What is wrong with this wood? I like it but.....

I tryed tricking out your pic of the wood,is this better?
 

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I have some redgum with incredible figure,its been cut and dried for 22 years now and it still moves.The problem is that it is so porous it gives off moisture when hot and sucks it back up when humid.Don't give up on it though once sealed with oils or waxes or stabilised it is a beautiful hard wearing wood.The black lumpy bits in the burl described above are bits of sap that unfortunately are found in most gums and are the biggest reason that it isn't used in furnature more.We in Australia don't minde this, it adds to the rustic charactor.We also have some redgum that has been submerged in water and silt that turnes black like ebone after a couple of hundred years.It's not quite fosilised and works like normal wood,some you can even see the figure still.The tricked out photo is close to the colour of redgum,maby a little pinker would be closer but not bad. Cheers. Adam.
 
One reason you may not be selling much is that, in my experience at least, knife buyers prefer darker wood. In fact, I don't think I've sold any knife with wood lighter than walnut, with the exception of osage orange.

Does this stuff take dye very well?
 
The tricked out photo is a bit too orange but shows the figure like RL.

I am not sure how it would take a dye as Phillip Patton asked. The colors in the different pieces will vary from pink to almost purple. I haven't come across many gum pockets buy have some sections with inverted pins. Instead of a pin or point poking out from a burl, there are pins going into the trunk from the bark. Creates darker bullseyes when cut flat sawn.

I am at my wife's computer looking at her journal I made right now. It is closer to 1/8 inch thick and both covers still flat. If that is an example how this stuff moves after it is dry, I'm ok with that. Any dry unfinished wood will absorb and release moisture as the surrounding conditions change. This causes the wood to expand and contract. A reasonable finish on dry wood will seal out most of that moisture level fluctuation.
 
Phillip Patton said:
One reason you may not be selling much is that, in my experience at least, knife buyers prefer darker wood. In fact, I don't think I've sold any knife with wood lighter than walnut, with the exception of osage orange.

Does this stuff take dye very well?
Click to expand...

Phillip,
Your knives look great no matter what. Even if you used light color handles. I ran a thread in the custom knives section asking the collectors what they liked best for handle woods. With iron wood they asked for the light colors.

Parker Knives said that in AU they get ebonized Eucalyptus kind of like bog oak does. I think I will try dying some. The wood has a good closed grain with pores you can barely see. Even the end grain can look real cool.

I am not going to give up on this stuff because I think it is one of the cooler woods I come across. Not bold like buckeye but more conservative yet cool. Kind of like the difference between tie dye and watered silk. Both have their place.
 
I sent you the shipping payment,
Thanks again!!

Can the scales be stabalized or will they warp?
otherwise I think rubbing minwax would really help with the moisture getting into the wood!

I like doing gun stocks in 6 coats of marine grade spar varnish, do you think that would be good on this wood?
 
mark if you have some left, i have a knife that needs a handle, but i dont have any scales, if you could cut a block into scales, id take some!
 
bigern26 said:
I sent you the shipping payment,
Thanks again!!

Can the scales be stabalized or will they warp?
otherwise I think rubbing minwax would really help with the moisture getting into the wood!

I like doing gun stocks in 6 coats of marine grade spar varnish, do you think that would be good on this wood?
Click to expand...


The way I finished the covers for my wife's journal was a few coats of oil to bring out the colors and figure. I followed that with a few coats of aerosol spray lacquer. After a year of being carried inside and out the wood has not moved. I think the big thing is a good sealed finish.

I have several sets of scales already cut so anyone who prefers scales just let me know.
 
Burl Source said:
The way I finished the covers for my wife's journal was a few coats of oil to bring out the colors and figure. I followed that with a few coats of aerosol spray lacquer. After a year of being carried inside and out the wood has not moved. I think the big thing is a good sealed finish.

I have several sets of scales already cut so anyone who prefers scales just let me know.
Click to expand...

whats the address? ill send 5 dollars
 
Hey Mark, paypal sent. As I clicked the send button I realized I'm retarded and typed my address wrong :grumpy: anyway, in the notes section I requested scales and I have my correct address there. It's #95 not #05... Sorry 'bout that!
 
Today I mailed:
Scales to AMCardon
Scales to Therron Shaw
Scales to bigern26
Blocks to G Shahan

I hope you guys like it.
 
Burl Source said:
Today I mailed:
Scales to AMCardon
Scales to Therron Shaw
Scales to bigern26
Blocks to G Shahan

I hope you guys like it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I really look forward to working with it, It will be nice to help you out with providing pictures, I just hope the knife I put them on (my First) is good enough for the scales!!:eek:
 
Burl Source, I think you have spoilt them with all the other highly figured stuff you sell.

Richard
 
Her in SoCal all types of Eucs were used for windbreaks. Excellent firewood.

I rehandled a knife using some red gum, major problem is it wants to crack in the slightest change of moisture/humidity.

If you can get it stabilized a handle using heart wood (red) with some outer (white) wood would be awsome.
 
I got wood today! Looks great, can't wait to get her on some steel! Thanks again, Mark!
 
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