Natural wood and kitchen knives

We have carbon steel kitchen knives here with natural wood handles that are decades old. The handles are fine,

If half way taken care of there is no problem.
 
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on wood being sanitary, here is the study that jmd61 referred to http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm. says that wood and plastic are about even when new, wood is better when plastic is covered with scratches and gouges. Here in North Carolina the state rules for knife handles and cutting boards is vague to the extreme, county rules confusing, so it ends up being the inspectors judgement call. industry folks choose plastic boards and knife handles to avoid sanitary hits. For cutting boards and serving trays, i use a blend of beeswax and food grade mineral oil, i found it to be a touch slick when used on handles. stabilized wood vs. natural wood seems to be like carbon steel vs. stain resistant steel, everyone has their own opinion on which is best. a blend of polyurethane, mineral spirits, and boiled linseed oil makes a good finish but all oils seem to darken the wood, so you loose some to the natural figure. water based polyurethane for floors has high solids content, wear well, is crystal clear but multiple coats do give the "shiny varnish" look.
for knife handles/scales, you need small pieces of "stunning" wood. a lot of what we call stunning, wood dealers consider defects, so you would be surprised at what ends up in the scrap bin or 'seconds' bucket.
scott
 
scott.livesey said:
on wood being sanitary, here is the study that jmd61 referred to http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm. says that wood and plastic are about even when new, wood is better when plastic is covered with scratches and gouges. Here in North Carolina the state rules for knife handles and cutting boards is vague to the extreme, county rules confusing, so it ends up being the inspectors judgement call. industry folks choose plastic boards and knife handles to avoid sanitary hits. For cutting boards and serving trays, i use a blend of beeswax and food grade mineral oil, i found it to be a touch slick when used on handles. stabilized wood vs. natural wood seems to be like carbon steel vs. stain resistant steel, everyone has their own opinion on which is best. a blend of polyurethane, mineral spirits, and boiled linseed oil makes a good finish but all oils seem to darken the wood, so you loose some to the natural figure. water based polyurethane for floors has high solids content, wear well, is crystal clear but multiple coats do give the "shiny varnish" look.
for knife handles/scales, you need small pieces of "stunning" wood. a lot of what we call stunning, wood dealers consider defects, so you would be surprised at what ends up in the scrap bin or 'seconds' bucket.
scott
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Personally I do not like film building finishes on my knife handles. And yes, all oil will darken wood, which why I am such a strong believer in wax finishes.

FOr those who doesnt know what he means, this is some "defect" cocobolo
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Guitar guys just want straight grains man.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
Personally I do not like film building finishes on my knife handles. And yes, all oil will darken wood, which why I am such a strong believer in wax finishes.

FOr those who doesnt know what he means, this is some "defect" cocobolo
Guitar guys just want straight grains man.
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We get cut-offs for woodstove kindling from a guy who does large runs of custom house moldings, panelings, etc. All that sort of stuff is defective. I pull out the interesting white oak, maple, and walnut pieces when stacking the stuff. Most of the interesting bits are oak, and many unusable, but it's fantastic for scrap knives. I make a fair number of scrap knives to practice techniques, variations, and to use up leftover steel. Now I have a wide assortment of really cool bench knives!

If they don't get tru-oiled, I periodically rub some Howard's Butcher Block conditioner into the handle, which is mineral oil and beeswax.

This is a piece of firewood scrap. I'll see how it turns out in a week or so:

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the firewood scrap should make a nice handle. oak burl found in firewood pile. the cocobolo pictured has knots, to be an FAS (highest priced) board, over 80% of the board must be free from any defect, so dealers will cut off knots and other defects and sell those pieces as shorts or drops
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scott
 
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705 said:
Make sure you post a picture of that when it's finished...it looks promising!


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Finished it today.
Any number of flaws with this scrap knife, but given the 5 hours or so I put into it (not including waiting around for heating-treat processes), I'm ok with it. Learned a bunch, which was the goal.

The wood is some variety of white oak - the kind that smells like oaky vanilla when you grind it.
It's hand-sanded to 400, swilled in some BLO, and then waxed. I soaked some superglue into the cavities several times during the process.

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daizee said:
Finished it today.
Any number of flaws with this scrap knife, but given the 5 hours or so I put into it (not including waiting around for heating-treat processes), I'm ok with it. Learned a bunch, which was the goal.

The wood is some variety of white oak - the kind that smells like oaky vanilla when you grind it.
It's hand-sanded to 400, swilled in some BLO, and then waxed. I soaked some superglue into the cavities several times during the process.
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Nice work! That looks great!
 
That does look great!
I love the look and feel of natural walnut.
 
A piggyback question... It's become clear to me that not all stabilization is created equal. I've used K&G so far for my own batches and been mostly happy, but I recently got a couple blocks of box elder and amboyna from Shelton Pacific, and they were awesome. Super heavy, completely non-porous, just like a block of plastic. On the other hand, I've gotten a few "stabilized" blocks from other suppliers that were way too light and soft, and I just didn't use them. Buying individual blocks gets to the point where it just doesn't make sense for my volume, I'll still grab good ones here and there when I find them, but the big batches are a necessity. Anyone know how S-P is getting those results?
 
pwheeler said:
A piggyback question... It's become clear to me that not all stabilization is created equal. I've used K&G so far for my own batches and been mostly happy, but I recently got a couple blocks of box elder and amboyna from Shelton Pacific, and they were awesome. Super heavy, completely non-porous, just like a block of plastic. On the other hand, I've gotten a few "stabilized" blocks from other suppliers that were way too light and soft, and I just didn't use them. Buying individual blocks gets to the point where it just doesn't make sense for my volume, I'll still grab good ones here and there when I find them, but the big batches are a necessity. Anyone know how S-P is getting those results?
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Hey Phil I emailed Steve at Shelton Pacific about their stabilization last September and he replied that most of their stuff is done by WSSI and a little by K&G. I don't know if that has changed but I'm sure he'd respond if you emailed.
 
I wonder who Alpha knife supply was using...I got some of their stabilized oak and it was the most solid plastic and heavier than any others Ive gotten from K&G, WSSI, and some other shops
 
timos- said:
I wonder who Alpha knife supply was using...I got some of their stabilized oak and it was the most solid plastic and heavier than any others Ive gotten from K&G, WSSI, and some other shops
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I'm not an expert, but since oak is more porus than most woods, wouldn't it take more resin and be more "plasticy" and that be the cause?
 
That handle looks great! Here's mine I recently made out of walnut and ash...all natural
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-Jeff F


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Since I do restaurant sharpening, I've been able to regularly observe some of my knives at work in the hands of local chefs. One that I've been watching was finished with Tru-oil, which I absolutely love the look of, and it flaked and got patchy, kind of like a poly varnish would, after six months or so (this guy isn't going to stop and reapply it, though he does take care of his knives otherwise), and the others, finished with Daly's teak oil still look good...used, and solid.
Teak oil is specifically formulated for one of the oiliest woods around, and I find it to be ideal for pretty much any wood that needs finish at all. I've also used a product I got through Rockler called Odie's Oil which I really liked, but you lose most of the container to oxidization if all you do is use it on knife handles- it takes a long, long time to use up even a small jar and the shelf life once opened is terrible- he also doesn't share any info on how to extend that life, so it's not practical.

Stabilized wood is great, and as long as natural wood gets some minimal care, or failing that not egregious abuse, it holds up well in daily use.
 
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