O and on the topic of woods, i wrote an article i should expand on
Highly Workable, Good choice for beginner wood workers/ handle makers.
Bocote: A wood with a strange mix of characteristics. It is quite dense, nearing the density of some rosewoods but its hardness is tied with Hard maple. Certainly a sturdy wood, but not by exotics standards. It has a lovely character and tight grained pieces exhibit a beautiful pattern of stripes and eyes. Bocote's eyes rarely compromise structure, but if a chunk is missing just fill it in with some super glue. This wood works easily and polishes well. Do be careful though, lightly figured pieces are VERY boring. Use an extra thin saw to make sure both sides match.
Maple: Figured maple is a long time favorite of many knife makers, because it is incredibly easy to stabilize, work and dye. In all honestly maple is the easiest wood that makes an acceptable handle. Its figure is discribed in a few ways. Curly means the grain has "fold" that reflect light differently in a someone random pattern. Often just called figured. Birds eye shows small circles in the grain resembling, you guess it, eyes. Quilted, flame and tiger maple all refer to a figure that is more or less regular stripes.
Ziricote: Not a commonly used wood, ziricote is none the less a gem. It is quite workable dispite its weight, a strong and rather stable dark colored wood known for its rare figure. Ziricote displays a figure known as spider webbing in which complex strands of nearly black wood criss cross the more grey heartwood. A pattern not seen outside incredibly figured Brazilian rosewood.
Paduak: Now for some color! Paduak is common exotic often grown on plantations. It has a bright red/ orange tone with not a whole ton of figure. It is stable, strong and very workable. Be careful though, the dust is more toxic than average and the color fades.
Purpleheart: This is a common wood for new makers, for the reasons that it can be exceedingly purple and is very cheap for an exotic "often close to the price of walnut". The coarse grain structure means it can not be polished to a very high finish and the lack of figure and fading color means this is best suited to either a lower budget knife or a heavy work knife.
Koa: Koa is known across the world as one of the curliest woods around. Personally i often use less curled pieces for the simple fact that curly koa is also expensiveness as all holy hell. It works eaisly and is not to hard. Stabilization is advised here.
Lacewood: Another common exotic, lacewood has some nice figure to it but beyond that is not too amazing. Easy workabilty and low price make this a good beginners choice.
Medium workabilty: Nothing wrong with these, but work slowly and be careful for burning!
Rosewoods: I admit, i have a rosewood addiction. Burmese, Bolivian, Honduras, all these are great choices. They are strong, oily heavy and beautiful. There are some real gems in the rosewood family though. East Indian is considered the best of the "lesser" rosewoods, with a nice figure and darker banding. Next is Cocobolo. Exceeding strong and famous for a rainbow of red, orange, brown and black. B careful! Cocobolo is the most toxic of the rosewood family. My favorite is kingwood. The strongest wood in the "classic" rosewood family. It is a more purple wood, with an amazing contrast of lighter purple and deep browns and blacks. Tulipwood is similar to kingwood in its striation, but it has white and bright pink instead! a real find, but expensive. The last is brazillian rosewood. I advise against using this stuff, for the simple reason it is to rare. Harvesting B.R has been illegal for several decades and any new sources are illegal. I received a board from a carpenter of some 50 years who has been storing it since the ban This goes hand in hand with Bois De rose Is a Madagascar rosewood with a deep eggplant purple, but it doesnt last. This stuff fades to black quick and is incredibly endangered. Just leave it. . A note on rosewoods, always wipe down with acetone before you glue to get a much stronger bond.
Bubinga: Known as a false rosewood, bubinga is a pretty wood that has many characteristics of rosewood for the more budget minded. It can however come in a striking figure known as waterfall bubinga. If you know a high end carpenter or turner, ask for scraps! It is quite hard so again, work slow.
Katalox: Another lesser known wood, Katalox is similar to ebony, but is much more purple. It is very heavy, considered one of the heaviest woods in the world. It is also very dense and while not very pricy, hard to find. Check online.
Tiger and Zebra wood: while not related, I grouped these two together because of their similar characteristics. Both are heavy and while not too hard, their striated nature means they can be a little unpredictable to work if you are not experienced. Both show bands of darker, harder wood that appear in straight lines when quarter sawn and in wide swirling arcs when flat or rift sawn.
