Why thw bad rap for Dymondwood?

Crayola

Crayola

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
3,831
I'm just a newbie maker and enjoy Dymondwood. It is very inexpensive (tuition + girlfriend= small budget), easy to work, stabilized, etc. AND with the funky colors I found a handle material to match my girlfriend's hot pink punch buggy! I'll keep using it, although I love micarta the most. I was just wondering if it is frosts cutlery or what that brings Dymondwood its bad rap!

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"Come What May..."
 
Crayola,
Basically it is stabilized, coloured plywood. It has no figure or grain qualities like a "real" wood does. No character. I have seen it used on rifles, as a matter of fact I have a .22 target rifle that has a sort of dymondwood as a stock (solid light brown colour). I suppose Ruger couldn't find a piece of micarta that big
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C Wilkins
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"We sharpened the points of our bayonets, and gave a razor-edge to our bowies, that the extermination we intended should be sudden and complete."
--1861, Henry Morton Stanley, in Arkansas as the Civil War began.
 
It's just my opinion Crayola, but to me it looks 'cheesey'. Not much more to say about it because that says it all. But, how the hell would I know?

[This message has been edited by MaxTheKnife (edited 12-12-2000).]
 
I like dymondwood because it is cheap and some of the colors look decent. For kitchen knives, it looks nice. Works and polished easily. I think it is great for non knife nuts because of all of the colors available and its low cost. For people who know and appreciate good materials and know that they cost extra, I like Micarta and woods. Also, Frost Cutlery uses dymondwood constantly and thats how it started to get its bad rap.
 
It comes on all of those HIGH End knives from Pakistan
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Your actual savings over REAL wood is about $2 per set of scales.
Speaking For myself, I wouldn't feel right about putting all that time and effort into making a nice blade. Then have it coming out looking like some cheapo import.
It's really a matter of pride with me.
This is a Custom handmade knife why degrade it for a $2-3 savings.


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RHankins Available knives
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=205453
 
It's funny, I felt the same way not too long ago. I really liked it, and it kind of pissed me off that everyone thought it was junk.

Now, my feelings changed a little. I still think it's great for somebody first starting out. It's cheap, easy to find, and easy to finish because you don't really HAVE to FINISH it.

But, as you step up into new areas of knifemaking, it's just not a material that goes with you.

The biggest thing I'm surprised not to see on this post is how BRITTLE it is. If it's dropped on end, it shatters...sort of like a file does.

But, just like everything else, do what works for you.

Nick
 
You can get a set of curly maple handle scales for about $3-$4. If you buy by the board foot it can be decreased substantially.
I have bought curly maple from an exotic lumber supplier and it came out to about 40 cents per handle. And I got to go thru the piles of lumber to pick out the best figure.
I don't see where the price for Dymondwood is any great savings. That, and it is so ugly compared to natural woods.

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Phillip Jones
Jones Knives
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=126319&Auth=false
 
I agree. You aren't saving that much with the dymondwood, but you do get a better color choice w/o dyeing the wood, and it doesn't need to be stabilized or sealed. Some people don't understand why something should be sealed or stabilized and want a cheap knife. For non knifenuts with kitchen knives, dymondwood is great. Good color selection. Try finding a non dyed piece for a handle that is dark blue and doesn't cost 20 bucks. For the customs, I use at least micarta or G10, preferably a nice, sealed wood, if not stabilized unless the person wants to save money or wants a dymondwood color/pattern. It gets a bad rap because it doesn't have a grain and is "cheap", but for non knife nut people, they love it and want it because it helps lower the price and they don't have to worry about it getting wet. I made a paring knife with a cocobolo dymondwood handle for a non knife nut and she absolutely loved it! Cocobolo wood would have been 2 times the cost and needed to be at least sealed, if not stabilized for kitchen duty.
 
It has all the disadvantages of wood (susceptability to rotting, brittleness, etc.) with none of the advantages of beauty or character. It's artificial, but still vulnerable. Micarta can look similar, but it's MUCH tougher. I'd rather use a good $.50 piece of oak if cheap were a factor. Materials are the least of our costs in making knives, so why not go with the exotics that cost a little more and impress people. "This is ebony? It's pretty." Is much nicer to hear and answer than "Dymondwood? What's that?"

