ok, so which natural materials?

S

SkaerE

Joined
Sep 9, 2001
Messages
428
do i need to have stabilized? im sure of maple products. too soft.

ive got some african purpleheart - feels pretty stout, not sure it needs it.

does antler? i see a lot of antler handled knives that arent stabilized in anyway. heck, ive made a few as well ;)

bone?

actually hard hardwoods? walnut, oak etc?

what types of finishing materials do you guys use for unstabilized woods? minwax hardener? superglue? acraglas?

thanks
 
do i need to have stabilized? im sure of maple products. too soft.
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Maple too soft? Western quilted can be on the soft side, but eastern hardrock/sugar is harder and denser than either of the two real hardwoods you named - walnut and oak (at least red oak - white oak's a whole different animal). Of course individual pieces may vary.

Antler may or may not need it depending on type and porosity.

Lots of old antler and wooden handled knives out there that have seen a lot of use and never even thought about being stabilized, not to mention the thousands of wooden gunstocks that have seen nothing more than a good oil/wax finish and keep on doing there thing.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack :D and maybe it's just me, but it seems like the "necessity" of stabilizing grip materials has gotten just a bit carried away. Sort of seems if taken to far those natural materials get a bit unnatural. It has it's place but....:confused:

Wood finishes: I like Watco Danish Oil or Tung Oil a lot
 
I'm a fan of oil and maybe a good wax over it for most anything wood. Will use stabilized if someone really wants it, but I have rifles 60 years old or more that have had an oil finish over that time, refreshed as needed, and wood is still solid.
 
most of the maple i've used ive been able to dent with a fingernail, hence why i think its too soft. the VAST majority of oak ive used has been way harder. i guess walnut isnt all that hard compared to some, but aparantly it doesnt stabilize well anyhow.

most of all i worry about shrinkage/swell problems. ive had rifles who's stocks could vary a bit, hence my switch to composite stocks (thank you HS Precision ;))

anyhow, just wondering what people here think. figured some would be for stabilizing and some would be stuck in the past ;) - just kiddin'

thanks
 
Me - I'm stuck in the past and proud of it. No offense taken. Just never cared much for "plastic" wood.

HS Precision does make a fine stock. Mine has held up well for 15 years on my well used M700. I guess if I want "plastic" I'll uses the real mccoy and save my natural products for my old time muzzle stuffers (my first love, at least in firearms)

The maple you got is most likely western (Oregon/Washington)if it's that soft. Eastern is normally much, much harder than that. Is the Oak red or white? Red is usually quite open grained and therefore porous. White on the other hand is very close grained and due to that fact, amongst others, it was used a lot for ship/boat building.
 
white. its also waterproof - wont leak. (hence the making of casks *sp?* for wine making etc from white oak)

its like magic wood :D :eek:
 
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