Wooden Workhorses

RRaconteur · May 26, 2014

So as I'm nearing the end of my challenge (YAY!!!), my Fiddleback research is going onto hyperdrive. I've always loved the look of wood better than synthetics, but figure the synthetics are a better choice for a working knife. (That said, I've never owned a knife of this caliber.) I suppose I'm interested in testing this theory, based on all of YOUR experiences. The primary questions driving this thread are:

1. What do the various woods feel like in hand? Some look more "textured" than do others. Some say they feel "warmer." How do these qualities affect the working qualities of the blade, positively or adversely?

2. Do any of you use your woods knifes as woods knifes? (see the pun I made right there?) What limitations do you experience?

Of course, somewhere deep down inside, I hope this thread just gets filled with beautiful knife pics.

Thanks chaps!

Michael

xxwjtxx · May 26, 2014

Michael,
A man after my own heart -- to answer your questions;

1) for me it is a combination of "warmth" and and overall feel. There's no one way to explain it -- I've probably been through 30-40 fiddlebacks and beyond my burlap camp combo the remainder of my collection these days remains to be naturally stable, hard wood.

2) Yes, I actually have some reviews coming in the next week or so, but in the interim see below for a few pics

Cheers,

Will

Dcaggie06 · May 26, 2014

Andy just has a keen eye for wood. It's sturdy, rugged, and in my experience a little more adaptive to changing situations. I love the feel of wood and I'm more prone to trust my grip w wood in messier situations. I feel that Andys blades have a little more of his personality when you go wood. He does synthetics well, but he shows his soul in his wood handles.

Blaid · May 26, 2014

I am seriously in love with every knife I own but spend most of my time with African Blackwood and Macassar Ebony. Beautiful, ages gracefully and very tough while always feeling soooooo comfy!

Joe Duder · May 27, 2014

Andy's wood selections all have very different charecterstics. I would do some research on the forum before choosing a particular wood. Actually, find the wood that you're attracted to the most and then do a search on the forum. When choosing a wood species, take into heavy consideration the tasks that your blade will be performing. Certain woods excel in one task and in others, not so much, IMO.

Take Maple Burl, it's rather handsome stuff. It makes for a very smooth finish, has awesome veins and eyes, and would make for a good light camping, light wood working handle. However, if you're a fisherman and hunter, IME, once that burl gets bloody it is uber slippery, not cool when cleaning fish near jagged rocks by the river. A fisherman might want to go with Osage or Lacewood. I've never worked with maple burl with sweaty hands, but if it gets slippery with sweat, you may want to excerise extreme caution when woodcarving with maple burl with sweaty hands.

Ironwood is good stuff. Feels nice in the hands, not so slippery when wet and from what I hear, it's less prone to shrinking.

viral · May 27, 2014

Wjt what is that last picture? My gosh that thing is a stunna

NoFair · May 27, 2014

Most of the burl woods are stabilized with epoxy and should be pretty durable. My curly maple Recluse is uses just like my micarta FFs.
Only thing is I don't like using kydex with wooden handles..

Curly Maple

Osage (love how it ages)

Most of my kitchen knives are Lignum vitae which is very dense and feels great.

RRaconteur · May 27, 2014

Thanks all for the responses so far. (I suspected I could lure Will into this one pretty easy! &#128516

What I'm hearing is that wood certainly has what it takes to "handle" a working knife (I just can't resist a pun &#128526

, but that the type of wood might generally be dictated by the type of use. Secondarily, from this and other threads, what I'm sensing is that the stabilized woods all feel similar, and that is smooth and not very grippy in wet environments.

So how, then, would you describe the feel of your non-stabilized woods. I suppose I'm looking for comparisons as much as possible: X is more grippy than Y; Both A and B are pretty textured, but B was too rough for working long; etc.

Thanks again, all!

Michael

RRaconteur · May 27, 2014

I forgot to add--this will be a knife I use when camping and other outdoorsy stuff, but I expect it will be used for a decent amount of bushcraft type carving (though not batoning).

Jessero · May 27, 2014

This is a great thread! Very relevant to me because ive been on a "wood knife kick" for the past year, and this weekend watched Modern Marvels - Wood

I have no real input as to certain woods being better suited for certain tasks, nor do i have experience with Fiddleback knives... however, i do have experience with a few wooden Buck knives... i would say as a whole that may actually be a tiny bit less practical compared to synthetic materials. Directly comparing the Buck 303 Cadet with black sawcut delerin vs the same with Rosewood, i can say that the grip in the synthetic is less prone to slipping when your hands are sweaty, it is lighter, and from what ive read, it is more durable.
That being said, if i had to choose one or the other to keep, id take the wood one in a heartbeat. They have a beautiful classic look, this is a given... but I feel like wood has a soul. I have almost become superstious or OCD about carrying a wood knife on me every day and have all but ignored all my synthetic knives for a while now. This weekend, watching the Modern Marvels episode about wood, i feel almost vindicated and that i was not just being totally silly and crazy thinking that there is some life to a dead, processed piece of wood. On top of showing how without wood we would never have explored in ships, or travelled on wagons with wood wheels, they also showed a little snippet about the origins of the term "knock on wood". People "used to" believe that good spirits lived in wood, and touching or knocking on it would protect you from evil spirits. So maybe us wood-handled knife lovers just innately know that carrying around a nice peice of wood in the pocket, with a blade (blades being another huge major jump for humankind) connects us to our species past and brings about good luck?

RRaconteur · May 27, 2014

Jessero said:
This is a great thread! Very relevant to me because ive been on a "wood knife kick" for the past year, and this weekend watched Modern Marvels - Wood
I have no real input as to certain woods being better suited for certain tasks, nor do i have experience with Fiddleback knives... however, i do have experience with a few wooden Buck knives... i would say as a whole that may actually be a tiny bit less practical compared to synthetic materials. Directly comparing the Buck 303 Cadet with black sawcut delerin vs the same with Rosewood, i can say that the grip in the synthetic is less prone to slipping when your hands are sweaty, it is lighter, and from what ive read, it is more durable.
That being said, if i had to choose one or the other to keep, id take the wood one in a heartbeat. They have a beautiful classic look, this is a given... but I feel like wood has a soul. I have almost become superstious or OCD about carrying a wood knife on me every day and have all but ignored all my synthetic knives for a while now. This weekend, watching the Modern Marvels episode about wood, i feel almost vindicated and that i was not just being totally silly and crazy thinking that there is some life to a dead, processed piece of wood. On top of showing how without wood we would never have explored in ships, or travelled on wagons with wood wheels, they also showed a little snippet about the origins of the term "knock on wood". People "used to" believe that good spirits lived in wood, and touching or knocking on it would protect you from evil spirits. So maybe us wood-handled knife lovers just innately know that carrying around a nice peice of wood in the pocket, with a blade (blades being another huge major jump for humankind) connects us to our species past and brings about good luck?

Thanks for that, Jessero. My personal aesthetic has always included more organic lines, colors, and textures. Sounds like you're the same way. Good luck swinging a Fiddleback sometime soon.

Michael