Ironwood heartwood question

timos-

timos-

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
2,213
I know ironwood is great at holding up and is used on kitchen knives extensively, what about the heart wood? I am worried that it will get dirty and stained in the kitchen, should i use some kind of finish on it?

thanks

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i think you are talkig aoubt the sapwood not heart
sapwood is the lighter and is slightly softer (still way harder them most wood we use on handles )
so far non of the kitchen knives i have made with if have come back to me needing refinished or fixed. keep in mind that ironwood gets darker with age
 
When I use the yellow sapwood like that I will give it a couple of coats of superglue before final sanding. Some of the sapwood is more open pored than the normal ironwoood and will catch some dreaded buffing gunk. Knives with mostly the darker ironwood and a small piece of the sapwood on the handle for contrast have been good sellers. I have some where the sapwood is really quite softer, dent it with a thumbnail soft. The ca treatment helps with that too.
 
When remodeling a 40 ft sailboat while living in Guatemala back in early '90's I used a lot of Rosewood. I had a couple places where the white sapwood would made a beautiful contrast with heartwood around some windows. Properly used, sapwood can provide a nice contrast to heartwood.

That is a beautiful piece of wood in OP's photo.

Ken H
 
I've used a lot of Ironwood with the lighter in color outer sapwood on it and as Butch and others mentioned its still much harder than most woods. Some like to seal with super glue I never have even on culinary blades.

For the price, you can find some sets and blocks with the sapwood that I think look better on a working knife with the contrast. I use the inner and burl presentation Ironwood on well, presentation knives. Stuff that will sit in a safe or on someones desk etc.
 
ahhh Sap wood not heart wood. So the heartwood is actually the darker grain? thanks for setting me straight on that. I wont hesitate to put this on the kitchen knife then, I agree it will look great so long as the sapwood doesnt stain or get dirty. Thanks for the responses all
 
I know at least one or two guys who use wood from the transition area for a cool look and haven't had any problems. Like others have said, hardness and softness in wood is relative. ALL parts of the ironwood tree are pretty hard. Hell, even the leaves are probably tough.LOL
 
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