My first homemade becker scales from burl wood

Billu said:
Outstanding job! I love it. I am going to have to find some burl. How long did you let it dry before using it?
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I've probably had this burl for 3 years, but it was bone dry by 6 months after harvesting. I found it on a dead oak that has been dead for years so it was already pretty dry when I harvested it. I slabbed it out with a chainsaw.(probably should have waited but I didn't know better at the time). If you harvest a burl from a tree that recently died, and you air dry it with the bark on, I would say about every year you will have 1-1/34 inch of penetration that will be bone dry. There are other factors that play in though. I usually try to figure out how long the tree has been dead. When you harvest a burl from a down tree you just have to use your best judgment to decide how long it will need to dry. I understand when you first start you want to just dive right in, that's the hardest part about harvesting your own wood. You may find an awesome piece of wood or burl but you might have to wait two years to work with it. But once you start finding wood, don't stop. I'm at the point now where I have wood from 2-3 years ago that's ready to use. I also have wood from this past year that might not be ready, but it will be by the time I'm done using the pieces from 2-3 years ago. If you are going to build your own scales I highly recommend harvesting your own wood. It will mean a lot more to you then buying a slab of burl online. I look at this handle and think about how this was just a chunk of wood growing in my woods on a tree at one point and I'm the one that found it. I harvested the wood and dried it and made it into something useful. It's very satisfying and most of all it's fun!
 
Creaky Bones said:
Dang, first time at the plate and you hit it out of the park. Really great job! Welcome to the wonderful world of Beckerodification. Can't wait to see your next set! And the ones after that, and the ones after that.........
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for sure! I plan on doing a video from start to finish for my next set! One month of school left and then I'll have some time to work on another set!
 
Ethan Becker said:
That is some fine and pretty work........... Welcome, welcome, welcome........ Thank you for buying Becker and thank you too for a truly fine post and great pix......... What a lovely piece of wood...... I would not have had the patience, I fear to persevere when the burl mutinied on me....... Looks to be worth your effort !!!!!!!......

Ethan
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From the man himself! Thanks! Ya when that first break happened I thought ".....ummmm.... does this mean I'm done?????" the good thing though is when it breaks it's always along a week point and its usually a clean break, so gluing it together works really good. I usually have multiple little projects going, that way when one project is down you can hop to the other one. It helps with the frustration when one project gets put on hold.
 
You are most welcome.......... You are oh so right that the harvester of wood must have great patience........ I got a small walnut burl when my brother left home and I waited FOUR years to touch it......... Made a great drinking noggin that I used to scoop out coffee beans....... Gave an incredible polish and stain from the roasted beans......... I always hate the wait if there is a nice chunk....... Worth the wait......I think!!!!!!!....... LOL.....

Ethan
 
Ethan Becker said:
You are most welcome.......... You are oh so right that the harvester of wood must have great patience........ I got a small walnut burl when my brother left home and I waited FOUR years to touch it......... Made a great drinking noggin that I used to scoop out coffee beans....... Gave an incredible polish and stain from the roasted beans......... I always hate the wait if there is a nice chunk....... Worth the wait......I think!!!!!!!....... LOL.....

Ethan
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Oh yes for sure worth the wait! What's even harder though is finding burls that you cant harvest because they are on a live tree in your neighbors yard or something.... I hate that. Why does he get the good burls he doesn't even know what a burl is!!!! lol
 
smokingun1 said:
for sure! I plan on doing a video from start to finish for my next set! One month of school left and then I'll have some time to work on another set!
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I really like what you came up with here. If you're planning a video, I'd like to see it. I've got a half-finished set I've been stuck on for some time and would like to make more once that set is complete. Guess I'm missing a step or link somewhere. I am more comfortable working on metal or kydex than wood for some reason. Weird, I know. But thanks for a heck of a post, and an excuse to move a project up a burner or two.
 
Great first post and a most incredible finished product. You probably understand now why most burl is stabilized first before attempting this sort of thing. I hope they "live long and prosper" on your 2. Looking forward to your next project. And that patina really does match the scales. Total package.
 
ThePointyEnd said:
I really like what you came up with here. If you're planning a video, I'd like to see it. I've got a half-finished set I've been stuck on for some time and would like to make more once that set is complete. Guess I'm missing a step or link somewhere. I am more comfortable working on metal or kydex than wood for some reason. Weird, I know. But thanks for a heck of a post, and an excuse to move a project up a burner or two.
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Ya I am definitely planning on doing a video. I'll message you when it's up. It might be a little while though! What part are you stuck on though???
 
granitestateofmind said:
Great first post and a most incredible finished product. You probably understand now why most burl is stabilized first before attempting this sort of thing. I hope they "live long and prosper" on your 2. Looking forward to your next project. And that patina really does match the scales. Total package.
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Thanks! I hope they live long too! Any part that I felt uncomfortable with was glued. Even the tiniest small splits were pulled apart and injected with glue. The wood itself is oak so its tuff, The only thing I would worry about is splitting on one of those "veins" but the oak backing really prevents that from happening. But they are really solid scales so I'm sure they will be fine as long as I don't beat them up too bad. I don't really believe in show knives.... I made some pretty handles and of course I'll do my best to maintain them, but it's a quarter inch hunk of metal!! This thing wants a rough life...so I'm gonna give it a rough life.
 
Very nice, the knife looks a lot better with these scales than the factory ones. Very well done.
 
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