White Oak

Fiddleback

Fiddleback

Knifemaker
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Oct 19, 2005
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Do you guys use Oak? This piece is quartersawn and curly stabalized White Oak. I love the creamy color of it. Oak is pretty if you can find it that way. I have 20 1' x 10" planks of Red Oak that is curly and quartersawn that I need to cut up and have stabalized and dyed. The rays don't pick up the color and black, blue, red, or brown dye is very striking. I was kinda proud of this knife, so I decided to post a pic of it here. I haven't done that in a while. I hope it is still acceptable. If I had tapered the tang on this one, I would have saved it to get judged next September. Its 01 though. It would have to be touched up for sure. I'm thinking of sending it to get a decent photo done. I've never done that before either. Who do y'all use for that?

The knife is convex ground from 5/32" thick 01 stock. The handle is stabalized curly quartersawn White Oak over natural canvas micarta liners with a white g-10 pinstripe, and natural canvas micarta pins and bullseye liner. The blade is 4" long and the OAL is 8.5". I designed this model after the old Kephart knives. I added some sex appeal to the shape. The knife old Horace designed was boring.

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As you can see, I have not figured out how to make a knife shine in a pic. This is a recropped closeup of the handle.

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I have not used oak, but if I came across a piece like that I wouldn't hesitate. That's very handsome :thumbup:

Fiddleback said:
If I had tapered the tang on this one, I would have saved it to get judged next September.
Click to expand...

Are you hinting about a certain Guild show in KY? If so, go for it.
 
I submitted my application for the Knifemakers Guild, and they accepted my application. I will show them knives next September. I've started practicing my tapered tangs. I do 6 or so a year just to be sure I can do then, but they have to be spot on by next year.

I need to get back into doing micarta bolsters too. The platten on that tool is badly worn right where you make the mating surfaces joint. So it shows a glueline. I've either got to get that platten flattened or find a superfucial layer that is flat to glue on. Its a very old big 6x48 grinder though, and you can't ajust the platten back far enough for ceramic even if you could find the ceramic that big. I tried sheet metal, but it was never close to flat. Lapping that giant plate is NOT an option. Though, that'd add 100 hours to Ron's month. LOL. It would just get worn again anyway. Not a good solution. I made a jig for doing it on the KMG with all the angles, etc. I have done one set. It worked. Practice time. By next year I have to have both upgrades right.
 
Someone just gave me some oak similar to that- it took a while to determine that it was indeed oak, because the curly, wavy, fiddleback figures were so unusual. I thought it looked great on some handles, and so did the folks who bought em!
Best thing I've found is 4-5 coats of rubbed in Tru oil, really makes the grain pop out.
Best of luck with your application!
Andy
 
looks good.. When you dress up a slab of oak like that it looks very nice.! Good luck with the Knifemakers Guild. You work hard and it shows in your finished product.
 
Very nice looking knife. I like it. I think if I was taking pics though I would probably go with a more contrasting color for the background.

Just curious why do you have to have a tapered tang for your entry knife? Is that just everybody does it type thing so its a new standard or is it just another test of ones ability.
 
I like the look of quarter sawn oak with the rays and flecks that show up. Especially the curly figured stuff. But, if you flat saw a super curly piece the faces make really cool repeating ovals kind of like quilted maple. Too many people prejudge oak as a generic wood until they see good properly cut pieces.
My opinion on stabilizing is that even though it can be durable enough without being stabilized, stabilizing makes it look better because of pores getting filled and it is much easier to get a good finish. I have found the darker or dyed to be much more popular than the blonde.
 
I have never been into oak much either but that handle looks beautiful Andy! I'm going to have to keep my eyes out for some of that.
 
Its one if my favorite woods Andy! I usually use truoil to finish but the oak seems to like a soak in BLO. I have a guy up in Illinois that gets a ton of it.
Looks good.with orange;)
 
I think it's cool. I used some regular old white oak on a draw knife and it came out really nice. The stuff you have is much prettier.
 
Not yet but your picture answered some questions for me. I would like to use some local woods from around here where I'm fortunate to have some sawmills that are privately owned. 90% of the time you always seem to see a big contrast between steel and scales (being dark). I think lighter woods work even better in some cases.
 
That oak looks great, Andy!
I've used it once to good effect, and stashed a couple more pieces away.
 
Fiddleback said:
I submitted my application for the Knifemakers Guild, and they accepted my application. I will show them knives next September.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! I'm sure you'll do just fine. I hope to be at the show as a visitor, I'll be sure to stop and say howdy.
 
I live in ´oak country´.
Almost averything solid and wood is oak and is made to last hundereds of years.
I have a blade ready for HT that I plan to put an oak handle on.

You can darken oak with amonia fumes. They react with the tannines in the wood.
There must be good tutorials on line but the general idea is to have the wood in an air tight enviroment (box)
together wit a dish full of amonia. The fumes react, not the liquid.
 
Light tents can flatten an image and give it a dull flat look. You want some highlights and even a little glare.

I like to use a mix of artificial light and natural light. And white light reflectors rather than a full-on tent.

Jim Cooper (Sharp by Coop) has a well earned good reputation and I recommend him highly. He does everything from art knives to field grade stuff. He did this one for me and it was very difficult to photograph and his work was so excellent. http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/...st/Integral_dagger_092311/Carothersdagger.jpg

I think that wood will pop with better photography. You won't regret having it professionally photographed.
 
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