Stabilizinig Wood - Amboyna

[Laredo7mm]

Howdy all, I have been working on my next x-mas gift. Got the cable bowie done and my buddy loved it. Now I am working on a small (4 inch blade) hunter/skinner for my Grandpa. It kinda lookes like the Schrade Sharp Finger knife. Anyway it is 153 layers of c1095 and 15N20 with a single star twist pattern.

I have some incredable Amboyna Burl that I am going to use for the handle scales, but I do not know if they need to be stabilized or not.

Should I stabilze amboyna or just seal it after the knife scales are done?

If I stabilize it what do I use for the stabilizing solution?

How do I stabilize if if I do not have a vacuum pump? Can I heat up the solution in a canning jar, put the scales in the jar when hot, seal the lid and let it cool down? Will that cause enough of a vacuum?

Let me know what you all think.

 

[Reg ELLERY]

I have not done this myself but a friend of mine uses a metal container with a sealing lid. The lid had a thread fitted to the lid.

He heats it up with the lid clamped in place with the screw out of the theaded hole once he turns the heat of he replaces the screw and as the solution cools the vacum builds up. I saw it about 9 years ago I think it was a millitary amunition container with a flat lid that clamped at one end. He used poly ethylene glycol or similar name/spelling. I have some but have not used it yet. One time I saw turned the outer edge of the wood a bit grey.

 

[blackboogers]

Go buy some acetone and Minwax Wood Hardener. Go for a 3 to 1 ratio (3 hardener to 1 acetone). Mix in a mason jar (what I use). Cut to amount of wood you are going to use and place in the jar, use weights to hold down wood. I know people use vacuums to help pull the stuff into the wood but it will penetrate at least 1/4 inch or more. The wood you speak of is dense and oily. I think with that choice of wood if you finish it properly you don't need to stabilize it. I use the minwax for woods like maple and the like.

 

[mooser1111]

I think personally that way too many folks think stabilizing is the "cure all" for wood handles, remember, people have been building wooden handled knives for centuries without this process with excellent results in both looks & longevity.....this amboyna handle was sanded with a random-orbit to 320 grit, one coat of clear Danish oil and then buffed once with white compound....amboyna, as well as snakewood & ironwood, produce excellent results without stabilization.....my .02

 

[Mike Hull]

Stabilizing is great for making beautifully grained, but soft woods, suitable for handle material. It is also great for making a good thing better, with hardwoods, but it is not necessary on all woods.

 

[blackboogers]

You know I'm glad some other people feel the same as I do about this subject. If you watch the Antique Road show you will see tables from the 1700's that look great because they were maintained by the people who owned them. I have 2 butcher knives from Cold Steel with oak or beech handles that go into the dishwasher every other day and the wood has never hinted of cracking and they are over 5 years old. Obviously softer woods can stablilized. But I would be a liar if I said I stabilized all my knives made with curly maple. I sanded them well and put 10 to 15 coats of tung oil. I feel they will hold up fine with proper maintance. You leave you knife in the backyard a couple of days and yes maybe the wood will split. Maybe.

 

[E.V.Chavar]

I have to agree with the others. I do use quite a bit of stabilized wood, but only when it is really needed or when I find a particularly nice piece that is already treated. Most of the
tropical woods that I use on my knives either cannot be or do not need to be stabilized. I have used quite a bit of the wood that you mentioned and only treated it by using danish oil. Some of these knives have been around for quite some time and have been used hard with no problems at all. Ed Chavar