Oak or Cedar

3

3wolves

Joined
Dec 28, 2007
Messages
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Hi again. Today morning I was wishing I had something knife related to do while I was waiting for the epoxy on the knife I was making to dry. (4 days :grumpy: ) I guess my prayers were answered because I was changing a lightbulb in the stairway and I used the combo tool on my victorinox OHF to remove the cover and i never attached the lanyard to my wrist. of course the one time I forget, I drop the knife from the second floor and it lands on the tile in the lobby shattering a scale. I replaced it with the scale from my nomad. Now the good news. I'v been wanting to put wooden scales on my nomad for quite some time now but I was scared of ruining it. but now its missing a scale so I have to right? Now the question is, I have some stabilized oak and some stabilized cedar. I want to put cedar scales because I have done alot of carving/jigging on cedar so Im farmiliar with the wood and this piece has an awsome grain pattern . Also I want to jig some desighns onto the scales and im afraid it will be too hard on oak. Will cedar be too soft for the scales? also what finish should I use? Will plain ol' danish or tung oil do or will I have to varnish? If so, which varnish should I use?
Thanks.
 
if the wood is stabilized correctly then I would think it would not matter which wood you use as both will have very similar properties. You don't even need to finish it with anything; just sand it to about 600 grit and then buff it. Should turn out fine!
 
I use a buffer with some green chrome rouge first and then follow it up with a pink rouge on stabilized wood. I think there are some white rouges out there that will do the trick also.

You can buff it with extra fine steel wool, but it probably won't come out as shiny as using a buffer. If you don't have a buffer that would probably work fine. You might also just try sanding it to a superfine grit (somewhere in the 1000-2000 range); that may work just as well.
 
Cedar is very difficult to stabilize properly. (Too much resin - and it is very likely to weep afterwards. If someone sold you stabilized cedar, without warning you about it, I would be suspicious of the process.

If it has a "do-it yourself" stabilizing process, the oak will probably hold up better. Folder scales are thin and need to be tough and very stable.

Rob!
 
well I made the cedar scales and decided that they made the knife look like a cigar :D. since the oak is kinda the same color I changed my mind about either. Im going to try bone. Is it hard to cut the scales out uf bone? Can I use any bone from the freezer or does it have to be boiled? does it need to be treated in any way?
Thanks
 
3wolves, you could get some oosik, walrus penile bone, it would make excellent scales, as it is very tough.
 
Yeah but the cheapest I could find was $195 :eek: so thats kinda out of question. but keep the suggestions coming. :)
 
3wolves
go to: Staburl.com
Jim has some great stuff that has been properly stabilized and is VERY reasonably priced. I'm sure you can find many pieces with a LOT more character than oak or cedar.
Matt
 
Woa! too much character! (compliment) I think they look too exotic for a SAK. Im going to try dark walnut, see how that goes.
 
3wolves said:
well I made the cedar scales and decided that they made the knife look like a cigar :D. since the oak is kinda the same color I changed my mind about either. Im going to try bone. Is it hard to cut the scales out uf bone? Can I use any bone from the freezer or does it have to be boiled? does it need to be treated in any way?
Thanks
Click to expand...


You would do well to try some from the pet store. $6.00

You might try asking a hunter buddy for some antler. That would look pretty cool.

Jim L.
 
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