Why not Hickory for a knife handle?

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Fiddleback said:
Thanks.

They sell to cabinet makers, and they (for some reason) don't like curly wood.
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The planers and shapers they're using to create the stiles and rails of their door fronts do NOT like curly or knotty material. That stuff will usually end up in the wood burner or the dumpster.

I recently got back a handful of hickory blocks I sent off to have stabilized.
Can't wait!
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
The planers and shapers they're using to create the stiles and rails of their door fronts do NOT like curly or knotty material.
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True. Cabinet/furniture makers have an understandable affinity for materials that feed smoothly, quickly, and predictably through their shaping processes. Oak is prized not only for its strength/stability and willingness to take stain, but for the fact that it's easy to work with. My uncle ran a custom cabinet shop for many years; he charged a premium for figured woods, not just because of its rarity, but for its relative difficulty to work with.

For the tiny pieces knifemakers use, this is not really much of an issue. Their "trash" can be our "treasure".
 
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i just cut up about 30 handles of real curly hickory.
man there pretty
vern
 
we go through a ton of hickory handles at work hmmmm i might have to save um. I heard a guy used feric acid and a piece of iron to dye and bring out the hidden buttie in the wood.
 
Wow, I'm surprised at all of the input and enthusiasm for hickory handles! I really haven't seen many except from the Old Hickory company. Thanks for sharing your pictures of your fine knives and your input into the work that it takes to create such a handle!

The wood that I have has been split and has been placed in stacks along with the various trees (If I remember right it was about 200 fully grown trees) that were on my land that we cleared when we built our home. I left as many trees standing as I could convince my wife to. I have quite a few hickory, oaks, and a few tulip poplars. We have a wood burning fireplace and burn wood during the winter. Our winter's haven't been very cold since we built our home and we haven't hardly made a dent in our stacks. We've given some to the Boy Scout troops for their camp-outs, etc. I will have to look through what we have left and try to dig out what may be worthwhile. The wood has been split and stacked for around four years now. I have one piece that I just couldn't split even with a splitter as it was very curly, etc. It has been a foot stool to get on top of one stack of wood. The wood has been covered on top with a camouflage tarp to keep the ran off. It is very seasoned and works well for fires.

Do you think the wood would still be good at this point for use as handle material or has it been too long out in the elements? It's not wrotten at all as I said I kept it covered on top but allowed the sides to have air flow through the stack to keep it dry.

I'll check out the wood more closely and let you know if I find anything worthwhile. Unfortunately though, I do not own a table saw and only have a hand held electric saw. I can split it further with a splitting maul or cut it with a chain saw. What do you suggest that I use so that I don't ruin the wood yet break it down into manageable pieces?

Thanks for the feedback!,

Brett
 
As there appears to be some interest in Hickory, I wanted to let people know that either later this week, or next week, I can pick up a bunch of hickory, and sell it, probably for about the same that I'm selling birdseye maple right now. It will probably be in sets of 4 for $20 shipped to the US. You can see my listing in the supplies for the birdseye to know a little better how I'd sell it. Email me if you would be interested in some.
 
Hey Brett,

Sounds like your wood should be fine. Maybe you could take your chain saw to that piece you couldn't split (and any others that look good) and cut it into slabs about 2"-3" thick. The slabs could then be ripped into 2"-3" strips with a table, band or hand held circular saw. I'd do it a bit different, but I have a band saw and planer. I'm sure folks might have some better ideas, but maybe that could get you going.

I'd love some too, if its not too expensive. In fact, cut a chunk to size to fit in a flat rate priority mail box and I'll plane and rip it up for you into what ever dimension you want and ship it back to you. All you'd have to do is send me another chunk in another box for me. :D

There's something about hickory that just seems so "US of A" to me. It rates right up there with Mom, apple pie and baseball!

All the best, Phil
 
Maybe I know what I want to use for a handle now. Can somebody post a picture of some curly hickory?
 
Not very large, but here is a photo of curly hickory knife scales.


hickory,%20curly%202%20s100%20q60%20web.jpg
 
I think that regular hickory has a nicer look to it, as long as it has enough grain showing. Am I the only one?
 
Farmer Phil said:
There's something about hickory that just seems so "US of A" to me. It rates right up there with Mom, apple pie and baseball!
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I agree! It's a no-nonsense sort of material. Straight grain or curly, I think that's just a matter of personal preference, as far as knife handles goes. Speaking of baseball (bats), ash is another tough, stable wood that can have very pretty grain and is usually overlooked in the knife world. Perhaps there's a reason for that? Seems worth looking into, to me.

I'm just learning about stabilizing, but with my limited knowledge I would guess hickory's a good candidate with its open grain.

Maybe this thread has started a new trend! :)
 
Farmer Phil said:
There's something about hickory that just seems so "US of A" to me. It rates right up there with Mom, apple pie and baseball!
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The Nessmuk I posted was laminated Wickory and Walnut. I get my Walnut from my grandads farm. He lost a tree to an ice storm 20 or so years ago and had it cut up. When I got there I visit the old sheds and pick out a few sticks.

That combo just felt so American to work. The knife went to a British fellow who wanted to experience Nessmuk knives. I wanted to pick the most American handle I could.
 
James_Terrio said:
................... Speaking of baseball (bats), ash is another tough, stable wood that can have very pretty grain and is usually overlooked in the knife world. Perhaps there's a reason for that? Seems worth looking into, to me.

I'm just learning about stabilizing, but with my limited knowledge I would guess hickory's a good candidate with its open grain.

Maybe this thread has started a new trend! :)
Click to expand...

Professionally Stabilized Black Ash:

ba7-1.jpg
 
go mike said:
I think that regular hickory has a nicer look to it, as long as it has enough grain showing. Am I the only one?
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I agree with you. When you get nice streaks of light and dark I call that "coffee and cream" and I think it looks great.

I also agree with the comment about hickory feeling very US of A. I'm very much into wood and when I started making knives I immediately started to accumulate all sorts of exotics to play with. Although I like them all just fine I find that I keep coming back to the basic domestic woods such as maple, cherry, walnut, hickory...


Michael
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
Professionally Stabilized Black Ash:

ba7-1.jpg
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Karl, I like the look of this wood. It's got a rugged look to it. Does it still feel like wood? I know this old man out west that would like to borrow some. :D


I kind of liked working the hickory. I find it more difficult to bring out the curl in the hickory but its there. Sometimes you just got to look harder.
 
Ray, I only sent off three pieces to get stabilized and they're not much bigger than is necessary to make a hunter about this size.
You want one - it's yours.
 
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