Woodcraft Knife Scales

Maybe you are over thinking this? I can't see a reliable way to mark out your cuts, so yeah remove the wax first.

Concentrate on leveling the wax lumps and bumps from all six faces so you can set a square properly and mark it out, then have the stock behave in plane as you saw. If you are using a table saw, take your time, read up on basic safety, maybe get some seasoned help and/or be thoughtful if you are new to this. Use a push stick. These tools are notoriously unforgiving.

I have a couple of sharp 4" card (or cabinet) scrapers for removing wax, wood glue, etc. Pop the waxed stock in the freezer for half an hour to stiffen the wax. Then usually two or three skewed strokes and surface grain gets sheared with the wax. Takes a nice clean layout without wiping them down but YMMV. A sharp hooked burr on a straight-edged knife works almost as well if you are careful. Also if you decide to use solvents and rags to remove the wax - please reconsider as this stuff will burn like there is no tomorrow. Good luck to you.
 
IMO the only piece in your photo long enough to be safely cut on a tablesaw without a very good jig of some sort is the cocobolo. A bandsaw would be a safer choice for processing the smaller blocks, less loss to the saw kerf too.
 
I may be a little late to jump on this thread, but I've been using wood from Woodcraft as well as a local lumber yard with a selection of exotic woods. Regardless of source, I've noticed some shrinkage of the wood after about a month, leaving the brass pins, bolsters, spacers (where applicable), and sometimes even the tang of the knife a little proud. Not huge, mind you, but enough to catch your fingernail on. In one case, I even found it necessary to reshape the handle to correct the issue. This is all (ostensibly) well-seasoned wood, not stabilized but oiled and waxed and kept in more or less the same conditions in terms of temp and humidity. Is this something I just have to live with or does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Wax is put on the wood to slow the drying process so the wood will not split. If the wood is green it will split without wax covering but your wood should be dry enough now that you can remove the wax without causing problems. But I doubt that wood is actually dry as it needs to be , if it was me I would cut it just a little big and let it sit for a while to finish drying. No way I would use a tablesaw to cut the blocks that are 5" long , a bandsaw would be a much better choice for cutting those short blocks
 
I use a table-saw to cut small pieces, but I use push sticks, and I have a bunch of pieces of 1/4" plywood I start a cut with, go past the blade, then clamp it to the table. There are no longer any gaps around the blade for small pieces to catch on , or wedge between the blade and the table. MAKE SURE YOUR BLADE IS SHARP.
 
You better be careful sending those thin pieces thru the saw blade. Make yourself a push stick that you can run right over the blade and use a feather board to apply side pressure. Unfortunately, you are going to loose a lot of the wood to the saw kerf of the blade. I'd try to find someone with a band saw to cut it for you. If you were in NJ I'd gladly cut it for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top