What's your most favorite wood that H.I. uses??

Yvsa

Yvsa

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May 18, 1999
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Well here goes. Spark said with the new software there should be different results.
Let's hope I don't break the forum with this software.
And if it should happen then I will get really serious about the computer Bro and e-mail will be on it's way to you asap.:D

But back to the title topic and with the advent of Woodchuckitis that some of us are experienceing......
It pretty well says it all and I realize that not too many of us are familiar with the woods and especially ones we might consider exotic from Nepal.

My ALL Time Favorite is the Rosewood we used to get on our khukuri handle's!!!!!!!:D
Even the plainest Rosewood had beautiful color and the grain patterns were all different enough to be exotic.

The common Saatisal ,did I spell that right?,I guess would be my 2nd favorite and can also have some beautiful grain patterns as well, with an occasional piece being very nicely figured, and the plainest having unique colors of brown, gold and sometimes specks of black in it even with the factory finish.
No telling what Walosi's finish would bring out in extra depth and color!!!!

And that's the two that I'm most familiar with and I believe all my wood handles are one or the other.
I don't recall if any of the Chandan ie Sandlewood handles made it to any of the guys here but I had one here that had beautiful grain and the lovliest smell.
Pala loved burning it for the Sweet Scented Smoke it put off.:D

ANd I don't know if Cocobolo is available to the kamis, but that is one wood, like the Rosewood, that I would gladly pay extra for.
I have a small 5 1/2" drop point hunter made by my buddy Ray Kirk that has a Cocobolo handle with a larger curly grain at the butt that's getting Walosi's treatment and although it was pretty before there are nuances of grain and color popping out that couldn't be seen before.

So what's your favorite wood and why?:D
 
Nepali "Hill Walnut" (Haandey Okhar) is awfully nice.

I'm not sure of what the wood is on the carved handles like on my Gelbu Special, but it's nice too:

View



Blues
 
I only have the Malla and the Sirupati to judge wood by. My Sirupati is done in, I believe, rosewood. The Malla is done in a brown wood, with beautiful grain to it. That is my favorite. I think it's the same as the saatisal that you mention Yvsa.

Bob
 
I've only seen the Saatisal on Khukuri handles so far, but the Rosewood Yvsa mentioned could very well be the same, or a close relative of that used by Eagle Grips. They import their wood, and some of their rough blanks, from their family in India.

The Saatisal I have is on my Malla, and is coming along nicely at about 20 coats. All the grain that can be seen (I think) is now showing. Just a few more coats to see if anything else will come out, and to further highlight what is there.

The Eagle Grips Rosewood is beautiful stuff - Caramel color with a distinct black grain. I've had three pair of their grips over a period of 5 years, and they could all have come from the same tree - very uniform. When finished, they are like a hard ceramic.
 
Here is one of the few surviving examples of chandan (sandalwood):
<img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=520779&a=3822676&p=27810180&Sequence=1&res=high>
which, despite having been taken from an old building, had a distressing tendency to crack. I think JP and Howard(?) may also have`specimens; otherwise, AFAIK it got turned into incense. For comparison, the handle on the top karda is rosewood.
 
:
Dayum!!!!
I forgot all about the Hill Walnut and that's what's on my 17" Villager!!!!
It also has some interesting grain at the top of the handle compared to the really straight grain in the k & c.
Berk I ad forgotten how pretty the Chandan is, thanks for the pic.

Bro you mentioned one time, I think, about Gelbu being able to get some of the more scarce and exotic woods, perhaps at an increased cost to us.
Does that still hold true?
The Rosewood would really be beautiful on a katana handle or one of the fancy carved pieces.:D
 
I don't have one that I do not like. :)

I am very fond of the rosewood on the Ganga Ram Specail tho... I have always had a soft spot for rosewood. I think that my 18"wwII is the hill walnunt, and is also very nice. I love the contrast between the sapwood and the heartwood.

I know that I LOVE the gray grain lines in the horn tho. That is one of the things that will make me buy a knife before anything else.

For example:

Uncle: Well I have a knife with some gray in them...

Me: Great I'll take it! :D
 
I'd love to have a khuk with a chandan handle, that is one sexy shade of red! :D

My favorite handle wood is the reddish Nepali Oak (Rosewood). On my 16.5" WWII, the right side of the handle has a more brownish appearance while the left has a deeper shade of red with black streaks.

Bob
 
Yvsa:

Did you check out the link - Shhh! don't give it out to T-bone if he hasn't wormed it out of you yet - to the place selling that creamy white " wood "?

Now that post ought to start a ruckus on this forum!:p
 
whenever I've asked Bill what's that great-looking wood in the picture or on my new khuk, it seems like he always says, not positive but I think it's hill walnut. I do something similar when people ask me about wildflowers; I always say it's lupine. So anyway, I've always thought my favorite handle was hill walnut--until now, when I see that some of the above pix of rosewood look kind of like my hill walnut.
 
My first choice would be the Saatisaal that has been showing up. As brother Yvsa has noted, some specimens are pretty nice to look at. Also, BirGhorka must be doing a good job of curing the wood as I have yet to have any of these handles crack on me.

My second choice would be Nepali hill walnut - almost as good as saatisaal, but slightly more prone to cracking.

My third choice would be the rosewood - nice stuff, but far more prone to cracking. Would recommend this only to be used with carved handles as there seems to be enough inletting to relieve stresses that they do not crack.

My last choice would be chandan(sandalwood). Nice stuff but cracks way too easy unless one puts a khukuri handled with this under environmentally controlled display.

Not sure what else BirGhorka may have access to... but would be interested if teak or some of the other woods in SE Asia were available...

Harry
 
My Thai pal sent over $100 worth of wood from Thailand and it didn't work out well -- wanted to crack a lot.

Actually, I wish we could get some purple heart but I don't think it is available in Nepal and shipping from here + customs makes it almost prohibitive to use.
 
Uncle,
One day, after I become a rich programmer. :D Which won't be happening any time soon, so you can't retire any time soon. Sorry to break that new to you Uncle Bill. :D I'll have to pay for you to send some purpleheart, and a few patternwelded billets over to Nepal, and we'll see just how the kamis can adapt. But, given that they have experience working with several different metals with different compositions, and can still turn out quality pieces, they should adapt quickly after a few little tools, don't you think.

Bob
 
:
Rusty do you think T-Bone would actually like to have the link to the "white wood.?":D

And thanks Bro.
I recall you telling us about how Gelbu had to pay extra "duty" when he was bringing some of the wood into Nepal from India.:(
 
I'm pretty sure after looking at that pic that my beloved 15"Chiruwa AK has a Chandan handle! Maybe Uncle Bill can confirm/deny that? But it is a very deep beautiful red. It looks like the grain is 1/2" deep:cool:
 
I can tell the difference between purple heart and pine and that's about it. And, Rob, too many knives come and go. Can't remember but if you could get a pix posted I'll bet some of our woodchucks could tell you what it is.
 
I really like the saatisal. It seems durable and I do like the look and feel of it quite well.

Paul
 
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