Snakewood and CPM 3V

H

Hmathews

Joined
Feb 22, 2005
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This is our 3.5 inch drop point hunter with a snakewood handle and CPM 3V blade. The bolsters are made of stainless steel along with the bolts. The handle slabs are dovetailed under the bolsters and the tang is tapered.

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That is real nice. I love snakewood. I used it once and had problems with it shrinking over time so haven't used it since. I know it's too oily to stabilize. Harry, do you have any suggestions on the shrinking or ideas on what I could do to prevent it. I've had the peice a long time. I thought it was thoroughly dry. I'd love to use it again.
-John
 
Shrinking is going to happen with just about any natural handle material. We seal the wood with finish and wax it often. As the humidity and temperature changes the wood will too. It is something that we accept in order to get the look we want. We do all we can to insure that cracking or checking is held to a minimum with snakewood, but it still happens. We do this by keeping the wood sealed with wax unless we are working on it. If it is going to sit over night, we seal it with wax. On handles with scales, we always use a vulcanized fiber liner. We have found that it adds a great deal of support to the material and reduces most problems to a minimum. It also tends to bond to the steel better than the handle material does and bonds to the handle material better than just steel. Snakewood is one of my favorite handle materials. It works well, and to me, looks better than anything else out there. It is the most popular wood handle material we have ever offered. There are four knives on my bench being completed right now with snakewood handles and several more waiting. We always tell the customers that natural handle materials will shrink and expand. We guarantee it. If it doesn't shrink or expand, we will be glad to replace it, if that is what they want.:D
 
Harry,
Thanks for the tip. I may try the liner with it. I love the way wood looks with liner anyway.
-John
 
This is a photo of the same model #2 with snakewood handles. It has now been engraved by Jim Small. Now the knife looks finished.

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