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Oz

"Nonsense. I have not yet begun to defile myself."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
I thought it was good stuff until I got some. I didn't like most of the colors in the catalog but some looked ok. Then I got it and it didn't look like the picture. I have a lot more experience in woodworking than in knifemaking so the added step of finishing a peice of hardwood isn't to big a deal to me when you compare it to the rest of the knife. I'd rather have something that I like the looks of. Its really just a matter of opinion.
As for price I paid about $5 for a set of dymondwood scales, which would have been cut down into about 2 sets of scales for the folders I'm working on. I paid about $7 for a 3" x24"x1/4" peice of bolivian rosewood that I can get a ton of scales out of (almost 9 sets if each one is under an inch wide and under 4" long), and about $9 for a pint of finish to put on them. Its supposed to do about 1100 sq ft, so that $10 will also go a long way. In the long run the hardwood is cheaper and in my opinion nicer looking and easier to work with.
But that is jsut MY opinon

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I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I've got the sharpest knife in the room.
 
It is a truly vile substance. I remember seeing a young maker at a knife show who had done a really decent job with clean grinds and nice bolsters, but the knives were encased in that ugly piece o'**** violet/green dymondwood. I can't think of anything that would make the knife look cheaper.

I had always assumed that the point of wood scales was to give a "natural substance" look to the knife. If you want ultraviolet colors, go for plastic.

I'm a big fan of REAL wood myself, especially if it is stablized burl.
 
I got some in my first kit and I was like.... what the hell is this..... it was all different colors...I believe purple, blue and red.... I have taken many years of fine woodworking so it did not appeal to me at all. Looked too cheesy.....too fake. But I can see how it appeals to some people though.

Michael
 
I also started out using it and people liked it but as I started selling my knives I didnt like the look people gave me over my price compared to the cheap Pakistan on the table next to me as they kind of looked alike until you got down to fit and finish.
I did end up finding a use for some that I had left and that was when I wanted to put some colored spacers in front of a piece of stag,If you put it on edge so the layers go around the handle you can get some cool looking spacers out of it.I havent done that in years though,It is a idea for stacked spacers though.....Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
 
Thanks everyone. I figured that everyone just thought it was cheap looking and the pakistani knife look-a-like (no offense) factor was not too appealing either. To me it is much cheaper to use as I have no band saw or table saw. I did check out maple burl from a lumber store here but it seemed expensive per board feet. I suppose cutting it into scales it would not be all that expensive. I think my attraction to dymondwood right now is that it is easy to finish, I don't mind playing around with the colors and as I am lazy (I don't want to go looking for wood specials, cut them up, send them off for stabilizing or use some kind of wood finish) I don't mind spending the $5 Canadian for scales! I do prefer micarta though. The colors, the satiny look, the grain, oohhh.... Too bad it smells like goo when grinding it! Thank God for masks!

I would just get a whole bunch of micarta except: a) micarta scales are expensive for me to buy b) I could buy a SHEET of micarta, but, I can count the # of knives that I have made on one hand and I am not ready for a whole darned sheet and c) I really should spend the $100 for a sheet of micarta on books for next semesters classes, even though I REALLY REALLY whan to buy a sheet of micarta!
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Oh, the other reason I like dymondwood is the colors are fiting for CrayolaMade knives! Check 'em out!
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=644465&a=9995836




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"Come What May..."
 
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your girl friend has her car painted the color of the pink handled knife? i need my sun glass'es.LOL yes we do become snots after a few knives. do you have a logo with a box of crayolas? that would be cool!


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Laurence Segal www.RHINOKNIVES.com
 
You know I have to say....those are real nice looking knives. I keep thinking the skinner would look real nice with some birdseye maple
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Michael
 
Rhino: I hope to get an etcher real soon and so I've been thinking of logos. A box of crayons HAS crossed my mind! I wonder though if I am taking this crayola bit too seriously!

Michael: I can make the skinner for ya with birds eye maple, but it will cost ya an extra $50!!
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"Come What May..."
 
How about a single crayon for your logo? Seems it would be just as recognizable, and already have your name across the side.

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Oz

"Nonsense. I have not yet begun to defile myself."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
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