Stabilize after construction?

C

cjensema

Joined
Dec 29, 1998
Messages
288
This may be a dumb question, but does anyone stabilize wood knife handles AFTER making the knife?

I was thinking it would be easier to work the wood before it was stabilized.
 
stabalizing changes the dimensions slightly. it wouldn't look good. stabalized wood is still easy to work, i think it will clog up sandpaper more though, becuase of the stabalants.
 
I've worked a little with stablized wood and know that stablizing changes the dimensions slightly. If a person stablized a handle that was already on a knife, some additional finishing work would be needed.

I'm just curious about whether anyone has ever tried stablizing wood after it was on a knife. Would it harm the epoxy bond? Is it possible to do a partial stablize and just give the knife handle a hard shell?
 
I see a few problems here although none are insurmountable. As mentioned, there are dimensional changes and not all are just swelling. I had some australian lacewood that actually took on a slope! I suppose if you started enough oversize, that wouldn't be a problem. I don't know if it would affect the epoxy, but if it did, you could just redo the joint.

One of the major problems would be cost. The stabilizing companies charge by weight of the finished project. You'd be paying for the steel too.

If you search the archives, you'll find some discussions of using thin epoxy or superglue as a finish. This would give the 'hard shell' you were seeking.



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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives
 
i wouldn't even bother with stabalizing after putting it together. stabalizing won't make it to much harder to work. it'll probably be about as hard as working an oily exotic wood.
 
Most stabilizing involves the use of an agent, usually a solvent, to thin the stabilizing material used. I would think that the solvent would release the epoxy bond while under a vacuum.

Charles
ckknives
 
this may be a dumb answer...but saturating wood with super glue would probably stabilize it pretty well....wood expands and contracts due to the flucuations of the humidity in the air.....and the superglue would stop the transfer by sealing all the pores....

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
Leonard,
Help us out on where you obtained the "real" stabilizing fluid, and what it is. I'm sure everyone on the forrum would love to know.
Thanks, Mike
 
The stabilant is one of the Loctite Resinols, which one escapes me now, that they use for vacuum impregnation of metals. I got with one of their industrial reps, through my real job, and he got me a small sample. I didn't want anyone to go out and buy some and then it not work for them. It is pretty expensive, about $100/gal. When I get some more free time , I will stabilize some various wood scraps with it and if anyone wants, I will send them a piece to look at, grind, drill or whatever. No sense in all of us spending alot of money just to see if it works well.
 
First, thanks to all who let me know my email was down. My ISPs mail server has been down 5 days and is (at least for the time being) back up and running.

as to the 'real' stabilant, $100 per gallon is significantly more expensive than what the professionals use. Still, it would be nice to be able to buy 1 gallon instead of 50.



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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives
 
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