Is old Kauri a good choice as knife handle?

hi it is a nice timber has a real golden glow but is to soft for knife handles will mark badly with just your thum nail dont know what it would be like stabillized . have used it at the customers request but it was not covered by my warrenty
cheers john
 
Swamp kauri too soft? first time I've ever heard that, you must be talking about cut kauri from well up the tree, Kauri heart is one of the hardest NZ native woods.

Ok Ok, this thread is from '05, but still, kauri, Soft??? not so, get some nice stump burl swamp kauri from 10,000 or more years old and it's beautiful, and hard enough to use unstabilised too.
 
I dunno where the thread is, but a guy had posted pics of some SUPER NICE sclaes made from the stuff. It was the best eye candy for figured wood that I had seen in months up till then. I am going to buy some here in a few months.
 
Found some old Totara fence posts the other day, hard as nails, blunts chainsaw blades in no time, will cut some up and see how it works as a handle, most maori carving was done on t his timber . . .
 
Hmm... i can believe that about blunting chainsaws, I've used them in the past to make furniture and the old weathered battens need to be drilled first or they either spit or(more likely) have the nails bend.

Old seasoned puriri is the one i hate working with the most, too hard to whittle or cut, but soft enough it clogs sandpaper and files. the only way i manage to work it mush is with a plane or hole rasp.
 
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