Wood shrinkage in handles

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zooker89

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Sep 15, 2014
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I am noticing after about a month I can feel the tang of my blades slightly proud of the scales. I am using dried wood but still am getting shrinkage. Do you all have a special procedure to prevent it. I thought about letting the knife sit for a few weeks after glue up and shaping later. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
 
(Unstabilized) wood shrinks over time. Some more than others. What wood were you using?

Letting it sit will help some. But it's going to expand and contract as the humidity changes.
 
I am using a variety of woods, and none of them are stabilized. All, so far are hardwoods of mixed species and I have never checked the moisture content as they are so small I didn't think about it. While knife making is new to me, I am a longtime woodworker/furniture maker and have never experienced a shrinkage like this. Perhaps I should start stabilizing my scales before I put them on the blade.
 
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Stabilizing is a good idea. K&G does a excellent job. Also, I let any wood I get, set in my shop at least a year before I use it. Wood needs to be dry before it is stabilized.
 
You probably have had shrinkage like this, but most of your other work hasn't included a steel yardstick against which to measure it. Even Micarta shrinks, and stabilised wood is not immune. How you cut your scales and letting them stabilise to the atmosphere they will be stored in before glue-up will help. Cutting slabs from a larger seasoned plank that was stored in your workshop and immediately gluing them to a tang, with the rings running top to bottom, finishing, then bringing it indoors is the way to see max shrinkage.

Various hardwoods, same you use for furniture or something new? Some wood takes longer than others to air dry. Tropical hardwoods often take a long long while. Turning blanks are often sold a lot higher MC than you want for knife scales.
 
C_Claycomb said:
You probably have had shrinkage like this, but most of your other work hasn't included a steel yardstick against which to measure it. Even Micarta shrinks, and stabilised wood is not immune. How you cut your scales and letting them stabilise to the atmosphere they will be stored in before glue-up will help. Cutting slabs from a larger seasoned plank that was stored in your workshop and immediately gluing them to a tang, with the rings running top to bottom, finishing, then bringing it indoors is the way to see max shrinkage.

Various hardwoods, same you use for furniture or something new? Some wood takes longer than others to air dry. Tropical hardwoods often take a long long while. Turning blanks are often sold a lot higher MC than you want for knife scales.
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Half of what I have used are actually remnants from some musical instruments I have made and have been in my shop for years (5 or 6 anyway) and are only 3/8" thick and the other half were purchased scales. Your point of the steel yardstick is a good one and what feels like major shrinkage is probably only a couple thousandths, but frustrating nonetheless.

My questions now are; what is acceptable when you are selling a knife? Are people who buy custom knives accustomed to the changes in wood handles and ok with it? I have not sold any as I don't feel I am ready for that and will wait until I actually make my own blades and get a few dozen under my belt.
 
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