Which woods do not need to be stabilized

Bubinga doesn't have to be, but it helps. Bubinga is very porous and if you don't stabilize it and use some acrylic sealer, it won't look as uniform.

Most hard woods will work fine without stabilization, but it's still a very good idea to do it if possible.

The main idea is to take out all the moisture so it doesn't shrink and then crack.

Snakewood is especially susceptible to cracking and checking. Ever since I started using Pentacryl on Snakewood prior to putting it on the knife I've had zero problems.

Of note, allow adequate time to dry and get a moisture tester on Ebay or somewhere for 15$ or so, and make sure it's below 7% moisture.

Some Ebony is very, very dense and requires no stabilization, but it's also brittle, so the thinner it gets, the worse off you'll be.



MT
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
Why would you build automotive bumpers out of steel when you could make them out of copper and sell them for much more? Because steel is better.

The answer to your question is simple, Because Micarta is better.
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I have never heard anyone say, "That sure is some nicely figured micarta on that knife." or "Look at that micarta! It sure is pretty! Where'd you get it?" or "Is that the micarta from Central America?"

Micarta has little, if no character. Yes, for the tactical blades it, along with G10 and carbon fiber are what is typically used today. But personally, I would hessitate with calling anything "better". You will always get an argument.

This again is the differences between what makes Harley riders and crotch rocket jockeys. Forgers and grinders. Apples and oranges.

Craig
 
C L Wilkins said:
I have never heard anyone say, "That sure is some nicely figured micarta on that knife." or "Look at that micarta! It sure is pretty! Where'd you get it?" or "Is that the micarta from Central America?"

Micarta has little, if no character. Yes, for the tactical blades it, along with G10 and carbon fiber are what is typically used today. But personally, I would hessitate with calling anything "better". You will always get an argument.

This again is the differences between what makes Harley riders and crotch rocket jockeys. Forgers and grinders. Apples and oranges.

Craig
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I don't believe I have ever had anyone tell me;" I really like that damascus bowie and I would purchase it from you, if it had a nice micarta handle, instead of that select grade snakewood". hehe:D

If anyone out there has any of that ugly burled wood they want to unload, give me a holler.:thumbup: I'll trade you even up for some micarta I have had lying around my shop for the last five years.:yawn:
Fred
 
I gotta go with Ilovetoolsteel on this one....it ain't too pretty, but that Micarta is some tough stuff.:thumbup: For knives that I know will be "hard used"/ (abused?), I'll use Micarta slabs. As far as natural material, I like desert ironwood;that stuff can take a beating, too:thumbup:
- Mitch
 
It all depends on purpose. If you're making a user knife that you know will be handled roughly, then by all means, G10/Micarta whatever composite you love the best is probably the best to use.

But if you want something that's for display, collection or less harsh use, then wood/bone/ivory/whatever is probably going to be the best way to go.

That being said, some woods are very, very durable, and hold grip really well (see Desert Ironwood), while looking outstanding.

It's all opinion, and there's not overall best or better, there's just different usage driven materials.


MT
 
wow....opinions seem to be quite varied on this thread....:eek:



The question should really not be "what woods do not need to be stabilized" as much as it should be "What woods cannot be improved by stabilizing".


The answer to that question is very short one:

Lignum Vitae
Desert Ironwood
Cocobolo


I have seen all the woods in this thread in both stabilized and unstabilized form (except for the list above) and the stabilized was better. The exception might be snakewood...sometimes a piece fails out of stabilization...but think of it more as "finding the crack sooner than later".
 
C L Wilkins said:
I have never heard anyone say, "That sure is some nicely figured micarta on that knife." or "Look at that micarta! It sure is pretty! Where'd you get it?" or "Is that the micarta from Central America?"
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Whiskey is made for drinking and Knives are made for cutting and the Camptown Ladies never really sang Oh-Doo-Dah-Day.

If you are using a knife, Micarta is hands down the best material.

Wiskey that goes un-drank and knives that are too pretty to use are things that never lived up to their potential. How can something that never lived up to it's potential be better?


Micarta has little, if no character. Yes, for the tactical blades it, along with G10 and carbon fiber are what is typically used today. But personally, I would hessitate with calling anything "better". You will always get an argument.
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I wasn't looking for an argument, It was a joke, Fred got it right away. You took it seriously so I will play along. It is my opinion that Micarta is the best handle material, it's also Bob Loveless'opinion. My joke was meant to poke fun at all those like me who have an all or nothing opinion regarding knives. Like the people who feel that the knives worth buying are made by Jerry Busse.

When I first signed up here I would see posts in the general discussion forum where someone was looking for recomendations on a good drop point hunter with a 4" blade and someone would inevitably recomend a Busse Battle Mistress and then 4 more people would post "I've got to second the Battle mistress recomendation"

Then I took a look at the knives I make and the things I recomend and I realised I am that person. I have seen the enemy and it's me.

This again is the differences between what makes Harley riders and crotch rocket jockeys. Forgers and grinders. Apples and oranges.Craig
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I like stag, I like wood, But they were the best materials available from 100 years ago. What do you still do, (technologicaly speaking), like people did in 1908? Do you still cross the ocean in steam powered ships? Crap outdoors in the dead of winter? Heat your home with coal and light it with gas? Wear shoes with buttons on them?

The last thing I want to see is a customer's disapointed face when he comes back to me with a stag handle scale that has pulled away from the tang or cracked at one of the handle pins. Or a wood scale that has popped loose because of the oil content of the wood.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of making a tool that is supposed to be put in a display case. Which is odd because I am trained as an artist and for years I made things that had no use except to look at and contemplate.
 
