Knife Makers - Stabilized Burl Testing Results

[Burl Source]

Just over a week ago stabilized burl blocks were sent to a number of the Knife Makers from this forum. They agreed to use the burl on one of the knives they were making. When their knife is complete they will be posting photos of their knife as well as their comments about working with the stabilized wood.

I would like to say thank you to all who are participating. I was amazed at how many of you were willing to be a part of this. I hope you are having as much fun with this as I am.

This thread is a place where all the results can be posted in one place. These are the makers who are participating:

Trace Rinaldi
Bruce Culberson - Photos and comments on page 2
Kris Jacobsen
Dave Larsen
Chuck Pruitt
Bruce Bump - Photos & Comments Below
Andy Sharpe - Photos & Comments Below
Joshua Dabney
Eric Fleming - Photos and Comments below
Evan Martin
Peter Martin
Burton Haruff
Allen Newberry
Esteban Acosta - Photos & Comments Below
Bob Rose
Jarod Todd
Chuck Cook
James Terrio
Wade Holloway
John Jones
Butch Harner - See pages 2 and 3, he made 3 awesome knives from his block
Dan Pierson
Calvin Harkins
Doug Dart - Photos & Comments Below
Phil Dwyer
Chip Kunkle
Phillip Dobson - Photos & Comments Below
Nick Wheeler
Matt Bailey - Photos and Comments Below
Mike Griffin Photos and comments below
Chris Williams
Mike Jones - Photos and Comments below
Tim Musselman - Photos & Comments Below
Fred Rowe - Photos and Comments
Ed Caffrey - Photos on Page 4
Russ Andrews
Karl Anderson
Jeff Yencho
Stacy Apelt
J. Neilson - Photos & Comments Below
Burton Cutlery - Photo and Comments
It should be fun to see what these guys come up with. Maybe some will even offer the finished knife for sale.

 

[Burl Source]

A couple of the makers had already finished their knives before I posted this thread. Here are direct links to what they have posted:

Phillip Dobson
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6976786&postcount=31

DPKnives
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6984639&postcount=40

exodus125
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6975316&postcount=34

If anyone else has posted your results in another thread, feel free to add a link or post your photos and results in this thread.

 

[DPKnives]

I got the chance to try out new stabilized burl Burl Source. I have to admit this is the first stabilized burl I have used. I got a block that was 1.5 x 1.5 x 6 & 3/4" I figured I would make one of my Wilderness model knives. This knife has some classy lines and works well with burl. The Burl I got cut very easy work well on a sander and hand sanded very well. I had to cut my block down to make scales for my knife, so the first step was to cut it in strips. For the finish I hand sanded it to 400 grit the buffed it. I am real happy with the final finish of this burl as well. I know one thing I will be buying some of the scales to use in the future. I also have two thin pieces left and will be making another knife with this same block. Thanks again for the opportunity. Doug

Here is what they look like before and after finishing

 

[sharpeknives]

Ok Here's mine. This wood grinds and polishes very well. I was suprised how light weight it is for stabilized wood.
Very nice piece of Buck-Eye Burl

Thank-you for letting me be a part of your testing

 

[Phillip Dobson]

I've been carrying my Buckeye RAM everyday for the past week or so. I haven't been all that easy on it. I've been hiking, climbing, and doing everyday tasks. Resistance to scratching seems to be up there with desert ironwood, but it's much lighter in weight. There have been no negative effects from water or dirt (nice for a wood this light in color). The resin-smell was strong when fresh, but it's almost gone now.

People have commented that it gives the knife a camouflage look. It's definitely unique.

 

[Burl Source]

Ok Here's mine. This wood grinds and polishes very well. I was suprised how light weight it is for stabilized wood.
Very nice piece of Buck-Eye Burl

Thank-you for letting me be a part of your testing

Very impressive knife. The buckeye tends to stay pretty light weight. The stabilizing adds a little weight but a lot of durability. You did the wood proud. Thanks for being part of this.

 

[TiSurvival]

Here are some more fire steels. These were made with titanium thong tubing.

