Walnut Root for handle?

[Nsewell]

Are walnut roots good for handle blocks? I have 2 stumps to saw up. The trees were cut around 99 or 00, but we pushed the stumps over this week and most of it is still solid. Im thinking about cutting some up and sending to k&g for stabilizing. Any advice?​

 

[tim37a]

What do the roots look like? Good grain?

 

[scott.livesey]

cut a hunk and see what you have. should work ok without stabilize. just finish in a good finishing oil

 

[Nsewell]

http://imgur.com/7QyqaOX it looks good to me

 

[Nsewell]

 

[Nsewell]

I finally learned how to post pics!!

 

[12345678910]

If they were still in the ground, I'd say they are too wet.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

You do want it below 10% humidity. ——But the root can be a dense solid piece for a handle... I’ve bought Hawaiian Koa wood Root blocks. They worked great and had some wild pattern. —-//—/////

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I like root burl.
You need to slowly dry it to less than 10% internal moisture ( not 10% humidity as was stated), and have it stabilized. The cracks and lines are sometimes very spectacular. Cracks will fill to some degree with the stabilizing, and can be filled more with dyed thin epoxy resin like clear coat. A simle vacuum chamber helps get it down in the cracks completely.

 

[Daado]

I like to work with walnut root. Last stump i dug out of the ground was the size of JCB Backhoe front bucket
Not all of it was usable, but i got a bunch of great looking pieces.

 

[Nsewell]

So I need to saw it in to smaller chunks, paint the ends and wait?

 

[Raymond Richard]

Here's a photo of a knife that I used walnut root burl as a handle several years ago. http://bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=88477&photo=5&size=b Can't remember for sure but most likely I let it soak a while in a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. Not sure how long the while was. It also takes a while to dry out.....

 

[Russ Andrews]

40+ years ago, I would go to construction sites with an axe and a crosscut saw, and cut up black
walnut root balls for the highly figured/multi-colored wood for knife handles.
A lot was lost to air checking, but id did yield some very attractive pieces.....

 

[Mahoney]

Cut carefully, it is quite possible for small rocks to end up in root balls