Daniel Koster said:
The question should really not be "what woods do not need to be stabilized" as much as it should be "What woods cannot be improved by stabilizing".


The answer to that question is very short one:

Lignum Vitae
Desert Ironwood
Cocobolo
Click to expand...

Just Cocobolo? In your experience all the other true rosewoods are improved by stabilizing?
 
yes...I have seen stabilized indian rosewood, honduran rosewood and african rosewood. they all benefited from stabilizing.

Cocobolo leaches the stuff back out...resists stabilizing.

There might be others...my list is not final...just what I've experienced so far...and I've done a LOT of stabilized wood and have spent time on the phone with many others "in the know".

Chuck Bybee would know best which woods resist stabilizing. Also, Mike of WSSI.


And, since someone is bound to ask, yes, I have seen stabilized osage orange as well as teak. Hard to imagine improving on those...but it does.

Can you make a good handle with those woods without stabilizing them? Yes!

But they can be stabilized.




Which reminds me of something else...wood is still wood...stabilized or not. And can still "move"...even if it takes years to do so.
 
And I DO like micarta....especially natural. :thumbup:
 
Don't bet the farm on Cocobolo not needing stabilization. I recently sent 1 large plank of Cocobolo wood, and 1 large block (aprox 6" X 6" X 6") to Kentucky (from Florida) to be made into knife handles by my Knifemaker, and shortly after receiving the knives back, the handles from the block shrunk considerably (almost 1/8" all around). Only the wood from the block shrunk.

Cary
<a href="http://www.VoodooDaggers.com">VoodooDaggers.com</a>
Custom knives & swords
 
Sounds to me like the block wasn't dry yet (I've certainly seen Cocobolo warp and check as it drys). If it wasn't dry stabilizing wouldn't work anyway.
 
cocobolo (like any wood) can move/crack....that's not the point...

it's that it doesn't benefit from stabilizing.




Basically, what I was trying to say - without being a total jerk...:D....is that All Woods (with only a few exceptions that resist it) benefit from stabilizing. :thumbup:
 
You weren't being any sort of a jerk. While I doubt that I'll start stabilizing tulipwood, kingwood and African blackwood I will keep your experience in mind.

Thank you,
 
Wood was used for centuries before stabilization. In my opinion, not all woods can or should be stabilized. We've learned a little about which woods react well to being stabilized.

When I write about stabilization I'm referring to professional stabilization by companies like K&G and WSSI. Immersing wood under vacuum in Minwax Wood Hardener, tung oil, linseed oil or polyurethane is not the same as professional stabilizing. The chemicals are different and more importantly the results are different. If you choose to do your own stabilizing you should tell your customers. Letting customers think wood has been professionally stabilized is the same as buying damascus and letting your customer think you made it. If you do your own stabilizing buy a good moisture meter. We've found wood responds better to stabilizing when the moisture content is 6% or less.

Woods Than Responded Well To Stabilizing:
- Acacia
- Afzelia
- Alder
- Amboyna
- Black Ash
- Bamboo
- Beech
- Beefwood
- Birch
- African Blackwood
- Box Elder
- Bubinga
- Buckeye
- Canary Wood
- Carob
- Chechen
- Cherry
- Coolibah
- Cottonwood
- Carpathian Elm
- Elm
- Eucalyptus
- Gum
- Jarrah
- Koa
- Locust
- Madrone
- Santos Mahogany
- Maidou
- Brown Mallee
- Red Mallee
- Mango
- Maple
- Masur Birch
- Mesquite
- Mulberry
- Oregon Myrtle
- Tasmanian Myrtle
- Needlewood
- Australian Oak
- Oak
- Olive
- Tasmanian Olive
- Osage Orange
- Paduak
- Black Palm
- Red Palm
- Pecan
- Pink Ivory
- Pistachio
- Purpleheart
- Redwood
- Russian Olive
- Sandalwood
- Sapele
- Sheoak
- Sycamore
- Tambootie
- Teak
- Tulipwood
- Vitex
- Black Walnut
- English Walnut
- Wenge
- Woody Pear
- York Gum
- Zebrawood

Woods With Limitations:
- Bocote - May Weep Stabilant
- Ebony - Scales Only
- Asian Ebony - Scales Only
- Striped Ebony - Scales Only
- Juniper - May Weep Stabilant
- Snakewood - Scales Only
- Thuya - May Weep Stabilant
- Claro Walnut - May Turn Black
- Pacific Yew - May Weep Stabilant
- Ziricote - May Weep Stabilant

Woods Where Stabilizing Did Not Work:
- Cedar - Stabilant Did Not Polymerize
- Curly Ipe - Stabilant Did Not Penetrate
- Lacewood - Wood Turned Black
- Limba - Wood Turned Ugly
- Merbau - Stabilant Did Not Penetrate

Woods We Have Not Tested:
- Cocobolo
- Desert Ironwood
- Kingwood
- Lignum Vitae
- Bolivian Rosewood
- Honduran Rosewood
- Indian Rosewood
- Verawood

If you have questions feel free to ask.
 
Thanks for posting that list, Chuck! :thumbup:


great info there...need to update my "mental data bank"...:D
 
Thank you for that list. I have no intention of trying to stabilize my own woods and I was originally inquiring about polymer stabilization.

This thread gave me much more information than I had hoped for. Thanks to everyone.

SDS
 
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