stabilize or not? please help

joe9knives

joe9knives

Joined
Sep 12, 2006
Messages
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I am a newby knife maker\attempter. I have made a few slip joint folders. I have been using micarta on the few i've made. I picked up some untreated ziricote and birdseye maple today. would either of these work ok without being stabilized. I did a search and the results were mixed. I will greatly appreciate any and all help. p.s. what should i use as an outer coat?
 
IMHO, the ziricote shouldn't need stabilizing and might not take it well. Maple is frequently used both stabilized and unstabilized. Burl is frequently stabilized but the beautiful silver wire inlay curly maple handles have to be unstabilized and are quite durable. I'm not sure where birdseye fits in.
 
I greatly prefer stabilized materials--especially if they're going to be thin and going into a pocket.

It's kind of a strange combination of environments a pocket knife must endure, and those thin scales can sometimes pull away (I've even had them do that a little with stabilized material.)

On the other hand, you're talking about slipjoints which tend to be smaller scales and well-pinned, so stabilizing probably isn't as important as it would be if you were doing a large linerlock with three 2-56 screws holding the scales on.

Generally the rule is that the prettier, more figured the wood, the more potential for trouble.
 
I would definitely stabilize the maple & probably the ziricoti as well. I have never regretted stabilizing, (unless its green--warps like crazy) Joe
 
joe9knives said:
would this be suitable for these woods?
Click to expand...
Some guys swear by the stuff and it's probably better than nothing. Pro stabilizing isn't all that expensive, so I think it's most efficient to send it out, but that's just me.

If I was going to do stabilizing, it would have to be the real thing (Resinol, etc). Don't like the idea of half-measures--especially when pro stabilizing isn't all that expensive. I don't like handling noxious chemicals, so I've avoided adding this particular capability to my shop.
 
I just got about 20 lbs of stabilized wood back from K&G. Picked them after J. Neilson and Mike Spangler recommended them highly. They did a great job. I'll happly use them again.
 
thanks guys. i just attended the okc knife show. i picked up k&g stabilized wood from Ray Kirk. he was very helpful and priced reasonably.
 
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