Red Elm Burl for scales

Hypocrite · Mar 20, 2009

Leave it to me to ask a question after I've already purchased something, but...

Does anyone here have experience using red elm burl scales on a knife? Any pictures? Does red elm burl need to be stabilized to make good knife scales?

Thanks.

Erin

steelshaper · Mar 20, 2009

Elm is pretty tuff stuf but burl will have alot of stress in it. When in doubt stabilize it. I have not used Red Elm burl sorry.
My question to you is do you have any pics?

Hypocrite · Mar 20, 2009

steelshaper said:
Elm is pretty tuff stuf but burl will have alot of stress in it. When in doubt stabilize it. I have not used Red Elm burl sorry.
My question to you is do you have any pics?

I have a whole hard-drive full of pictures... but most of those would get me arrested if I showed them in public.

... or did you mean pics of the scales?

Erin

Hypocrite · Mar 21, 2009

Any red-elm users out there?

delbert ealy · Mar 21, 2009

I havn't used it yet, but I bought some red elm burl myself recently and had it stabilized. I have too much other work to use it yet, but it looks good and I am looking forward to using it. I know its tough stuff, my dad used some on the bed of his trailer for hauling firewood and it held up for many years.
Thanks,
Del

Hypocrite · Mar 21, 2009

Thanks Del... I ordered a bunch of matched scales recently from an eBay vendor. Most was stabilized, but it turns out the red-elm burl was not. I should have read the descriptions more thoroughly. The wood looks amazing from the photos.

Erin

mdoyle · Mar 21, 2009

Here's a poor pic of one I did a couple years ago w/elm and water buffalo horn. Not sure if it was red elm now??? Also it may have been quoted as being spalted elm burl.
Matt Doyle

Hypocrite · Mar 21, 2009

Matt,

I don't suppose you remember whether that chunk of elm was stabilized?

Below is a photo (from eBay) of one set of red-elm scales.

Erin

mdoyle said:
Here's a poor pic of one I did a couple years ago w/elm. Not sure if it was red elm now??? Also it may have been quoted as being spalted elm burl. I just don't remember now. Sorry
Matt Doyle

mdoyle · Mar 21, 2009

Yes it absolutely was stabililzed. I wouldn't use it if not. Send it out and get it done. It works pretty easily, I do remember that much. That's a nice set of scales, don't waste em without stabilization.
Matt

NickWheeler · Mar 22, 2009

Erin- Watch out for "stabilized" wood on ebay. A lot of sellers are doing some kind of home-brewed crap, and it's just not reliable. Personally, I wouldn't use stablized wood unless it's been stabilized by WSSI or K&G. I prefer WSSI myself

but I know Ken at K&G does a real nice job as well.

hellgap · Mar 22, 2009

I was driving home and saw a elm tree it had burl all over it and im going there with a saw soon lol. That stuff is killer. The tree is in final stages of being cut down now so i dont think getting it will be a problem.Stabilization is expensive but i would not use it till its done. I have used some stabilized stuff thats really good and looks deadly after its done.

Hypocrite · Mar 24, 2009

NickWheeler said:
Erin- Watch out for "stabilized" wood on ebay. A lot of sellers are doing some kind of home-brewed crap, and it's just not reliable. Personally, I wouldn't use stablized wood unless it's been stabilized by WSSI or K&G. I prefer WSSI myself but I know Ken at K&G does a real nice job as well.

Thanks for the advice Nick. I am always skeptical of ebay quality, but one thing I liked about this particular seller is his good-quality photos and his statement that "the scales pictured are the scales you will receive". His stabilized stuff says "These scales are stabilized after purchase with a high-performance acrylic stabilizer that is pressure injected completedly through the wood." I also did a google-search for reviews and it seems like a number of wood-turners out there have had good experience with his stabilized pen-blanks. None of this guarantees that I'll get a good product... but if they are garbage, I just chalk it up to another learning experience.

I do have some nice unstabilized wood around here... I'm just waiting until I have enough to make it worth my while to send it to WSSI (they have a minimum processing fee... seems like I need to have at least 3lbs to make it pay.)

Erin