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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Two For Tuesday
- Thread starter Mistwalker
- Start date
Bill510c
Platinum Member
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- Aug 5, 2011
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- 1,169
LOL. In this context we are safe. Thanks man, I definitely am glad I snagged that one.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
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Kepharts.
Holy smackers! Those two look nice together!
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
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- 844
A little early....but here're my wenge bros.
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
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- 844
Thanks Will. After giving it some lovin in the woods this past weekend, I must say the handle on the old school woodsman is one of my favorites of all time...possibly the best for a ~ 5" blade knife. Paired with the SP, nothing much I can't do.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2013
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- 914
I've never held any, but I've got a soft spot for how wenge looks. I really hope to get ahold of one sometime.
Michael
Michael
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2012
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- 2,921
A little early....but here're my wenge bros.
Great Duo! Anyone know the properties of Wenge? How it holds up to shrinkage and such?
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
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- 844
Thanks Nathan!
I'm pretty new to wenge handles myself so certainly not the one to speak, but looking at the woodsman, it seems to be pretty stable. The knife I believe was bought by the original owner in 2011, and when I got it last week, the handle was in excellent condition. The surface of the handle was still flush with the pins and liners (I did sand it down very lightly on 2000 grit sandpaper, but that's cause I was playing around). Of course how the scales were prep'd by the supplier and/or Andy probably has a lot to do with it as well (not sure whether they're stabilized?....).
One lame anecdote related to it is I have a BRKT Aurora (my very first "expensive" knife bought back in 2011), that's actually one of my all time favorite bushcraft knives, with osage orange handles on it. The only issue I have with it is within 6 months of the purchase, I noticed a shrinkage in the scales where they were no longer flush with the steel. According to the wood database, the volumetric shrinkage of an osage orange is 9.1% (vs. 12.9% for wenge). Yet the osage orange shrunk and the wenge of my woodsman seems to have been fine during its 3 years of existence. Of course the shrinkage percentage is a measurement of "green to ovendry," so perhaps not 100% relevant data point as I'd assume the shrinkage isn't linear throughout the shrinkage period (I'm just making up terms now). All this to essentially say that I think the prep work on the wood, and how its "joined" with the knife has a major effect on the stability on the wooden scales.
One additional thought on the wenge handles is that I found it to be a bit more grippy than some of the other wood handles that I have. My initial guess is that the grain structure and how they're oriented along the length of the handles have something to do with it. I have another Sneaky Pete in Maple burl, and my sneaky in Wenge certainly feels grippier....
I'm pretty new to wenge handles myself so certainly not the one to speak, but looking at the woodsman, it seems to be pretty stable. The knife I believe was bought by the original owner in 2011, and when I got it last week, the handle was in excellent condition. The surface of the handle was still flush with the pins and liners (I did sand it down very lightly on 2000 grit sandpaper, but that's cause I was playing around). Of course how the scales were prep'd by the supplier and/or Andy probably has a lot to do with it as well (not sure whether they're stabilized?....).
One lame anecdote related to it is I have a BRKT Aurora (my very first "expensive" knife bought back in 2011), that's actually one of my all time favorite bushcraft knives, with osage orange handles on it. The only issue I have with it is within 6 months of the purchase, I noticed a shrinkage in the scales where they were no longer flush with the steel. According to the wood database, the volumetric shrinkage of an osage orange is 9.1% (vs. 12.9% for wenge). Yet the osage orange shrunk and the wenge of my woodsman seems to have been fine during its 3 years of existence. Of course the shrinkage percentage is a measurement of "green to ovendry," so perhaps not 100% relevant data point as I'd assume the shrinkage isn't linear throughout the shrinkage period (I'm just making up terms now
). All this to essentially say that I think the prep work on the wood, and how its "joined" with the knife has a major effect on the stability on the wooden scales.One additional thought on the wenge handles is that I found it to be a bit more grippy than some of the other wood handles that I have. My initial guess is that the grain structure and how they're oriented along the length of the handles have something to do with it. I have another Sneaky Pete in Maple burl, and my sneaky in Wenge certainly feels grippier....
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- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
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- 1,731
I believe wenge is natural; not stabilized. It's porous compared to other woods Andy uses, so that probably explains the grippiness. See this older thread for discussion on it: Is my Wenge cracked or is this normal?.
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
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- 844
Yeah thanks man, that's a better term for it. It almost feels like there are alternative bumps across the handle, and combined with the old school thicker handles, my relatively bigger paws are in heaven with it.
Ken's input at the end probably says it all
Ken's input at the end probably says it all
