Ironwood Character or Defect?

[Darrin Sanders]

Yep, that's a natural void/flaw which is common with DIW. Its an easy fix. Just clean the area with denatured alcohol, let it dry, fill with CA glue, and sand it back smooth. On larger voids you can mix some sanding dust with the CA to color the glue and it will all but disappear.
Hey Al, glad you're enjoying your knife. We need to catch up.

 

[VCM3]

natural flaw is not one of the choices

I have not seen ironwood in hand in the raw state myself. But would you say this is this from a naturally occurring grain character?

Any time you have wood with extreme full figure like burl,etc. , it is common to have an inclusion like on the butt of the knife in the op picture . That is a natural flaw. You could grind/sand it off,but a lot of times it could be deeper ,so it is a gamble,for a knife maker. In the case of that flaw,filling it will be a black spot because of he color & it may,or may not lookgood,so again,it is a gamble to a knife maker. Ironwood is rock hard wood that is picked from dead trees in desert arid places & it is very hard & stable.
That spot to me does not take away from the handle,it is a natural inclusion. Knife people who know have spoken in this thread. If it bothers you get some micarta,more choices

 

[Txjohn]

I have a little experience with mesquite , which is similar to ironwood. I heard mesquite called ironwood before but I'm not sure how closely their related. There's a bettle ( borer bettle) that attacks the sap wood of mesquite and sometimes forget to stop when they get to the heartwood . That's what the void looks like to me . It's extremely difficult to get clear lumber from mesquite. Stable cracks , worm holes , bark inclusion , and mineral deposits are all considered "character" . If the same defects / character occur in species like cherry,walnut, and maple it's considered firewood

 

[so.fulton]

Choice number 1. This doesn't look like my FB knife with ironwood scales after I (unintentionally) dropped it.

 

[oldrifleman]

I actually love it! It is a natural void and adds a lot of character to the handle. The Iron wood looks really nice by the way. Steven

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

'Character' of a natural material.

I really don't believe there's any such thing as a 'defect' in natural materials; they are what they are, with no guarantees or spec'd design criteria. If any 'defect' applies, it might only be in the choice of a particular piece for a project, if the expectation is for a finish with no visible 'irregularities' in the material.


David

 

[swaybacksteve]

Natural...
but being a relatively small area and at the butt end, I would prefer to pick out a different handle in the same wood. It doesn't have enough "character" for my eye...burl or flaws like this just look so much better on the body of the handle

 

[somber]

Yep, that's a natural void/flaw which is common with DIW. Its an easy fix. Just clean the area with denatured alcohol, let it dry, fill with CA glue, and sand it back smooth. On larger voids you can mix some sanding dust with the CA to color the glue and it will all but disappear.
Hey Al, glad you're enjoying your knife. We need to catch up.

This is certainly the solution that many knifemakers choose to implement. The issue is is that over time Desert Ironwood has the propensity to darken and naturally fade, leaving a nice shiny cyanoacrylate spot where the void was previously. Leave it natural and love it