stability of mahogany

[dms p.a.w.]

I make most of my knives with dymondwood,but I have decided to try and use some natural wood for my next three or four knives. I like the dymondwood because it is hard and stable,it is also easy to sand at equal angles on both sides because of the alter-net dyeing of the layers. A friend of mine gave me a large chunk of mahogany he had left over from building his t.v. stand, and I was wondering if I had to get it stabilized before I could use it. It is a beautiful piece of burl with grain running in both directions.

 

[Phillip Patton]

Mahogany is not very hard, so I would want it stabilized for that reason. It is pretty stable though.

How big is the chunk? Do you have pictures?

 

[dms p.a.w.]

the chunck was 13"x6" but I have already cut it into scales. no pictures yet I'll work on that. So you don't think that it would work for a medium use fighter w/o stabilizing? What would you recommend as far as good hard stable wood? I want to do everything myself and not send anything out for someone else to do.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Use it as is, and after the scales are sanded to about 90% finished, flood with thin CA glue repeatedly until no more will absorb. Let dry for an hour or two, and sand down to 95% finished.... and flood again. This should completely seal the mahogany, harden it a lot, accentuate the grain pattern, and stabilize it nearly completely. When finish sanded to a fine grit it will shine like glass and show all the beauty of the wood.

Get your CA in half pint or pint bottles with the long thin tube tips at a woodworking supply company like Woodcraft. It is a lot ch

 

[dms p.a.w.]

thanks that is exactly what I needed to hear. I have already pined one set of scales to a knife. I should have waited until I asked the question.