Snakewood cracking problem...help

S

Stag & Steel

Joined
Nov 30, 2005
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I just finished a sub-hilt coffin handled bowie with Snakewood and it turned out well. 2 days after I finshed, it developed a crack the full length of the handle on one side. I was careful to not have over-tight pin holes at assembly. Anyone else have this problem with Snakewood and what can I do to prevent this in the future? I will attach pics of the knife prior to cracking.

Thanks,
Jim

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Nice knife! It's a shame about the cracking...My only suggestion would be to stabilize the wood before use.

-d
 
Jim was there any chance you may have over heated the wood grinding it?
or while flatening the back side?
I'd like to see the cracked scale..
nice work to bad for the crack ..
 
Cut it to almost finished shape, then wait a week or so to see if it's stable.
It's a really dense wood, and when you take the dry wood off the outside, the inside wood has a chance to dry further...hence the cracks and warps in some cases.
I've got some that cracked after 12 years air drying. Even without cutting it.
Nice knife. I guess you can't fill it and make it go away..
 
deker...I wanted stabilized but the stabilizing place never returned my call so I went with natural...the Snake has bitten me.

Dan...did not overheat, the pattern indicates shrinkage and with as many pins as I had, something had to give. It shrunk back away from the tang edges just like when I used some green wood once. I am wondering if this stuff was green. I'll try to get some pics up of the crack.

Howie...that tells me it may be the nature of the beast. This is my first go at Snakewood...not sure I want to go again. May strip it and put some good old Cocobola on it.
Thanks guys...not been a good day...being snake bit.
 
Snakewood will shrink and swell, stabilized or not. I really dislike the stuff and quit using it years ago. And yes the stuff I had was quite dry, stabilized too.
 
had some dried over two years and still checked. snakewood is like thar. just expensive and unpredictable.

chuck
 
Everyone has this with snakewood.It does not stabilize well and is usually used in the natural state. Take the crack and fill it with cyanoacrylic repeatedly until filled.Cover the entire wood surface once the crack is completely filled and dry.Let dry for at least a week. Re-sand with 400 and then go to whatever degree of final finish you did before. It will remove the crack to almost invisible after buffing,and the wood will be much more crack resistant.DON'T heat the wood up while sanding and buffing.That is the kiss of death to snakewood.
Stacy
 
Jim I see your point with so many pins
but I was thinking why didn't the other one crack as well , it must have let the pins move a bit on that side or
thinking something was done a bit different on that one..
I do know cedar will shrink each time it's worked, no matter how it's dried and for no matter how long, it will shrink every time worked.. I'm sure other woods are the same.
 
Thanks Stacy, that is the approach I was going to try and see how visible it is when done. You know how all us knifemakers are when it comes to being anal about our quality, we know it is still there.

Thanks Dan, I wondered that too until this morning when I looked at it again to make sure it was not a nightmare and the other side is following suit, I think I will have a matched pair of cracked scales by the end of day....at least they will be somewhat symetrical that way....right?

Sounds like a lot of you guys have been there with this wood, maybe this is the real alure with this wood...the challenge of getting a knife from a maker without cracks:) Maybe I won't call and knaw on my supplier today after all.

Thanks and God Bless!
 
Maybe I could convince somebody that this was fossilized Snakewood, dug up from tundra...millions of years old and cracks are some of its natural appeal and has to be filled up with cyacrolate to preserve and it is worth 10 times more than modern Snakewood. Yea that's it....see how fast it went up in value...headed for the "FOR SALE" area now! Ahhhhh that felt good...now back to reality. I'M NOT CRAZY.....just a knifemaker.

All in all, this was a good learning experience, if anyone asks for Snakewood again, I will discuss this potential cracking with them before committing to make.
Have a great day guys!
I'm going to one way or another!
 
I have had the same problem with snake wood. Someone said I should seal it with some type finish AS SOON as it is finished. Have not tried that yet. The last piece I tried was on a hidden tang with no pins and I was careful not to
over heat it. It did take the crack a couple months to show up. Oh well...Haven't tried since.
 
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