Sources for inexpensive handle material and woods that do not need to be stabilized

Just go to your local exotics supplier and handle everything. If it isn't green and still dense it will probably work great. About the softest I use in most handles without special treatment is Hard Maple. There are some exotics that require more careful work, Ebony overheats easily and is prone to chipping, the rosewoods can also chip, though in their case, it is less a question of overall strength and more that they are very hard and much stronger with the grain than against it.

Honestly, leopardwood is a pain to finish, but it is nearly indestructible. Katalox, Blackwood, Mora, Chechen, Bocote, Ironwood, and some Mahoganies are all tough as nails and most are easy to work (some of the really tough mahoganies suck). Hell, I have some curly poplar that I have used that is sufficiently tough for many purposes and is just gorgeous.
 
Warren, have you tried the Fiebings British tan on some of that maple? It took me five years to remember that stuff. I could never get that color right with the light brown, yellow, etc.
Willie71 said:
I agree with others’ posts. Padauk is one of my favourites. Cocobolo is nice but a sensitized. Bocote and tulipwood are nice. I’ve even found some nice curly maple locally. It really pops with an amber dye.
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jdm61 said:
Warren, have you tried the Fiebings British tan on some of that maple? It took me five years to remember that stuff. I could never get that color right with the light brown, yellow, etc.
Click to expand...

I need to get some. I like the amber analine dye from Lee valley.
 
Thanks guys. After a slow day at work I found a few good wood shops on the way home. Also Ben will sell me some larger blocks. Pairing knives only take a tiny slice and most full blocks can't quite fit 2 handles. I have loads of walnut but I think it needs to be stabilized .
 
Agreeing with John, walnut does not need to be stabilized. It does need a finish though.
 
I guess I should say that I am looking at kitchen blades in particular. Also I am hoping to cut down on build time so I'm looking for hard oily woods that can be brought to a nice polish and don't need multiple coats of oil to look great. My summer schedule tends to be busy and I want projects that I can complete pretty rapidly .

I hqve some Sepale and it seems to hold up ok but it doesn't really polish up. The olive was the softest wood I have used but maybe that was a particularly soft piece. Unless I'm mistaken I will sand and oil the next time it really seams like the buffing is where I went wrong.

I have lots of walnut but I will use that on other knives and not ones that could be left in a half filled sink overnight.
 
Any wood on any kitchen knife left overnight in a sink of water is gonna have problems. You are looking for, cocobolo, rosewood, bocote, zircote etc. Walnut properly finished and taken care of with the right construction techniques makes an excellent kitchen knife handle.
 
After reading that thread on wax I'm thinking that other woods will work better with a soft buff and I need to find a place to put one. My big thing was just to be able to not have to worry about finish drying time. My work schedule for summer tends to start at 60 hours a week with a long commute on top. I was hoping to cut down on both cost and build times. I'm also looking at not predrilling holes but going to carbide bits. Not something that I am planning in for nicer pieces or long term. It's more of a test run at a lifestyle/business model than any desire to make money. It boils down to doing sprint large construction projects for most of my money and being able to maintain a market presants during those times on a side business (not necessarily knives). I should get a fair bit of practice grinding at least. I'm not really trying to talk about business or selling but just to explain why I am asking a kinda wierd and narrow question. Also it's unlikely most if these would be sold I'm just testing myself.

I love those maple handles with the dark highlights. I have some really nice soft maple that I would definitely have to stabilize. I brought sime of my nicer wood out from the west coast when i moved.Can you stain stabilised maple?
 
Bocote is my favorite underappreciated handle wood. Even the relatively boring pieces can look really nice, and it's pretty cheap in comparison to some other woods that are hard and oily. Here's an older knife I made with bocote:
c7nwaMah.jpg



I know they've been mentioned, but if looking for cheap, African blackwood and katalox are inexpensive if you look around for a good source and will probably hold up even better than bocote. Every now and then I've bought these three woods for $2 to $3 for blocks or scales. But it's hard to match bocote for the most visual bang for the buck at $2 a knife in my opinion. All the bocote scales in the pic below I bought for less than $10, some of them were less than $2!
1yhXdd5h.jpg
 
Another idea for figured maple is toasting it. On the left is a piece of untoasted curly maple and to the right a piece cut from it that went in my heat treat oven at 380F for 2 hours. It really brings out the figure and makes the kiln smell like maple syrup. Not quite the depth of a dye or a HCl acid treatment, but I like the result.
28276515_1525928370858503_225578784153374150_n.jpg
 
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