Knife handle wood, where do you like to get yours?

Joseph Bandeko

Joseph Bandeko

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 9, 2021
Messages
1,363
I just thought I’d ask, where do you like to get your wood for knife handles?
There are lot of different places to purchase wood and everyone as slightly different options and prices, so what places do you prefer and why?
 

Greenberg Woods

Selling high end stabilized woods including circassian walnut, stabilized circasssian, walnut burl, circassian walnut burl and stabilized bog oak for knife making
greenbergwoods.com greenbergwoods.com

'Cause he's got an awesome selection and you get the piece you were looking at online.

And he's a resident here on bladeforums...

Greenberg Woods Greenberg Woods
 
A.McPherson said:

Greenberg Woods

Selling high end stabilized woods including circassian walnut, stabilized circasssian, walnut burl, circassian walnut burl and stabilized bog oak for knife making
greenbergwoods.com greenbergwoods.com

'Cause he's got an awesome selection and you get the piece you were looking at online.

And he's a resident here on bladeforums...

Greenberg Woods Greenberg Woods
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Along the lines of Ben, there are some Instagram ers selling that seem to operate similarly. I vouch for Ben. These others are people I may buy from in the future.

A.knight_wood.products (auctions)
knifescalequeen (Hawaiian, so she gets some unique stock)
flemingwoodsupply (good looking stuff)
 
i get most of mine from ebay. i usually try to age mine 2 years before using them. if you want to use wood right away, its a good idea to have a moisture meter. wood should be at 5-9% moisture so the chances are low that it will shrink, expand, twist or curl after its on the knife.
 
I guess I didn’t think of getting handle wood from eBay, though I have got bow staves from there a few times.
I do have a moister meter and I always check the wood before it go’s on a knife.
 
I like 285Woodworks, ironwood man, Etsy has some really cool stuff sometimes too.
Add wood by mohler to the list. Sharky on instagram if you get lucky and get on his books.
 
I use Crosscut Hardwood of Eugene.

I pick myself out a big ole board and cut to size as needed. Great prices as I'm buying larger pieces and don't have to pay for shipping as I live close.
 
I do a lot of trading. Got boxes of high end Turkish walnut from a custom rifle maker, (stock cut offs).

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Traded with a luthier couple of times for bocote, cocobolo and rosewoods. This rosewood came from a board that my brother found in my dad's old barn:

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Lots of handles in that board.

I've also found some pretty darn nice, black walnut at Home Depot of all places. Here on a rehandle a local guy asked me to do.

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I have been buying ironwood and stabilized woods from AZ Ironwood for some years now. Been very happy with service, selection, quality and price.
 
Horsewright said:
I have been buying ironwood and stabilized woods from AZ Ironwood for some years now. Been very happy with service, selection, quality and price.
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I actually wondering about them, I was thinking of trying one of these pieces https://arizonaironwood.com/products/ironwood-size-1-dot-5-x-1-dot-5-x-6 and then of course cutting it down.
as much as I want to use https://greenbergwoods.com/ why should I spend the same amount for less then half the amount of wood, I mean the quality can't be that big a difference, can it?
 
I can give you some perspective on Ben's prices - because "quality can't be that big a difference, can it?" doesn't really cover it

pretty much everything Ben sells is premium - either top end examples of more common woods, or rare and very hard to find woods. The stabilizing is done by the best in the business. I've never found a "defect" while shaping a handle - which commonly happens with eBay/Instagram pieces, which then means you are out the entire amount of your purchase.

Really premium wood DOES enhance your knife's value, assuming your craftsmanship matches....if you put a piece of $200 Rosewood on a 50 dollar knife, it's not going to be worth $250:cool:

Further, Ben runs "sales" every so often, and you can pick up more "quantity" thru those. Ben can also help you with how to finish pretty much any type of wood if you need the help.

I will say that Arizona Ironwood is also an excellent supplier, and probably a bit better on price for DI than Ben, because that's pretty much all they do.

one last thing - remember that buying a large piece to cut into scales/blocks always involves 1) waste 2) time 3) risk of discovering defects in the wood and most importantly.....maximum # pieces per board = suboptimal quality per piece. With highly figured wood, cutting to enhance the flow of the figure yields significantly fewer pieces but ones that look killer on a great knife

thoughts from a Koa whore...

Bill
 
I bring several hundred blocks of handle wood to the Harrisonburg show, along with ivory and other handle materials.

I wasn't expecting the months long backlog at K&G and got caught short on time for some new exhibition grade curly maple handle stock I have about 100 pounds at the stabilizer that won't be back until at least a month after the show.
Luckily, I have plenty on hand already and will have lots on the table for the show.
 
Bunker Hill Blades said:
I actually wondering about them, I was thinking of trying one of these pieces https://arizonaironwood.com/products/ironwood-size-1-dot-5-x-1-dot-5-x-6 and then of course cutting it down.
as much as I want to use https://greenbergwoods.com/ why should I spend the same amount for less then half the amount of wood, I mean the quality can't be that big a difference, can it?
Click to expand...

I wont directly talk about my business, but i will say there is a very common folly people make where they say "Well this burl/ billet/ log/ slab is 10 x 2 x 20 inches thick, thats 40 handles, perfect!"

it rarely works out like that. Figured, burl and exotic woods are not steel or micarta. They are natural products full of voids, checks, cracks, rot, low figure, bug holes, twists and ingrown bark.

Use the wood that fits your knives, your budget, your tastes and your customers desires.
 
Ironwood from a guy in arizona
Snakewood direct from suriname
A couple of regular ebay suppliers for misc stabilized woods
And locally sourced oak leftover from wood workshops, this I get for little $ to free.

I prefer natural hardwoods and like working with stabilized wood less and less.

As to the why, I don’t think the wood should cost more than the steel. So the wood I buy doesn’t cost alot

I also don’t like the waste. Depending on what you need/make, usually only Bowie size blocks are available and then sometimes up to 40% is wasted wood

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