stabalizing wood for handles?

cptncavman

cptncavman

Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Messages
71
im wondering how you guys go about stabalizing wood for the blades that you make. remember seeing an article some time back about someone putting the wood in a glass jar of liquid (cant remember what) and putting suction on it with a vacuum or something. any help greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
 
The article you read probably advocated using Minwax wood hardener in a vacuum-sealed mason jar. I was tempted to try that system myself. I found a great source for stabilized wood, though, that was much cheaper (and safer) than doing it myself, or buying it through any of the major vendors. I just ordered about 12 sets of scales, everything from stabilized spalted maple to redwood, and even some ironwood and burlwoods. K&G does his stabilizing so I trust it, although I haven't gotten my order in yet. Heckuva knice guy, too. Stabilized maple burl for $15?!? You can't beat it, and you don't run the risk of blowing up your house when you do it.
 
dont think the fiance would take kindly to me blowing up the house. do you have web site links you can post on here the only problem is some of handles on my knives are about 6" long instead of 5 or 5 1/2". thanks again
 
If your going to buy stabilized wood check out www.alphaknifesupply.com/ , as a bunch of us know , Chuck Bybee is the best.What I like is that you can pick out the exact set of scales that you want. I am pretty sure that his daughter ( Jessica ) takes the pictures and posts them on his site . Since there is such a HUGE variance in "Burl" or "Spalted" wood or whatever it is that you want, what appeals to one might not appeal to another.Seeing the actual set or blk. is a big plus IMHO.
 
The DIY stabilizing is nearly not as bad. No risk of blowing up anything.
The vacuum forms by itself, when the closed jar with the wood hardener
and scales cools down.

I'd only use it for burls.

For naturally hard woods, pay a visit to your local importer - Boobinga,
Kingswood, Leopardwood are all EXTREMELY hard, naturally oily woods
that would last a lifetime and won't require anything more than 2-3 layers
of Danish/Tung oil. I paid something like $30 and ended up with nuff wood
to make 60 handles, if not more.

The jury's still out on whether wood should be used for kitchen knifes.
Micarta/Garolite/Corian will definetely last indefinitely :)
 
Well im in the "Jake Knife " group here i honestly don't believe the " Other's can compare with what he is offering ! Hand picked by a "Maker " im sure if you wanted picture's of something he would try to comply by sending you alot of pictures to choose from . Ive seen this guy's "Scrap " and some of his throw away wood is better than other's are selling . Frank / Jake does go to a great deal of trouble to get very nice wood and then "Cherry Pick's " all of the best .
all i can say is try him out yourself then decide.
 
thanks for all the info will check out the sites you all have listed. time to go shoppin. thanks again
 
For what it's worth I just did a test of home stabilizing some wood with Minwax the other day that used no heat at all. No risk of bnlowing up anything :)

I took an empty jar from the kitchen (pickled caluiflower I think :) ) and drilled a hole in the top to install some vacuum fittings I picked up at the local Tractor Supply for $2 or so. I put some epoxy around the fittings to make sure they were sealed and let it cure.

Then I put some Minwax Wood Hardner into the jar, dropped in a piece of scrap (cracked) rosewood (I know, doesn't need to be stabilizd, but it's all I had that I didn't mind screwing up) about 3/4" x 3/4" x 5", hooked up a hand vacuum pump and took it to about 20 inches of vacuum and then cracked the top open. I repeated this several times. It could see quite a bit of air escaping the wood as I pulled the vacuum and I quit repeating the process one no more air was outgassing from the wood.

I wouldn't advocate doing this with a hand pump, scavenge a compressor from an old fridge or something...unless you really want to build up your forearms :rolleyes:

I let it dry outside overnight and when I cut it a few days later and the wood hardner had penetrated all the way through. The rosewood did leech some oil back into the Minwax so it's a nice red/brown color now. I imagine lighter woods could pick up a nice color from it.

Just my $.02 on a SAFE way to do it at home.

