Snakewood

T

TCooper

Joined
Jun 24, 2004
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I just bought a 2"X2"X12" block of Snakewood. I have never used this type of wood before, but i have heard stuff about it cracking. Does anybody have any tips on this wood. Any little tidbit of info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Troy
 
I have used lots of Snakewood with good results. I have never had any Snakewood crack. I live in Southern New Mexico where we have low humidity so I make it a practice to keep wood on a shelf for a couple of years before I use it. I also wrap the wood in a saran wrap type material.
If the wood apears to have a high moisture content I paint the whole piece with a product called green wood sealer.
I sand the Snakewood to 400 grit, coat with Watco Danish oil and then after that dries I buff the snakewood.
I recently bought a moisture meter to check the moisture content in wood. I think this moisture meter will be a big help in knowing how long to keep wood on the shelf before using on a knife handle.
 
I've used it on several knives and it will crack on you if you put it under stress....like driving pins thru it or thong tubing.
 
I've used stabilized snakewood in the past. Even shelf aged here for 2-3 years, AND stabilized, it shrinks, and swells with temperature, and humidity.

This is not an isolated case, it has happened to many makers and I won't use it anymore. :eek:
 
I'm with you, Mike. Snakewood is beautiful stuff, but its awful fussy. Get it too hot and it'll crack. Stress it - it'll crack. Look at it wrong - it'll crack. Once I made a quillion-style dagger with a carved snakewood handle. Got the handle on and it and laid it on the bench to go to supper. When I got back, it had a long crack the entire length of the handle. Since then, the only success I've had with snakewood has been with scales and they are finicky too. I made handles for all my small files with the snakewood I had left.
 
I plan on using the wood on a full tang knifes. That's mostly what I make. Would Gun Stock Oil work to seal it? Would Loveless Fasteners work or would it be ok to glue pins in? I live right on the Ohio River so humidity is definitely high around here.

Thanks,
Troy
 
It seems that several knifemakers have had bad experiences with snakewood, but it is one of my favorites. I have had no experience using snakewood under high humidity conditions.
A couple of months ago someone brought a snakwood handled knife I made ten or fifteen years ago for me to appraise. The handle was in fine shape.
I use snakewood on full tang knives and like to fasten it with epoxy and pins. I drill the holes in the wood handle a little bit larger than the pins.
I would think that gunstock oil finish would work fine.
Snakewood is a very hard dense wood and will defenitly split if oversize pins are used.
The only problem I have had with snakewood is that lately the price has gone up and the quality way down.
 
Tom Lewis said:
The only problem I have had with snakewood is that lately the price has gone up and the quality way down.
Click to expand...

That might just be the contributing factor to what the rest of us are experiencing, Tom. I'm in a fluxuating climate here, but all my handle materials are kept in my shop, and I try to keep the shop climate regulated because of the machinery.
 
Thanks for the help folks. I feel a little more confident sawing into a highly expensive chunk of wood. Just hope it don't bust. Once again much appreciated thank you guys.

Troy
 
One of the keys to using this wood is to alway seal it after you cut it or sand it. I use spray lacquer. As soon as it is cut I lay it out and seal it then leave it alone for a few days or months. When I take it up again and go to use it I do the same thing. Haven't had any mishaps yet.........
 
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