snakewod-stabilized?

[marekz]

i fairly certain some wood like desert ironwood and cococola can be used without too much problems for handles because they have a very low moisture content. what about snakewood? some ebayers advertise stabilized snakewood--i thiught snakewood was like desert ironwood and cocobola. does it really need to be stabilized? how is it to work with ? it sure is expensive.--thanks-marekz

 

[firebert]

I've had good experiences with natural snakewood. It's harder and more brittle than ironwood, but it takes a nice finish. It is pretty much impermeable to water and fairly scratch-resistant. I don't consider it a hard-use material, though. Partly because of the brittleness, and partly because I don't want the high-gloss finish to get scuffed up.

All of the material I get has been air-dried for a fairly long time at the yard, and I like to keep it round my shop a bit before I use it. This makes it less likely to crack unexpectedly. When sanding, use sharp abrasives, snakewood heats up and scorches very quickly. I finish it by hand, sanding to 8000 grit finishing paper, and maybe add a light coat of oil.

Phillip

P.S. I hear that the non-figured material is considerably tougher than the figured stuff. It's a nice-looking wood in it's own right, too.

 

[Raymond Richard]

Here's a couple I just finished up last week. First time I have used snakewood in at least 12 years. I forgot how hard this wood really was until I tried some hand sanding with 80 grit paper and it reminded of how a file slips off of hardened steel. Its a beautiful wood but has a mind of its own as far as cracking and splitting goes. You don't want to leave a knife handled with it in a car on a hot day.

 

[First Twin]

Beautiful knives. Harry and I love snakewood, the way it looks and the way it works. We have had better luck with snakewood scales than with sticks or blocks. It does have a nasty tendency to crack, sometimes very small cracks that can be repaired with thin super glue wicking down into it. Once in a while you get one that wants to self destruct and you swear off the material forever or until you can't resist the look anymore. I don't think we have had the cracking problem with thin scales. Just winding up one for the Blade Show after swearing off of it for about 3 months this time.

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Mike Ludeman at WSSI said he can stabilize snakewood if it is .375 or thinner.

I love snakewood but it can be trouble. It takes a very long time to dry and it cracks without warning. The crack can occur immediately or ten years later. I recommend never peen pins in snakewood. Drill pin holds a few thousandths oversize. Coat the pins with adhesive, fill the hole with adhesive and ease the pin into the wood.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Advertising is not allowed without a Knifemaker/Supplier membership.
Flooding the forum with old threads for advertising purposes is bad form on top of that.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Patrice, Just report the post. Don't make a new post. The super-Mods will van the spammer and the old thread will remain old. By posting, you made it new. Thread closed.