Ironwood burl scale integrity? Pic heavy.

[Methuselah]

I realize an axe handle is desirable to have the grain tight and running the proper direction. It makes sense a good strong piece of iron wood would have similar grain. So this piece that I'm pointing out with a whole lot of burls is already beginning to crack around the burls. I was planning to epoxy and use Loveless bolts to attach to a gso 4.7 survival knife which will probably end up taking a beating. I showed some other pieces of Ironwood and they seem to be good solid pieces, but this particular piece seems to have a different texture and a different grain structure. My personal GS 06 also included in a photo I've had no trouble with ever. so I'm wondering if this piece will fail in the long run and break piece by piece until it falls apart? Any thoughts gentleman?
Thank you.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[golfer1]

Those are certainly weak areas in the wood and may be subject to failure. One thought is to have it stabilized with filler that would fill those voids and perhaps bind them together to make the entire unit stronger.

 

[Randydb]

Those are certainly weak areas in the wood and may be subject to failure. One thought is to have it stabilized with filler that would fill those voids and perhaps bind them together to make the entire unit stronger.

I'm interested in others wading in on this idea. Will stabilization or filling this crack with epoxy or CA actually work? Or are the filled cracks still likely to be a problem and fail down the line?

Randy

 

[Brock Cutlery]

Ironwood is pretty oily, so if you do stabilize it, I'd probably wash out those cracks as much as possible with denatured alcohol or something similar so the resin will bind.
Beautiful piece of wood. I'd probably have to try and make that work if it were me.

 

[butcher_block]

i woudl just clean and then fill the cracks with CA ive seen ironwood handles that have gone through the dishwasher. discolored but didnt hurt the handle other wise (resanded them and they looked nearlyb new) the maple burl handle that was stablized needed taken off flattened and reset

 

[golfer1]

Randy, your question is above my pay grade. I will say that stabilization or using ca to fill the voids is not going to harm the wood so it won't hurt to try.

 

[Methuselah]

Ironwood is pretty oily, so if you do stabilize it, I'd probably wash out those cracks as much as possible with denatured alcohol or something similar so the resin will bind.
Beautiful piece of wood. I'd probably have to try and make that work if it were me.

i am gonna use it , and make it work. when i need to , because i save the saw dust that comes from any cutting ,drilling etc. i mix that in w/ epoxy at the desired consistancy to fill voids. no im not gonna stabilize it. that is for other woods imo....thanks so far guys. i save the extra wood also and make earings and whatever. ..........
in the shop w/ uncle kracker....

 

[Methuselah]

By the time I get it down to shape it'll be fine

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Jonathans]

If you use this blade as a survival knife, be sure to remember that the burl wood will never withstand the beating that micarta would take.

 

[noseoil]

It looks like it wasn't dried completely prior to milling the scale blanks. The epoxy & sawdust trick should work well enough, but I would be 100% sure it was dry before using it on a knife or filling it with epoxy. Until it is, I would be very careful to check the moisture content, as it will move a bit with that type of grain until it's stable. I would let it sit for 6 months at this point, to be sure it's finished moving, but that's just me.

 

[azwelke]

Ironwood is naturally stable. If you were in AZ, I would say wait a year to make sure it is dry. But you are in Minneapolis, it will only get part dry there, if it's not dry already. Which I guess it's dry.
A family member from Minneapolis sent me some hardwood flooring pieces that had been dry, installed, and used for
years. Bubinga, Purple Heart, oak and some others. After 1 year in my closet, a few boards twisted and cracked in half.
It is dry here. But my ironwood I got from arizona ironwood never shrunk or cracked.

 

[Methuselah]

If you use this blade as a survival knife, be sure to remember that the burl wood will never withstand the beating that micarta would take.

View attachment 695881

this one has stood up to everything including one day i threw it into a standing tree about 30 times . it stuck about 25 of those throws. some batoning not exsesive as i feel thats for and axe.

 

[Rochelle]

Ironwood is pretty oily, so if you do stabilize it, I'd probably wash out those cracks as much as possible with denatured alcohol or something similar so the resin will bind.
Beautiful piece of wood. I'd probably have to try and make that work if it were me.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

Ironwood should not be oily at all. Ironwood is basically the least oily wood there is.

That is not correct.

Unless you mean oil in the most literal sense of fatty acid chains, which which case that is true.

When knife makers and wood workers call a wood oily, they mean the mix of heartwood extracts and other organic compounds found in the wood. The characteristic color, smell and texture of ironwood are due to these heartwood extracts which knife makers call oils. In truth they are a mix of many organic compounds from phenols, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenacitins and more.

These compounds can present issues during things like stabilizing amd glueing.

 

[Hengelo_77]

That wood looks dangerous, send it to Germany!