Wood stabilization

Crag the Brewer said:
I have a few pieces of sentimental wood I'd like stabilized. I have the pieces small and split, drying in a semi- stable environment for about a year now.
* I can go longer, no hurry.
Does a place like K&G (which I plan to use because of All the good things that have been said here) dry/kiln the woods further upon arrival to ensure a consistent product on their end?

Thanks.
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They’re in Arizona. It’s DRY there. They can afford to let is just air dry to the correct percentage of moisture. I’ve gotten some of the most gorgeous handle material from amateur stabilizers and ended up throwing it away. Zero trust in anyone but K&G.
 
I came across a guy who is doing stabilization in British Columbia Canada. Basically sends all his product to a couple Canadian knife makers. He is getting full penetration and some really beautiful dyed results too. He has a lab oven that he puts the blocks in and dries them in there until they aren't losing anymore weight. The most recent maple burl I brought him was 13-15% and spent 4 days in the oven. He uses CJ and did it for a good price for our school....worked out to about$5.50 a block.
Other than that I have always used K&G and gotten awesome results and great prices considering I am shipping my wood to the USA and back again.s
 
Randydb said:
I came across a guy who is doing stabilization in British Columbia Canada. Basically sends all his product to a couple Canadian knife makers. He is getting full penetration and some really beautiful dyed results too. He has a lab oven that he puts the blocks in and dries them in there until they aren't losing anymore weight. The most recent maple burl I brought him was 13-15% and spent 4 days in the oven. He uses CJ and did it for a good price for our school....worked out to about$5.50 a block.
Other than that I have always used K&G and gotten awesome results and great prices considering I am shipping my wood to the USA and back again.s
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There are certainly woods that are easier or take resin better than others. Maple is one of them. I’ve noticed that’s there’s so much bad info out there that people follow that leads to bad stabilizing.

I’m told yellow cedar burl is a very difficult wood to stabilize. I’ve gotten some that’s been done by K&G and it’s wonderful. I also have some that wasn’t done by K&G and you can tell just by comparing it to the K&G stuff that it’s not fully impregnated.
 
My understanding is softwood burls often contain a lot of resin, which would not actually stabilise

SwissHeritageCo said:
I really hope natural kiln dried wood becomes popular again. The balance it offers is unbeatable.
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Same, there's enough plastic in our lives. Plus there are plenty of highly durable woods around me
 
Alex Topfer said:
My understanding is softwood burls often contain a lot of resin, which would not actually stabilise


Same, there's enough plastic in our lives. Plus there are plenty of highly durable woods around me
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I get the idea of durable wood and wanting kiln dried minus the stabilization. But I live in a temperate rainforest (pacific northwest area) and everything gets wet and soaked here eventually. Wet wood swells and shifts and has problems on a knife hand. It helps a ton having stabilized handles around here.
 
If some wood is stabilized, does it need any further treatment once the knife is finished? Will it absorb any water in normal use as a kitchen knife?
 
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