-d
 
Beware the first time you draw a vacuum on a glass jar. Not all of them will take it. Test it the first time empty inside a paper or plastic box. If there is so much as one scratch in the glass don't use it. It is best to always do the vacuum work with an exterior container as a splattershield.

I recommend wrapping a glass vessel in some winds of tape of some sort. It helps a little if it implodes.
 
fitzo said:
Beware the first time you draw a vacuum on a glass jar. Not all of them will take it. Test it the first time empty inside a paper or plastic box. If there is so much as one scratch in the glass don't use it. It is best to always do the vacuum work with an exterior container as a splattershield.

I recommend wrapping a glass vessel in some winds of tape of some sort. It helps a little if it implodes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Fitzo...I hadn't really thought of that. I had pulled a vacuum on it empty to check for a decent seal, but hadn't thought of the jar shattering. I'll keep it in mind.

Thanks,

-d
 
YW, deker. I saw a number of vacuum implosions in the lab so I try to speak up about it on these threads. One of the worst was a 5 gallon jug that was probably 1/2" thick. Rated at 20", the idiot had cranked the vac to 25" for about 2 seconds when it blew fistsize shards all over, not to mention the deadly crap inside. Scary.

I worried enough about it that when I experimented with stabilizing, I bought a pressure pot for spray painting from Harbor Freight. I put the jar of wood and goo in the pot and draw vac or pressurize the whole thing.

Cute story: the "worst" vacuum implosion I saw was a brand spanking new 5000 gallon stainless steel tank, three stories tall. The chem engineer who was installing it was steaming it for cleaning for first use. It was brutal cold weather. the steam was coming out the top in what is called a plate relief valve. After steaming, the cold weather rapidly caused water to condense out and froze the plates. As the steam cooled, it drew a vacuum on the brand new tank and collapsed it like one would crush a beer can. Naturally, we all had a laugh at his expense while he sh*t his pants. Like with any major corporation, he was too dangerous to let out in the plant and eventually he became a Director of the whole area. LOL.
 
fitzo said:
YW, deker. I saw a number of vacuum implosions in the lab so I try to speak up about it on these threads. One of the worst was a 5 gallon jug that was probably 1/2" thick. Rated at 20", the idiot had cranked the vac to 25" for about 2 seconds when it blew fistsize shards all over, not to mention the deadly crap inside. Scary.
Click to expand...

Got it, the beer making carboys won't be re-used for stabilizing ;)


Cute story: the "worst" vacuum implosion I saw was a brand spanking new 5000 gallon stainless steel tank, three stories tall. The chem engineer who was installing it was steaming it for cleaning for first use. It was brutal cold weather. the steam was coming out the top in what is called a plate relief valve. After steaming, the cold weather rapidly caused water to condense out and froze the plates. As the steam cooled, it drew a vacuum on the brand new tank and collapsed it like one would crush a beer can. Naturally, we all had a laugh at his expense while he sh*t his pants. Like with any major corporation, he was too dangerous to let out in the plant and eventually he became a Director of the whole area. LOL.
Click to expand...

Man...I would have paid to see that...Great story!

-d
 
Deker, it's not that rosewood doesn't need stabilizing, it just won't take it well. Some rosewoods are so open grained that I wish they could be stabilized.
It's too full of oils and the stabilizing medium won't penetrate very far and it can make it leak oils for months or years afterwards.

Lignum Vitae is another one, as it one of the Western Australian woods whose name escapes me now. Glauca I think.:confused:
 
Mike Hull said:
Deker, it's not that rosewood doeesn't need stabilizing, it just won't take it well. Some rosewoods are so open grained that I wish they could be stabilized.
It's too full of oils and the stabilizing medium won't penetrate very far and it can make it leak oils for months or years afterwards.
Click to expand...

Hrmmm...I haven't seen anything even close to that from this piece yet. I'll keep it around and see what happens...

-d
 
I didn't say it would do that without fail, I said it could leak oil.
Saw it in half and see how far it was penetrated by the stabilizing medium you used.
I'd be curious.:confused:
 
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