Stabilized Wood – Fact vs Fiction

mete said:
Kiln drying is an art and science . There are many who wanted to make a rifle stock [2 - 2 1/2" thick] and send it off to the nearest kiln for drying .Well if the kiln people throw the 2 1/2" walnut into the kiln that's doing a 1" pine schedule - you will have problems !! .....In the old days some woods were given special treatment. Apple for example would be submerged in a pond for 2 or 3 years ,then air dried.Other things happen to wood also. I was cleaning out the garage and rediscovered a piece of fairly dark white oak 2'x6'x2" .I decided to make a seat for a settee. The wood had been there for about 40 years ! It had oxidized to the most beautiful mocha color .No one will belive me that it wasn't stained !!
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water.. some of the kilns use steam to displace the sap and the water will
dry out faster.
on another note some of the most expensive woods known to man is wood that has been under water for many many years. yellow birch was one of them,
My dad use to dive for it. the old logging rivers harbored a lot of this treasure..
it did something special to it..I can't remember the prices for it was/is staggering.. to get any of it now..
 
Kit Carson said:
Sometimes these old threads make as much sense now as they did then. Some good info in this one.

The only way I'll do a full exposed tang knife is with screws. May be tacky but letting the wood float works for me.

I love the wood from those Micarta and carbon fiber trees. ;)
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I do like Bruce mentioned round off the sharp edges not all the time but
on the ones that I feel that will move,,that's one reason I like the relived scales .. :D
 
This has been interesting reading.
About cutting scales to exact fit, then stabilizing..
I usually wouldn't do it, as there is some more drying that will occur when wood is cut to size, plus, if the wood is figured, the reaction wood (curly or bent fibers) will move when the wood on the outside of it is removed.
If you can cut them to fit, and dry them, and there is still a good fit, then it will work to stabilize at that time.
I'd rather leave a little bit extra wood thickness, stabilize, then do a final fit.

Howie
 
Properly dried wood restrained on a full tang with a bonding layer of, say, Acra Glas, and some hidden pins that are well anchored should and seems to lock the brakes on the wood moving if the wood is stabilized or properly sealed. My knife handles haven't shown any movement, and I have done a lot of combination handles, too. Most of my knives, and all of my older knives are wood handles and still fit properly on the tangs. That Osage handled knife I made, the one that rolled around in the open bed of that pickup truck for a year, was sealed with polyurethene, not the water based easy dry, and of good quality. The handle was a hidden tang and 'glassed in. The knife also had antler, 99.99% silver, and some brass spacers. The handle was all 'glassed together with some hidden linear pins. The clunker looking ugly block was somewhat oversized and well dried before I ground it to the desired profile. The oil based poly finish penetrated good on even wood hard as Osage, usually to about 1/8" depth, on an average. The finish took quite a while to dry, but the wood was really sealed. None of the spacers separated or moved, either. The antler had to draw moisture, but everything held in place. Maybe the construction of our wood handles has a lot to do with someone's wood moving. Perhaps it's not really the wood's failure that's causing the movement, nor actually varied moisture being the real culprit, either. A properly dried piece of wood solidly anchored, and the entire wood tang surface locked to the tang, should eliminate 99% of the problems. My theory works for me, my handles haven't been moving or bucking.
 
The wood that gets top prices here in NZ is swamp kauri. some has been soaking in peat swamps for upwards of a millennia. looks just grand :) dang expensive too...
 
This is still a good thread!

The handle material that I shy away from is water buffalo horn. Living on the Gulf Coast, we have swings in temperature and humidity that are unbelievable.

I have made knives with handles of water buffalo in the past and it is just incredible how much it moves.

Craig
 
Kiwi303 said:
The wood that gets top prices here in NZ is swamp kauri. some has been soaking in peat swamps for upwards of a millennia. looks just grand :) dang expensive too...
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Got any pics? I have no idea what this wood looks like.

Roger
 
Dan Gray said:
water.. some of the kilns use steam to displace the sap and the water will
dry out faster.
on another note some of the most expensive woods known to man is wood that has been under water for many many years. yellow birch was one of them,
My dad use to dive for it. the old logging rivers harbored a lot of this treasure..
it did something special to it..I can't remember the prices for it was/is staggering.. to get any of it now..
Click to expand...

As to the water displacement, this is a trick that people that do green turnings on a lathe to help prevent splitting and cut down on drying time. They turn a bowl rough, and boil it for a time, then wrap it with several layers of brown paper and allow it to dry. Takes about a 3rd the time I believe, and from what I hear they have alot less damaged pieces.

Some of that water-reclaimed lumber is gorgeous, they're doing alot of that in the Great Lakes I believe. I saw an article with a curly maple guitar that was made from reclaimed timber, absolutely gorgeous. With, like you said, a price to match.

-MJ
 
Heres some clippings and links from different sites with kauri on them.
best%20fiddleback%20Kauri%20%205%20%20no1block.JPG


google for "Swamp Kauri"
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ElkSkinner%20knife%20handle%203.JPG


Fiddleback grained kauri knife handle - we can supply blanks suitable for you to make knife handles.
(This knife was crafted by Keith Lisle, Alabama, USA using our kauri swamp test age 3860 years buried) see www.custommuzzleloaders.com or www.customflintlocks.com

clip from http://www.thewoodturnersstudio.co.nz/pages/KauriSales.htm they sell planks and blanks to turm pens and make tables out of. anyone want 6"x2"x3m of kauri?
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Kauri%2DChainsaw.jpg


http://www.daviesfurniture.co.nz/index.cfm/Products/Ancient_Swamp_Kauri
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http://www.aotearoa.co.nz/onegoodturn/gallery.htm

cu_warrior.jpg
 
yes that was one of the shows on TV was about the guy had a gold mind in back of his house and didn't know it. I think it was the Great Lakes...
.I think he was into treasure hunting or something..
 
Kiwi303 said:
anyone want 6"x2"x3m of kauri?
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If it has figure like what you've been showing, yes, I'm interested! Email me!
 
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