Stabilizing cypress

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sharkeater

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Mar 30, 2024
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I’m a new knife maker and have been asked by an old army teammate to make a few small waterfowl themed knives with cypress handles to give clients. His side hustle is guiding waterfowl hunts in NC. His company name is Cypress Arrows Outdoors. From research I know cypress is NOT ideal for a knife handles due to gluing issues from cypress sap. Any recommendations for stabilizing? I have a vacuum and pressure kit which works decent enough with other woods. In my simple mind, dry to as close to 0% as possible. Run them through stabilization processes with water (or any recommended solution) and drying multiple times to wash out as much sap and sap residue as possible. Yes, sounds like a whole lot of work for a questionable wood. Thoughts? Recommendations?
 
You already know that its not a good idea to use it as a handle material.

Maybe instead of doing that, you could engrave his company logo on the box (made from cypress wood), handle or etch the blade with it.

Cypress wood is soft, doesn't have any figure and it is full of sap.

If you really need to do it, I would soak it in some strong solvent before stabilizing, but I don't think it's worth the trouble for a mediocre outcome.
 
It would need to be fully dry and stabilized by someone like K&G. Call them and talk to the stabilization guy (I forget his name).
 
Thanks for all your recommendations. I guess I need to speak to the experts at K&G. Should have thought of that myself but was hoping someone had found a workaround. Not worth the extra cost in my opinion but you know is hardheaded Army guys. I’ll build him a knife with cypress just to watch it warp 🤣.
 
You know, you could inlay a small section of stabilized cypress, so the inlay is below the surface, laser engraved his logo on it, then use clear, deep pour epoxy to fill in the space.
It would make the cypress visible, but keep it safer from the knot head Army guys. For a little while at least... Ain't nothin' GI proof.
 
A.McPherson said:
You know, you could inlay a small section of stabilized cypress, so the inlay is below the surface, laser engraved his logo on it, then use clear, deep pour epoxy to fill in the space.
It would make the cypress visible, but keep it safer from the knot head Army guys. For a little while at least... Ain't nothin' GI proof.
Click to expand...
Nice creative thinking, sir! 👍
 
I have some 50,000 + year old ancient cypress. It was carbon dated at University of Georgia. I sent it to K&G and they did a fantastic job on it, using a very slight amount of brown dye in the acrylic resin. It was located in a sand pit at over 80 feet deep.

It showed zero decay and was light as a feather….dried down perfect prior to stabilizing. Like others have said, it’s a softwood and not too desirable as a knife handle subjected to hard use. The stabilization toughened it up a bit, but I only use it for display knives or ones that will see minimal use. I very rarely use it because of that fact. Just for “lookin at” .
 
You def sparked my curiosity. I would love to see pictures of 50K year old wood, especially as a knife handle.

K&G seems to be everyone’s go to for tough jobs. I’ll give them a call.
 
Brad from K&G has stabilized some cypress burl for me in the past. They are the best in the biz as far as I’m concerned. It did alright. It needs to be drier than some of the other woods before stabilizing because of the sap content. Expect it to “weep” a little bit after stabilization.

I like to let my materials sit for a couple weeks to a few months before I start processing them after stabilization.
 
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sharkeater said:
You def sparked my curiosity. I would love to see pictures of 50K year old wood, especially as a knife handle.

K&G seems to be everyone’s go to for tough jobs. I’ll give them a call.
Click to expand...
I’ll post some pics as soon as possible for you.
 
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