back.
Click to expand...

Where's the fun in that, Quint? We can't give everyone the full answer... gotta leave some mystery in this. :)

And James, as for woods "needing" stabilization, one could argue that the only reason some wood is suitable for use at all is because stabilization allows it to be useful. That's as close as I'll come to saying some woods need stabilization. And yes, some of the most beautiful woods out there fit this description, so I am awfully glad stabilization is available, and highly recommend it for almost all woods (despite the fact they don't "need" it). ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top