Wood Handle

Hello Forumites,

I'm thinking about getting more custom knives with wood handles. I don't have much knowledge on any type of wood. So far I only have an Edmund Davidson's made with desert ironwood scale. It's a shame that I know nothing about this wood. Is "desert ironwood" just a name of a particular wood, or does it actually come from a desert?

What do you think about maple burl? What is/are your favorite(s)?

TIA,
Dew.
 
P

Phillip Jones

Joined
Oct 4, 1999
Messages
551
Maple burl is one of my favorites. It is easy to work and once stained looks better than most other woods. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=126319&a=926274&p=16684888&Sequence=0
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Phillip Jones
Jones Knives
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=126319&Auth=false

[This message has been edited by Phillip Jones (edited 08-25-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Phillip Jones (edited 08-25-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Phillip Jones (edited 08-25-2000).]
 
Desert ironwood does indeed come from the desert. I've had some from Arizona and Mexico. Incredible colors, figure, and depth. There was a good article in one of the mag.'s a few years back that said they have carbon-dated some that is hundreds of years old and still in perfect shape.
 
Phillips. Thanks for the beautiful picture. I also browsed other knives on your photopoint site. Nice work!
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Richard, Thanks for clarifying that. I agree with you about the colors of Desert ironwood. I like mine very much. In fact, I'm wavering whether to get another one or try some other wood. Can you comment on the pro/con of the Desert ironwood? ex. durability. Suppose I want it in a big camp knife, could it crack upon heavy use?

What would be your choice for a chopper?

Dew.
 
Hi Dew,
To me there is nothing more attractive for a knife handle then a highly polished exotic wood. Ironwood is great, but pricy, by law only dead trees in the U.S. can be harvested. Thats why a lot of it now comes from Mexico. There are 100's of other exotic woods to chose from, and each one has it's own grain pattern, color and texture. Some of these woods are so dense and heavy that they will not floot. Cocobolo as an example weights in at around 76 pounds per cubic foot. If you have time you might visit my Web-site, were I have a section on Handle Selection, here I list alot of the exotic woods I use. Also, most of the knife photos on my site have a wide variety of handle materials for you to look over.
Best of luck in your search.
Jay Maines
Sunrise River Custom Knives www.sunrisecustomknives.com

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Dew- Jay does indeed have some good information and descriptions. This one- www.eisenbran.com has some pretty good pictures. Don't really know what to recommend for a chopper but I've seen lots of pictures that have walnut handles and I know this is tough stuff.
 
Desert Ironwood is easily my favorite wood for knife handles and inlays.

Here are some photopoint shots representative, in a limited way, of ironwood ... two of the knives I own:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=910003&a=8362842

See here for some raw pics of ironwood slabs as sold to knife makers (don't do justice to the good stuff).
http://www.arizonaironwood.com

The Ironwood tree is a pine tree, and the stuff also grows in Hawaii among other places. The best ironwood is more interesting than mokume or damascus. The generic stuff is just stable wood.

Ironwood is among the heaviest, oiliest, and most stable and least likely to deteriorate of all woods, so as far as woods go, it makes as good a handle as any wood.

I guess the stabilized, often just awfully colored laminated (Dymondwood) stuff is probably more durable, responds better to being dropped, but hey, that stuff is almost always so ugly I'll take micarta anyway.

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rdangerer@home.com
 
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