 

[J. Neilson]

Here's the one I made with Mark's stabilized wood. This was very nice to work with. Worked easily, seems very tough and finished beautifully. I'll be getting more cool woods from Mark, no doubt.

I'll post her again with more pix after sheath and sharpening.

 

[butcher_block]

man J i told you about the wood after i got mine in the mail and you beat me to finished knife
i got to get on the ball

 

[J. Neilson]

man J i told you about the wood after i got mine in the mail and you beat me to finished knife
i got to get on the ball

Ah, I had the blade just about done when you told me about Mark and his project. I didn't know what I wanted to put on her until I got that block of Mark's wood. Then there was no doubt.

 

[Burl Source]

Here's the one I made with Mark's stabilized wood. This was very nice to work with. Worked easily, seems very tough and finished beautifully. I'll be getting more cool woods from Mark, no doubt.

I'll post her again with more pix after sheath and sharpening.

You did a great job!!!!
I really like the overall look of the knife. The way you shaped the handle really catches my eye. I am glad you liked the wood.
Thanks for taking part in this project.
Mark

 

[Burl Source]

exodus125 your fire steels look great. I am putting together a box of cut offs for you. Keep up the good work. Thanks, Mark

 

[Burl Source]

man J i told you about the wood after i got mine in the mail and you beat me to finished knife
i got to get on the ball

Butch, I bet we'll all be impressed with what you come up with. Thanks for taking part in this and spreading the word around.
Mark

 

[Bruce Bump]

I recieved a nice piece of Buckey Burl. It was way bigger than a handle so I have enough to do another. This wood seemed lightweight to me and soft. It cut, grinds, sands and polishes like other stabilized woods I've used but my fingernail would scratch it so I did a CA (superglue) finish on it. Now it is rock hard and hand finishes to a fine polish. The blade is a piece of our own Don Hansons W2 with a clay HT.

 

[xaman]

I love that piece Bruce!!!

 

[Burl Source]

Excellent knife!
I watched as you wrote your step by step in the other thread. I agree with the comments of another who said you should write a book.

There was another maker who commented on the weight and hardness of the stabilized buckeye. When stabilizing the buckeye I was able to get complete penetration of the block. What I now know was a problem was occurring during the heat curing. While the wood sucked up the solution easily during the vacuum, a lot of the solution was bleeding out when curing. Hence the lighter weight and insufficient hardness.

After some experimenting I found that if I vacuum sealed the block in plastic and then cured the wood it held the solution within the block and ended up with the bowling ball hardness and weight. The candid comments from experienced makers like yourself are what help me to determine where improvements are needed so I can provide the best wood possible.

Thanks for everything. I learned a lot from you.
Your friend, Mark

 

[frogfish]

I did some scales on a folder I was working on from the wood I received from Mark. I had the same feeling as Bruce the wood felt pretty light but it seemed to work just fine considering the scales are pretty thin. The knife has a 1084 blade, wrought iron bolsters, 15n20 for the frame and a titanium backstrap. The piece of burl the knife is laying on is the rest of the scale that Mark sent.

 

[Burl Source]

The folder Frogfish mades looks great.

Thanks for the comments about the wood. All the wood has been stabilized to have complete penetration of the wood. I was unaware that heavier is better. That is an easy thing to change by vacuum sealing the wood before heat curing to prevent bleed out of excess solution while the wood is cured.

Any comments? Do you guys want the wood kept as heavy as possible? Let me know so I can do things the way you guys want things done. That was the purpose of the stabilized wood evaluation.

Thanks, Mark

 

[Dan Pierson]

IMHO, heavier is not better. If the wood becomes hard, durable and doesn't move
(much), lighter would be better. However the existing stabilized wood which is known to
work well over time is heavier.

 

[frogfish]

Mark,

Weight really wasn't the issue for me as much as how porous the burl was I noticed that when I applied some minwax stain to a thin less that an 1/8" test strip it soaked it up and curled slightly although it did flatten out as it dried. I guess for thinner scales denser would be be better to ensure stability.

Tim