Just How Stable, Really, is Dymondwood???

[Cushing H.]

A number of years ago (8 ??), my lovely wife gave me this Santoku from Shun. It is advertised as having a Pakkawood (Dymondwood) handle.....


When I first got it, it seemed the tang on the back of the handle was protruding a little (you could feel a "ridge". I put it down to manufacturing defect ... but was not enough to worry about.

Over the years however, the handle material has obviously shrunk somewhat, as all interfaces between the handle and any metal (bolster, rivets, tang) now have a very noticeable offset between the handle and the metal, where that offset was not present at the time I received it. I think this shows up pretty well in the two photos below:

Underside of handle at bolster junction:


and the tang at the back of the handle:


So ... hence my question: just how stable is Dymondwood, really (and by extension all/most/many of the similar manufactured alternatives)???

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

If you are using it a lot, it also may be wear. Most of these laminated woods are not very hard.

If you run your knife through the dishwasher, you will also get swelling and shrinking, and eventually will ruin the handle. Has your been in the dishwasher?

 

[Cushing H.]

If you are using it a lot, it also may be wear

Not lkely the cause - Actually, this is one of my least used knives. The san mai is pretty, but the blade thickness is too thick to cleanly cut harder vegetables. I have probably only used the knife a dozen times (sic) n the last eight years.

Has your been in the dishwasher?

OMG NO . Not one of my kitchen knives has ever seen the inside of a dishwasher. Not even the cheap victorinox (which actually perform very well). Nor do they ever sit for any length of time with moisture on them. I have 35 year old Sabatier Elephant knives that still shine (and their phenolic handles are still flush to the tang and rivets)

 

[daizee]

That's the problem - you don't get it wet enough!

My cousin has one of my paring knives with Dymondwood on it, and the handle has grown slightly over the years. We're 600mi apart, so I haven't grabbed it for a spa day, but the pins are sunken. She doesn't dishwasher it either, but VA is humid, and that knife certainly gets wet.

 

[Cushing H.]

Hmmm. Really interesting datapoint. VA, humid. MN, well, in the winter, basically zero RH. maybe these manufactured composites are not really as stable as we would like to think they are???