Walnut- stabilize or not? Opinions please

D

DukeHarley

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Apr 11, 2014
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Ok first let me say I've searched and seen where walnut benefits and probably should be stabilized. Now I have sent 2 batches of walnut to K&G for stabilizing. Both batches have come back less than expected and I've seen where others have stated the same results. The walnut I've gotten back has had the grayish hue and washed out appearance to it after stabilizing that others have talked about.

What are some other options to stabilizing can I use for a finish that will protect the wood and help show off the natural colors and figure? Or should I send it to K&G anyways and just deal with it?

How do some of you other makers handle this issue with Walnut. Also let me say I don't think it's an issue with K&Gs process it believe it's an issue with walnut as every other block of wood I've ever sent K&G has beat my expectations.

Jay
 
Have you finished a knife with the walnut you had done? Wood often looks very different on the outside after stabilizing than it does inside. Polishing the wood also changes the look a lot. Stabilized koa can look rather blah before it is polished. Other woods go from a plain hazy look to deep 3-D lustre upon buffing.
 
Stacy, yes I have and it looks that way all the way through. It basically ruined the looks of my walnut. I saw the the thread Greenberg started on here about stabilized woods and he expressed the same as I have experienced with it. Walnut is the only wood I've found to do this so far.

Just wondering what other options were before I send this awesome piece of walnut out. He mentioned and alternative process that stock makers use but I've not researched it yet.

Jay
 
There are a number of woods that should not be stabilized for a number of reasons .. A comment here about walnut. Black walnut grows in many areas under many conditions. Density especially is variable and the less dense the wood the more stabilizing helps .
Wood dealers here on the forum would give you a good idea of the problems.
 
I've used and sold tons of Black Walnut from here in Missouri. Had K&G stabilize a bunch with no issues. Have also used boiled linseed oil to finish with no issues.

If stabilizing isn't working for you, finish with your choice of wood finish. It does not need to be stabilized.

I'd post a few pics, but they are all locked up on photobucket right now.
 
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Maybe my head is in the sand but I have used lots of walnut without stabilizing and with good results. I am careful to be sure it is well aged (dry) and I finish it with Tru Oil and then some furniture paste wax. And no customer has yet reported an issue with their handle.
 
I use walnut for kitchen knives and finish them with polyurethane. As said, the local walnut we get here in central NC is going to be different that what you get in Michigan
 
A lot of people who insist that walnut has to be stabilized have walnut gunstocks in their closets that they take out in all kinds of weather. Ever heard of a stabilized walnut gunstock? Well, maybe... but if you test a walnut knife handle in your kitchen, you'll probably find that it's quite stable.
Stabilizing is often an aesthetic choice, though- it's simple to get that shiny finish, but most knives that are used a lot are better without a shiny finish anyway.
 
A gunstock is a poor comparison, considering laminate and composite stocks became popular almost entirely due to being more stable in varying conditions than wood stocks, and very few guns, have metal and wood finished together in single planes that are immediately obvious to the user when the wood swells or contracts past the steel.

Who here has "insisted" walnut, or any straight grained hardwood be stabilized? Sweeping generalizations like that are silly. Like if I said, "People only avoid stabilizing because they're too cheap to do it." But I know there's a case for both stabilizing and not.

Personally I prefer all wood to be stabilized on full tang knives since it becomes immediately apparent when the wood moves from the tang. I'm more likely to use unstabilized wood on a hidden tang knife.
 
I just mentioned gun stocks because there's many a unstabilized stocks out there that hold up quite well and yet have a beautiful finish. That was the only comparison I was referring to.......the finish only not the durability.
 
I also just remembered Greenberg talking about a similar problem as I have experienced with walnut in his thread about various woods and stabilizing. You can't see this issue I'm referring to in photos otherwise I'd post pics.
 
Hey Duke.

Walnut is but or miss. My finding is that all bit the French walnut will be stabilized. The French walnut fails on a level on par with cocobolo.

Most other walnut will stabilized to some degree. But you guys found the issue. Black walnut from Michigan is not claro from California. Weather, water, stresses and species all play a part in the grain, oil content and hardness of walnut. And all if those factors effect the stabilizing process.

My experience is that black walnut is less cooperative than other domestic walnuts, and claro has always stabilized with no issues.
 
I have had K&G stabilize some black walnut ,claro walnut and bastogne walnut and have been happy with it all. That said I like walnut with an oil finish.
 
Don is the dean of black walnut, love the look of these below... were these stabilized or oil finished only?

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Milkbaby, I'm pretty sure the top three are stabilized by K&G, but the bottom one is just linseed oil. That said, I finished all of them with linseed oil even the stabilized ones. Thanks for posting this photo.
 
DukeHarley said:
I just mentioned gun stocks because there's many a unstabilized stocks out there that hold up quite well and yet have a beautiful finish. That was the only comparison I was referring to.......the finish only not the durability.
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I've used unstabilized walnut with success, but only on one early knife. I will say the comparison to gun stocks doesn't really hold up in the context of knife handles. If finish was the only consideration, I don't think stabilizing would be worth it. However, for reducing swelling and movement, you only need to look at the practice of pillar bedding/glass bedding/ free floating in rifles. The purpose of these is to reduce contact of the rifle barrel with the wood stock to reduce among other things, variables introduced when the wood moves. (also to lesson the impact of harmonic vibrations, heat, etc when firing, but that's a whole other discussion). The amount of movement may not be a problem from an appearance standpoint on a rifle, but at a scale/ tang junction on a knife, it takes very little movement to be noticeable.
 
I have had Claro, and crotch walnut stabilized by WSSI and K&G with great results. Some of the plainer stuff did get a rolling chatoyancy that I did not consider a drawback.
 
The trick with unstabilized walnut is the finish. A good BLO finish is the MINIMUM you should use IMO. Also remember that glass bedding is a fairly recent technique.;)
 
jdm61 said:
The trick with unstabilized walnut is the finish. A good BLO finish is the MINIMUM you should use IMO. Also remember that glass bedding is a fairly recent technique.;)
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In the history of firearms, yes. In the history of MOA or less firearms, less so.
 
I guess I'm gonna roll the dice and send this black walnut out to K&G and hope if comes out differently than my past walnut has.
 
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