Which wood is the "hottest" for knife handles?

[Eriksen]

Do you have any good advices for which knife handle wood is best and where to buy it?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Since there are about 100 makers on this forum,you will get 100 different answers.I think two of the most popular are California Buckeye Burl and desert ironwood.

 

[Peter_E_Ryt]

Best for what?
-Which looks prettiest(100 dif. answers[cocobolo for me])
-Which feels the best(Dido)
-Which requires the least effort, etc.
-Which is in most demand
-All sorts of other things

 

[RogerP]

Have a peek at this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369024&page=2

I posted this on three forums and tallied the cumulative results. Far from scientific, but there were 4 woods that set themselves far apart from the rest. In order:

1) desert ironwood
2) walnut
3) maple
4) African blackwood.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Danbo]

I'd have to vote Ironwood. Not that ironwood is my personal favorite, but I believe that's what the poll will find.

 

[Frank Eaton]

I would agree with the Ironwood. Another that I like is Snakewood. I have also been using alot of dyed stabilized burls too.

 

[brash]

This is like asking people what the best color for a car is...

Not only are you going to get different answers from different people, you'll get differents answers from the SAME person depending on what knife they are making. Ebony, for example, can look really beautiful on some knives, and be completely out of place on others.

 

[rlinger]

It is, I think, up to customer preference. I am not one to make a handle of Balsa but if the customer insists on pine then so be it. Pretty soft stuff and not my choice and would say so but it does work and works well if wanted. I prefer the harder woods for obvious reason and make a point to mention that when asked my opinion. The naturally stabilized are good choices and the artificially stabilized are good choices but prove themselves not so stabilized when put to prolonged exposure or submersion. Stabilization accomplishes two things, I believe,: it helps some and it is good for marketing. I'll take the naturally stabilized but they still discolor with exposure and will swell with lots of exposure. If boiling down to the good old American standard it is hard to beat a good grade of cherry, walnut, oak, beach, ash and some other basic here in the country kitchen favorites. If it works in the kitchen for years it will work most any where else we usually use them.

RL

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

The numbers below are from our 2004-2005 sales.

1) The types of wood include bees wing, birdseye, burl, curly, fiddleback, flamed, lace, pomelle, spalted, etc.

2) Sub-species like black walnut, claro walnut, english walnut, frankette walnut, etc, were combined into walnut.

3) All the types were totaled and the percentages calculated.

4) The types of wood with less than 2% are listed in alphabetical order.

16.97% - Ironwood
11.98% - Maple
10.83% - Amboyna
08.09% - Redwood
05.14% - Buckeye
05.09% - Koa
04.74% - Tasmanian Myrtle
02.35% - Cottonwood
02.25% - Bubinga
02.20% - Olive
02.05% - Chechen
>2.00% - Beech, Birch, Blackwood, Brown Mallee, Cocobolo, Eucalyptus, Snakewood, Thuya, Walnut
>1.00% - Afzelia, Alder, Beefwood, Bloodwood, Bocote, Camphor, Canary Wood, Carob, Cherry, Coolibah, Ebony, Elm, Ipe, Juniper, Kingwood, Lignum Vitae, Limba, Locust, Madrone, Mahogany, Maidou, Mango, Merbau, Mesquite, Mulberry, Oak, Orange, Oregon Myrtle, Osage Orange, Paduak, Palm, Pink Ivory, Pistachio, Purpleheart, Red Mallee, Rosewood, Tambootie, Teak, Tulipwood, Verawood, Vitex, Wenge, Yew, Zebrawood

I found some of the numbers surprising. I think the reason walnut numbers are so low is because claro walnut is not stabilized. Almost all of the walnut we sold was stabilized english walnut. In my opinion claro walnut is one of the most beautiful woods for knife handles. However, it takes a long time (weeks) to apply a traditional finish.

 

[Rob!]

Thuya Burl - professionally acrylic stabilized - more class than any other wood out there - bar none! HOT!

 

[David Schott]

Theres a woodworking place a mile from my house that sells 5x2x2 blocks of blackwood for like 4$....maybe i should pick some up, since lots seem to like it!

 

[kricket]

Blackwood for $4.oo!!! where do I sign up!!!!???? the last I got was a 2x2x24"
that cost me $30.00, where are the deals when you need them???

 

[David Schott]

I will check next time i drive by, maybe ill buy a bunch and sell em here if its still at that price.

 

[john warren]

just finished my first knife , 4" bowie style blade, brasilian rosewood full tang handle accented in aluminum.