shrunken ebony

mightyzaa

mightyzaa

Joined
Nov 1, 2014
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posing this question here because this may get a quick reply. i hope, and thanx in advance. just got a heritage series Schatt & Morgan. new in box, but of course made a while back. ebony handles that appeared to have shrunk a bit. the steel liners are now exposed to where you can see them just a bit. can also feel the ridge it leaves with your fingernail. did the wood actually shrink? was the ebony installed that way? and the big question, what if anything can you do about it? seen this happen before, but didn't look to correct it. any ideas? thanx
 
Probably gaps from less than perfect fitting of the covers.

In over 60 years, I've never heard of ebony shrinking or warping. However, that don't mean it can't or hasn't.

Only thing I know of that can be done about it is to live with it.
 
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I recently posted that I have a similar condition with some snakewood handles on one of mine. While I don't have an answer for you regarding ebony, from what I've been able to read so far there is not much, if anything, that can be done for snakewood. I feel like (but at this point I have no way to confirm) mine have actually shrunk some over the past year, and have seen similar posts to support that it does happen. I don't recall seeing anything specifically about shrinking ebony on knife handles, but I'm certain that all (unstabilized) wood moves a bit, some much more than others... it should be properly dried to limit that movement prior to use.
 
I have several ebony handled knives and have never noticed any shrinkage. I do have the same knife as the OP, I'll check it after work but last time I carried it I didn't see anything.

I would suspect that whoever sanded/buffed it at the factory was just a little over zealous.
 
Very hard to comment with certainty but here's some things to ponder.

Ebony is a very durable, tough wood - unlike other sorts - and is unlikely to have shrunk, much depends on the conditions it's been subjected to. If it's been in a prolonged ultra dry situation it is possible it has shrunk but I think you'd see curling and or splitting around the pins too.

The Heritage Series were very nice knives but the QC was patchy it has to be conceded. Normally this relates to weak snap and pull but I suspect the finishing process was sometimes compromised as well. Consequently, the scale slabs might have been cut to an incorrect size and then mounted on the frame, giving exposed liners?

This aspect is hideously common on some other knives, notably Wright of Sheffield, all 7 of their knives I've had to file back the brass liners to make a decent comfortable fit with the scale slabs. Something important for in hand feel but these products are generally poorly executed knives. You might attempt to file the liners flush with the slabs on this Ebony Heritage but it's going to be tougher given the liners are not brass but steel. It is feasible though.

As said earlier, pictures would be very useful here.
 
it can't hurt to soak it in a reputable lemon oil treatment (Like Formby's). Tony Bose uses lemon oil quite liberally for ebony & even stag scales. If there was a little bit of shrinkage due to time/dry climate, the lemon oil should restore the wood and can't hurt the blades.
 
I think that's par for the course with the S&M Heritage jacks. I have an ebony single spear, and the spring and liners are proud of the covers.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Please correct me if i am wrong, but isn't the handle material supposed to run a little wild and then it is hafted which flushes everything up? Or is the handle material supposed to fit perfect? And to think I toured GEC. But that was many moons ago. If the handle material is cut to small for the knife, that would be purely shoddy workmanship. How about bone handles? Can they actually shrink? I have heard horn can. I will try for pics soon. And I will include a bone handled one I have from a famous cutlery. Thanks again everyone
 
I thought bone was the handle scale material most vulnerable to shrinkage. Please share a picture as I am curious.
 
Any natural scale material can shrink. Many synthetics will also shrink. A lot depends on how the knife was stored.
 
Wood is hydroscopic...... If it takes on or gives off water outside of the cells (free water) it will remain stable...... If the same happens within the cells (bound water) it will change size....... Going further, wood changes size 2X more in width than in length...... And going even further wood is less susceptible to width change if it is quarter sawn versus plain sawn....
This is fundamental knowledge for anyone calling themselves a cabinet maker...... To answer your knife question, you'd have to know at what moisture content the wood was at during construction of the knife versus what it is today......
Stabilized wood has the pores plugged so it is no longer hydroscopic....
 
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:)
 
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