What wood is this?

[Bill Bryant]

I've had this piece of wood for years and have long since forgotten where I got it or what it is. I would've either gotten it from an on-line knife supply, which is most likely, or, at a gun & knife show. It was 2x5 inch scales. I've looked at it for years and never thought it would look good on a hunting knife. I made a kitchen knife recently and it looks very nice on that.

http://imgur.com/GoX9cna

 

[William Schrade]

Leopard wood.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

Lace wood. Leopard wood has a darker redish color and a fair amount heavier and stronger. Lacewood has a slightly wavier grain and a more golden oak like color

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A lot of woods get the name "Lace Wood". Others are similar to actual lace wood but have darker or redder coloring. The effect can be seen on macadamia, leopard wood, afzelia, she-oak, silky-oak, sycamore, and many of the tropical and Australian woods.

Most true (South American) lace wood has large light color flecks and rays, with tan regular wood background - so that would be my guess on your wood.

Lace wood is soft and not very durable. It should be stabilized. Stabilizing will darken the wood to a more tan color.

Lace wood dyes and stabilizes very well. I dye it brown and stabilize it for fillet knife handles. It sort of looks like scales on a fish. Black looked surprisingly good, too.
The two wood types absorb the dye to different degrees, and accentuate the pattern.

Due to the difference in hardness of the two structures, certain buffing techniques may add "topography" to the pattern, making a slightly grippy effect.