Knife handle wood: help a nooby!

S

Steampunk Jim

Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Messages
15
Hello friends!

I'm new. Like, as new as it gets. I've been soaking up as many youtube videos and books as I can get my hands on about knife making while saving up for a basic belt grinder and for some extra free time to start. I'm very excited! I have lots of learning and practicing on actual knives to learn, but my eventual goal is to be able to make enough off the knives to cover the cost of materials. Being able to make knives for enjoyment without a negative impact on my bank account sounds amazing.

Now, to the point of the thread: for whatever reason, in this hypothetical brand of knives that I'll eventually produce, I've got it in my head that most, if not every knife I'll make will be with the same type of wood for the handle. A call sign of sorts, I guess.

So that's where you fine ladies and gents can help me with your experience. I need to figure out a type of handle material to use. What I'm looking for, in no special order:

1) Wood. I've seen interesting things done with synthetic knife handle material, but I want to work with wood, so let's stick to that.
2) Durability. I don't need any sort of insanely hard super wood that'll last a thousand years, but I want the handles to last a bit and resist some wear.
3) Interesting grain. Faceted and interesting grain patterns are a plus.
4) Color: I'm partial to darker wood, but mid tone is fine too.
5) Finish: For some reason I really like the idea of a wood that I can sand, oil and/or buff to finish. I don't want to fuss with lacquer/sanding/laquer finishes if I can help it.
6) Cost and availability: Since it's just for knife handles and not going to be in massive quantities, cost isn't as huge of a concern, but lesser cost will make it easier to sell the knives for reasonable prices. I'd also rather not wait 3 months for it to be shipped to me from the jungles of Africa or wherever.


Wow. That's a lot more than I expected, ha ha. So yeah. If you have any suggestions of wood you like to work with that fits a few of my above criteria, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks for your time ladies and gents!
 
#1- wood is good.
#2- i use the fingernail test. if i can feel my thumbnail sink into wood after pressing on it, for me its too soft for me. stabilizing helps in this aspect, but i like to keep handle material below $20 so that rules out most stabilized wood. my favorite is ironwood. you cannot dent it with your fingernail.
#3- ironwood
#4 ironwood
#5 ironwood need no finish. sand to 1000 and buff for a shine.
#6 good ironwood can be found for under $20 for scales/blocks.
if you search online, there are lists of wood judged by the janka hardness test. this will help you avoid certain soft woods even though they look nice.
 
Jim,
Customer wood handles is all I do - I don't do any work in steel. And my hobby pays for itself, so I understand what you are trying to do.

Investigators stabilized wood. You can buy blocks and scales that are stabilized, or have it done yourself.

Curly Maple, walnut and koa are really nice to start with. I try not to use burl on something that will be held with fasteners. Pins and epoxy only with burl.

Check out the knife makers materials section of the Exchange. Lots of nice stuff for sale there.

We are precluded from providing links to sites that are not BF sponsors... so email me at inrangedesign@gmail.com and I'll share my resources. Also check out my instagram feed (@inrangedesign) to see lots of exams of different wood handle projects.

Wood is good. We've been putting it on a sharp piece of metal for centuries and calling it a knife. You can't beat it!

Best of luck

TRfromMT
 
Great help so far! Please keep the suggestions coming.

I am liking the look and functionality of ironwood though...
 
Oh yah, Tru Oil is a very nice product andevelopment can achieve a beautiful finish very easily, from satin to piano-lid glossy. Some woods (Cocobolo) will only work with a coat of shellac first. Tru Oil is a very good choice for knife handles, pistol grips and gun stocks.
 
Walnut was my favorite when I did all wood handles. Coco bolo was good until like many I became allergic to it.
 
How about something like fruit tree wood? It's not used much so it would be different from the regularly used woods. I've turned several bowls from apple and it has very nice grain and is not too hard and not too soft. It is a medium brown color, not dark brown like walnut.

- Paul Meske
 
I agree that ironwood would be a good choice for what you're looking for.

Now for an opinion that you didn't ask for....;)

I've got it in my head that most, if not every knife I'll make will be with the same type of wood for the handle. A call sign of sorts, I guess.
Click to expand...

