Muddy washed out looking stabilized wood

M

milkbaby

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Aug 1, 2016
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I've bought online a bunch of different woods for handles and found them to be of varying quality depending on the seller; some are terrific, some not so much. I've seen some wood that is listed as stabilized by K&G but the pics online make the grain, figure, and/or burl eyes look muddy and washed out looking. I'm wondering if this is an artifact of the cut and surface prep by the seller, and if I finished them up on an actual handle if they'll look sharp or will stay looking like doodoo... :poop:o_O

For example, I bought some really nice natural non-stabilized black walnut from an eBay seller that arrived looking very nice like the online pics. But he has some stabilized stuff that looks bleh in comparison.

Figured walnut:
s-l1600.jpg


Redwood burl that looks terrible:
s-l1600.jpg


Anybody seen what I'm talking about or bought some stabilized wood that looked like that online but finished up looking nice?
 
All I see is one photo in much better focus or better resolution than the other.
 
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kuraki said:
All I see is one photo in much better focus or better resolution than the other.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought at first, but I've actually bought a block of stabilized sycamore from him where it looked out of focus or lower resolution online but when it arrived looked just like the online pic! I haven't done anything with it yet, so I dunno if it's gonna look any better after sanding up to higher grit. Hmmm... maybe I'll just test sand this block I have and see if it changes look. The weird thing is pics of his stabilized figured walnut and redwood burl look muddy but not the natural (non-stabilized) versions. It's bizarre to me, which made me wonder if it's the stabilization or his surface finish. His stabilized maple burl doesn't have this issue, you can see the grain just fine. Only the stabilized walnut and redwood look bad (and some of the sycamore). It's weird.
 
Personally I don't think the burl piece looks that bad. I've stabilized a few hundred of my spalted maple and maple burl blocks with K&G and always sand the blocks to 400grit when I get them back and this does help to show better what they will look like.

However, I will also add that there have been a number (small) of blocks that surprised me on how bleh they looked when I got them back. I haven't been able to learn a way to tell beforehand which ones will. In fact, if you check out the bottom knife in the thread I recently posted: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/two-recently-finished-almost.1531168/ in the bottom picture, the front part of the handle has a bright yellowish color, but on the other side (the top picture) that same part of the block is kinda muddy looking. Even in the bottom picture, you can see that the bright yellowish starts to darken between the 2 pins. I think this is just the nature of dealing with an organic substance.
~billyO
 
Ill just comment that i dont know of anyone on eBay selling wood stabilized by K&G. Photographing wood is not an easy task.
 
Many woods can look pretty drab until sanded and buffed. I see that a lot in walnut.
 
Thank you to everybody who replied on the thread, I appreciate the education I always get from y'all!

When I have some free time (what's that?:eek:) I'll sand up one of the stabilized blocks that I got from this seller and find out what happens. He says his stabilized stuff is done by K&G and from the quality of non-stabilized wood I've received in the past from him, I would believe him. Every block was dead square and every set of scales dead even. His website says that he supplies to Woodcraft and other retailers.

The prices are similar to K&G, but I was trying to be cheap and win some wood he put on ebay auction rather than "buy it now" priced. But I'd rather save my money than buy yucky at half off.
 
weo said:
Personally I don't think the burl piece looks that bad. I've stabilized a few hundred of my spalted maple and maple burl blocks with K&G and always sand the blocks to 400grit when I get them back and this does help to show better what they will look like.

However, I will also add that there have been a number (small) of blocks that surprised me on how bleh they looked when I got them back. I haven't been able to learn a way to tell beforehand which ones will. In fact, if you check out the bottom knife in the thread I recently posted: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/two-recently-finished-almost.1531168/ in the bottom picture, the front part of the handle has a bright yellowish color, but on the other side (the top picture) that same part of the block is kinda muddy looking. Even in the bottom picture, you can see that the bright yellowish starts to darken between the 2 pins. I think this is just the nature of dealing with an organic substance.
~billyO
Click to expand...
Wow you are tough!! I think that both knives and their handles look great. I don't see any chatoyance in the grain but that is the only thing that would make those handles look better. I will start taking a much harder look at my handles.
 
If you're looking to get rid of that Redwood Burl you could send it my way LOL;).
I'm curious how they finish up for you. Post some pics if you think of it.
 
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