ironwood disaster

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
47,357
AARRRGGHHH!!!!! I bought a couple of blocks of VERY expensive presentation grade ironwood burl at Blade and was saving then up for a special project. I was putting one on a nice little bowie for the belgian show and as I ground the block, I noticed a couple of little "wormhole" type voids up by the guard. The deeper I ground, the worse it got. Turns out it was a void that went all the say thought the cneter of the block and was around 1/2' inch long by almost 3/8 tall and maybe 1/16 wide. It cut across the entire bottom of the handle and you could see the tang, so there was no way to fill it. The worse part is had I drilled the tang hole from the other end, it would have been okay because the block was 5 inches+ long and the handle only 4 1/4, so the void would have ground out......double AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! $50 down the drain:grumpy:
 
Any way to use epoxy and some saw dust from it mixed in? Definately won't be perfect but may be usable on a nice knife?
 
Bummer! :eek: And, double bummer!! :eek::eek: Keep your chin up, you'll regroup by-n-by. Until then, I feel your pain. Sorry dude. :(
 
Man that bites, :( those worm holes is honestly one of the reason's I dont work to much with wood anymore. I love bone and antler :)
 
Sorry to hear about the wormhole you found :(. Maybe this is an opportunity to try something new. I don't know if you could remove the handle, but if you could you might try a spacer in between the hande and guard like on the old Camillus OVB series of Bowies. Might save all the time you've already invested in the bowie to this point. Just a random thought. I've checked out the knives on your website, I'm sure you'll make something great out of it.
 
I just used the epoxy and saw dust trick on a dresser I refinished for my mom. I filled a chip that was honestly 1/4" x 1/4" and maybe 1/8" deep. If you can't get a new block from the seller you might still be able to work with it.
 
drill the block from the other end, turn it around and butt a nice butt cap on the worm hole end
 
Bruce Bump said:
Drill it out round to make it look like a bullet hole and charge extra.
Click to expand...
haha:D


Joe, if you got that from me, send it back. Otherwise I'd ask for it to be replaced by who ever you got it from. Chances are the dealer never knew of the flaw and would value their reputation more than the cost of a chunk of wood, even if it was expensive.
 
That is the problem with DIW. I have only had a few come out with no checks or voids. The nice thing about ironwood is it can be sealed with cyanoacrylate (superglue). If it is too large then I would ask for a replacement. Good luck
 
You're just S-O-L. :)

I've had this happen with African Blackwood. Happened on one of my Js test knives.

Filling anything other than a small gap with SG like Chuck mentioned, is going to look like crap.

Personally, I can't see how anyone would blame the supplier!!! Unless they sell you a block where you can clearly see the void and they just filled it with glue, then they didn't sell you something with a known flaw.

Working with natural materials, this is a risk we take.

There's no way they could have known the flaw was inside the block.

Sorry Joe, I know it sucks!!!
 
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