I hear what your saying, I would reconsider limiting yourself before you get started. Sometimes a design or idea comes out of a piece of wood.

Merely a suggestion, but I'd try not to lock into any plans yet, personally, knifemaking has opened a world of creativity that I never had before. Buy the ticket, take the ride. The imagination is best left unfettered.
 
Depends a lot of your budget and taste. Cocobolo, kingwood and African blackwood are my favorites, but stabilizied walnut, maple and other woods work just fine.
 
most woods will work, find a local hardwood store or woodworkers shop. Klingspor has stores near me that carry a wide range of domestic and imported wood, I like the smaller 3/8"x 2" x 12" pieces of purple heart, orange heart, ebony, ironwood, figured walnut and maple. do you have wood working tools? I have found nice handle wood in drops from other projects or small cuts from a larger piece of wood. for finish, experiment. water based polyurethane for floors gives a nice high gloss finish that dries in one hour although some don't like the "plastic" look. you can buy Tru-oil or Danish oil or make your own by mixing varnish or polyurethane with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits.
wood varies a lot in weight, maple and walnut on the light end, purple heart and stabilized in the middle, dogwood, locust, canarywood on the heavy end. use the wood type and handle shape and size to get the best overall balance.
scott
 
First off, I will second what Lessismore said about not limiting yourself starting off. I would say Cocobolo is your best bet of all the suggested woods when you factor in cost. It doesn't need any finish, just sand it through 800-1000 and you can hand buff it to a gleaming glow--any wood if you are looking for highly figured or burled woods costs a pretty good penny don't fool yourself--I also like Ironwood, but I personally have had a hard time finding it at an inexpensive cost--quite the opposite, even the plain looking stuff is high $. I use a lot of walnut too, I like the color tone so much that to me even the plain looking straight grained stuff looks attractive--I usually use Tru-Oil or a wax called Bri Wax https://www.amazon.com/Briwax-Furni...e=UTF8&qid=1474728724&sr=8-9&keywords=bri+wax it comes in different colors and is said to provide staining as well as waxing properties--in my experience it depends on what kind of wood you have as to how much color it takes from the Bri Wax, softer wood takes more color, if you are using an already dark wood, i.e. Walnut it just seems to add a little deeper tone to the already rich brown color--having said that I use the clear most of the time anyway--if you look around on that Amazon page you'll find a wax polishing brush you can chuck up into a drill--this a great tool!

Good luck in your pursuit!--Don
 
I'd also say ironwood. I couldn't imagine using only one wood though. To me part of the fun is trying and using different materials. Good luck and have fun with it!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Just like women. You may end up settling with just one, but I highly recommend you try as many as possible before you do.
 
Keep in mind, if you have never made a knife, you might make 15-30 before you make one good enough to sell, at least beyond friends/family/co-workers. So you have time to decide what materials you like to work with.
 
Ironwood, kingwood, cocobolo, and ringed gidgee.

But after a year I'm still waiting on the black and white ebony from Ben Greenberg.
 
Wonderful, thanks for all the insight everyone. I really need to find a local shop that I can go put my hands on some samples. I hear what you all are saying though. I'll try some different woods and figure out what works best for me.
 
I find my own wood, cut it up on my bandsaw and then send it off to be stabilized. Works out to about $7 a handle for some very beautiful wood.

Two ways I find it. 1) Maple and alder that I find down in the woods. A few very beautiful curly pieces have come off my wood pile. I'm always looking for spalted wood, or burls on trees that have come down. I dry it and cut it up into pieces that are about 2.5x2.5x24. That way I can use them for native american flutes or knife handles. I cut them shorter if I am sending them off to be stabilized.
2) I get on craigslist and search "Burl." I have found a few burl clocks and tables for $10-50. Cut them up too. Just picked up this clock for $10. Its 3"x12"x20". I could get 6-8 flutes out of this plus 4 or 5 handle blanks. Or probably 15-20 handle blanks. If I bought 2x2x18 burl blanks like this for flute making I would pay $60 each for them from a pool cue blank supplier.

IMG_5125.jpgburlclock.jpg

Here is a flute I made from one of my burl clock acquisitions too. Beautiful wood for handles too.
 
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