Iron wood is sort of like glass, extremely hard but brittle. Not quite as drastic but you get the point.
Ben
I think that's a good description. With a wood handle, many things can come into play. You friend my have hit a small, burly area at exactly the right place; the wood may have had a hairline crack that went unnoticed when the handle was being worked. Ironwood is
plenty tough; but as a natural product it could easily have had a defect.
I have had two wood handled knives that I broke the scales on over the last 40(?) or so years. One was a LARGE Eye brand Sodbuster. This thing was huge. I was using it at work, and dropped it on the concrete. It hit exactly at the edge of the butt of the handle and knocked a big chunk out of it. Type of wood = unknown. It was dyed black.
I had another medium sized stockman, a Boker I believe, and the scale on one side started to curl up after a long, wet summer in my pocket with no rest. I kept thinking I would glue it... but never did. I finally caught the edge of the scale on something and broke off about a 1" piece. Wood type - unknown.
That being said, I would never shy away from a good wood handled knife. I have a couple of old wood handled folders of unknown vintage that have certainly seen their share of work. And remember waaaayyyy back when that many sheath knives had wood scales on the economy models of hunting and utility knives. The wood on those knives was untreated, and was just plain. kiln dried wood pinned to a blade blank.
Think of all the old butcher's knives that were used all day long, then sterilized unmercifully, then set out to dry to the next day's work.
A better example would be the Old Hickory line of kitchen knives. For years these knives were not only used in the kitchen, but by just about everyone I knew as campware for hunting, fishing and car camping. Their handles were never treated, but were some kind of nut wood (don't be fooled by the name!) that was riveted onto the blade blank. My mother used to SOAK her knives in hot dishwater before washing them clean after cutting up chickens and such. I have one of those knives - the scales aren't
tight, but they certainly aren't a problem.
If I were your friend, I would clean off the affected areas with acetone and glue the piece back on unless it was a hugely expensive, brand new knife. To me, that knife is on its way to earning some character. Twenty years from now he will smile when he sees it.
Robert
