Olive Wood

Stark Knives

Stark Knives

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Mar 19, 2010
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Is unstabilized olive wood any good for knife handles? I've got a nice block but don't want to use it on a knife if it will crack and warp easily.
 
it works great. if your ginna use it cut it into scales now and let that sit for a while. This stuff takes forever to dry and even when it is dry it takes a little acclimation time once cut. I have used it on several blades and always works out great. I have it on a kitchen knife I made a while back, I use that blade everyday. I handwash it and try to throw some wax on the handle once every few months and besides the patina on the blade and a slight darkening of the handle still looks like when I made it.
 
Just make sure it is dry.
Olive takes a long long time to dry.
I have had 2 inch thick slabs that were over 5 years old that were still over 20% moisture content inside.
Olive cracks and moves a lot when drying, but seems to be very stable after it is dry.
I would not use any with a moisture content over 10% because it is not done moving.
If you get it stabilized there will not be much of a weight gain and it bleeds for a while afterwards (in my experience).
 
Does anyone know about how long the stuff from Woodcraft has been dried? That's what I've got...
 
No idea, you can pick up a moisture meter at lowes or home depot pretty cheap. Ive got one and its nice to have to test out wood with both for knives and for my fireplace.
 
Or, go back to Woodcraft and ask them to check the moisture content. They have the meters.

Olive makes great kitchen knife handles. I prefer it stabilized, but it works fine unstabilized, too. If you are having it stabilized, dry it in a warm place with good airflow for a couple years first ( unless you know for sure it is already completely dry). It has to be well below 10% moisture to survive stabilizing without twists, cracks, and warps.

On a long Japanese style blade, like a petty or yanagi-ba, it makes a particularly nice looking "wa" or "D" handle with a blackwood front block.....or oval shape, for that matter.
 
In general most wood from woodcraft is not very dry. (Hence why a lot of it is heavily waxed sometimes) I usually give any wood i've bought from woodcraft a good couple years on my shelf. Stick with making things long enough and your 'stash' will grow faster than you can use, and it becomes easier to make sure stuff is dry and ready for use =)
 
Burl Source said:
Just make sure it is dry.
Olive takes a long long time to dry.
I have had 2 inch thick slabs that were over 5 years old that were still over 20% moisture content inside.
Olive cracks and moves a lot when drying, but seems to be very stable after it is dry.
I would not use any with a moisture content over 10% because it is not done moving.
If you get it stabilized there will not be much of a weight gain and it bleeds for a while afterwards (in my experience).
Click to expand...

Say I purchased a block from a reputable dealer, like yourself. How long would one let that block dry before using ?
 
I made a kitchen knife for my cousin with olivewood about 1 year ago... it has darkened somewhat (possibly from UV light, as it sits in the sun most of the time), otherwise good as new. Has a spicy scent to it...

Has anyone else had it darken over time?
 
Chavez, in my experience Mark at burl source only uses dry wood that he sends off to stabilize. Anything sent to get stabilized that has above 7 or so percent is not gonna like the process much at all and usually ends with a badly warped and cracked return. His natural stuff is ready to use unless he says otherwise. Mark caters to knife makers and he knows his wood. Shop with confidence.
 
If I am right then olive wood is the 2nd most dense native wood in Europe (after box wood)
It´s been used for thousends of years and is one of my personal faforites.
Use it as is and hand sand to 2500 :D
 
The people from Woodcraft said that their wood in the warehouse is at around 15% moisture content. Would it be usable in this state?
 
We've cut literally hundreds of blocks of olive. It has one of the highest rejection rates due to cracking of any wood we cut. I agree with Mark, it takes a long time to dry. 15% moisture is too high for use as a handle or for sending in to be stabilized.

If the knife is for yourself, do what ever you want. If the knife is for sale, have the wood stabilized. Olive stabilizes great.

Chuck
 
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