Hard to work: These woods are difficult to work, hard, incredibly irregular grain or frequent tear outs. Precede with caution, but i promise it will be rewarded. Get ready for beauty
Ironwood: You knew it was coming. Ironwood is perhaps the best knifemaking wood. It is incredibly hard, nearly impossible to scratch, has a beautiful figure and is the most dimensionally stable wood currently known short of petrified wood! It has a beautiful pattern and color to it, so work slowly and with fresh belts or you will burn it. Its hardness is really what puts it on the list, as many people get frustrated, flip the sander to high and burn the hell out of their wood. unimportant side note though, it does smell EXACTLY like cat piss.
Lignium Vitae: The wood of life. Lignium is widely considered one of the heaviest and hardest wood on earth. Its like working a brick, but nothing will last longer. It is so oily it can be self lubricating, tough as nails and takes a nice polish. The color is not outstanding, mostly greenish brown, but who cares! Its so damn heavy!
Ipe: A bit of an ugly ducking that never grew up. Ipe is dirt cheap and hard, heavy and oily. If you're on a budget, grab it and go.
Wenge: Not to expensive, often used in furniture wenge has a great pattern to it and again can be either in neat rows or wild grain depending how its cut. It is listed here for its tendency to have tearouts, and the splitters just seem to always get infected.
Black Palm: Not a real hardwood, the wood of black and red palm is dark brown or white respectively, flecked with either black or red flecks "guess which is which". look for pieces with more specks as these are what give the wood its strength. A real beauty when shined up, but again tear outs and splinters are an issue. Wear goggles or i promise you will be out an eye.
Snakewood: Beautiful. Just beautiful. But a little devil. This stuff is hard, heavy and not all pieces have figure. Many sellers will sell you the whole log, because the center is often ruined and most of the log doesnt have figure. This is one wood where it is always best to buy by the scale. It also cracks like nothing else on the market. Go slowly and fill it in with superglue. (bloodwood is a close relative, and while cracking is not so much an issue, its hardness does make it difficult. If you are looking for red check paduak or look up redheart)
Ebony: There are a surprising number of ebonies, but the most common used in knives is gaboon. The best gaboon is totally featureless black. Prettyyy much like plastic. Not my cup of tea. It also crack nearly as much as snakewood. Its not a game of if, but when. Personally i prefer Maccaser ebony. It has a little color, its not endangered and is less likely to shatter. This stuff smells like a musty gym.
African blackwood: technically a rosewood, African blackwood is a great choice. Its more stable than ebony, harder, just as heavy and not endangered. If you want black, check this out. Same rules as rosewood apply.
Burlwood: Burls are inherently difficult to work, as the irregular grain means that they will not sand, saw or chisel away at an even rate. Go slow and check frequently.
Rarer exotics of all types
Camel thorn: And interesting wood. Incredibly heavy and hard, it has a deep brown color flecked with black. Imagine a cross of wenge and balck palm.
Pink Ivory: Super hard. Super rare. Super expensive. Super Pink. This stuff comes from South Africa and is pretty crazy. It can range from pale orange to neon pink and can even come curly! Be prepared to pay through the nose for the pink stuff though
Pistachio: Yes. That pistachio. It has an amzing figure that blends swirls of green, brown and black into an interesting form. Not crazy expensive, but it is pretty hard to find. Reasonably workable for exotic
Black and white ebony: Ebony and ivroyyyyyyy. Kidding. A swirl of jet black and cream white, this stuff can be confusing to work. Suddenly you hit a white patch and the belt runs right through the wood. Go slow. Its also expensive so i hope you dont mess up.
Verawood/ Argintine Lignium vitae: Lignium on a budget! This stuff is just like lignium but less so in every way. Not quite as hard, not quite as pretty, not quite as oily but way way cheaper!
Marblewood: Its brown with splotches of red and purple. Its hard and its heavy. Past the strange coloration there isent anything too crazy about marble wood.
Texas Ebony: one of the only exotics native to north America, Texas ebony is not a true ebony, but does grow in Texas! So the name is half right. Its hard, heavy and oily. Crotch cut pieces have a great figure and it also adds a little southern charm to any piece "im talking to you fiddleback forge"
Black Ironwood: A small plant that only grows in parts of Floridas swamps. The heaviest wood on earth. I have never seen a real piece of it. If you happen to find some, please tell me! i would love to see!
Sandalwood: Almost never brought to market anymore, this stuff was famous for its strength and amazing scent. If you see it, save it. Its a real treasure.
If you hate yourself.
This is a little thing for me and fellow wood nerds. Jarrah. There is nothing harder. Jarrah is not too pretty "though Jarrah burl can be" but it is hell on earth to work. It chews up sanding paper and belts, laughs at most saws and chokes the air with incredibly fine dust. Why is this even around?
