Yes, another question about shrinking wood handles

cockroachfarm

cockroachfarm

Joined
Jan 6, 2001
Messages
4,399
I have a boot knife that South African maker Rob Brown made for me a couple of years ago. I had not handled it for a while and last month I noticed that the handles had shrunk a bit, exposing the tang edges a tiny bit. (The wood had been stabilized)

I tried soaking the handle in food grade mineral oil for a few days but so far that hasn't made any difference. Rob suggested that I buy a product called 'Woodoc' and soak it in that. I have also read here about using tung oil.

Unfortunately, replacing the handles is not an option: they are made from wood recovered from the sunken galleon "Sacramento" (if you are interested in the story, you could probably search in "Customs" for my posting shortly after I received the knife). No more of that wood is available.

I'm anal-retentive anyway when it comes to small blemishes, but in this case I think my compulsion is justified: the fit and finish of this knife is just about as perfect as the human hand can achieve and the shrunken handles are, to me, as obvious as if they had split in half.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.


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When you're dealing with natural materials you takes your chances. That stuff has been under water for a looong time. It had to be stabilised when brought to the surface with other liquids and after who knows how long that process takes, dried. It either wasn't completely dry when stabilized, or just happens to be one of those woods that shrinks and swells with the climate/humidity.

I've had stabilized snakewood do that to me so many times I quit using it. and it was very well seasoned before stabilization.

I don't know what to tell you on that handle except maybe try to humidify it again a bit and see it that helps.

There is one other thing. There's a product on the market used to swell chair legs, tenons and such when they shrink and loosen. It works by swelling the wood and it's used quite a bit in this state because of the dryness.

You might try that. Many hardware stores carry it, but I can't remember the name of it at the moment. Sorry.

Good luck, however you go.
 
I often see this with snakewood.I just take down the small lip of metal exposed (start with 400) and rebuff the handle.
 
Thanks for the suggestions (I think I've seen that stuff to swell tenons at Lee Valley).

I've had this problem with other knives but it has never bothered me as much as with this knife - it is about as perfect in fit and finish as I have ever seen. I don't think there's really a solution to this problem - ie. a knife built in one environment (humid, etc.) and then shipped to one that's quite different (dry, etc.). I have a beautiful Fujisaka folder with mammoth ivory scales - the shrinkage now shows daylight between the bolsters and the handles! Not Stan's fault; he'd never send out a knife with a flaw like that on purpose.

Rob Brown has of course offered to try and correct this, but we both agree that the "historical" significance of this piece would be lost if he simply replaced the handles with a different wood.
 
If all your voodoo products fail, I would simply wait a while and ship it back to him and have him reshape the handle with the existing scales on. By that I mean have him grind the exposed tang down to the dimension that the wood has shrunken to. He should be able to accomplish this with minimal change in shape and or dimensions. Then you still have the historical value of the wood. Just a thought. GREAT looking knife by the way.
Matt Doyle
 
mdoyle said:
If all your voodoo products fail, I would simply wait a while and ship it back to him and have him reshape the handle with the existing scales on. By that I mean have him grind the exposed tang down to the dimension that the wood has shrunken to. He should be able to accomplish this with minimal change in shape and or dimensions. Then you still have the historical value of the wood. Just a thought. GREAT looking knife by the way.
Matt Doyle
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Thank you. Have you ever held a knife from Rob Brown? The fit and finish is superb. I had thought about sending the knife back to Rob (and he's one of only a few makers I would trust to "fix" this) but I'm not sure yet. I'll try a few of these magic elixirs and if they don't do anything, I might consider it.
 
UPDATE:

I left the knife soaking, undisturbed, in mineral oil for two weeks. Removed it from the jar a few minutes ago and - no change. :( :( :(

One more thing to try - the 'Woodoc' that Rob suggested.

If that doesn't work, I guess I have to live with it because I have decided not to risk shipping the knife back to Rob (of course he has offered to try to fix it).
 
Question , once wood 'shrinks' , will it continue ? i mean i would think it would come to a point where it would stop.
Your story is pretty bummer man , hope it works out for ya , gotta say , I would be more excited about the wood than the knife , wood like that fascinates me.
Good luck.
 
If the offending shrinkage is minor enough, small voids can be filled successfully with superglue.
After buffing it cannot be seen.
Dirk
 
Yes, the historical value of that wood is what has kept the scales on this knife! As I mentioned, I have been in touch with Rob and he has of course offered to look at it and see what he can do, but I just don't feel like letting it out of my hands! Perhaps one day he will make it to Blade and I will then hand it to him in person. I'm looking at that knife right now and the blade is polished as close to perfection as I believe human efforts could achieve. Then...I run my eyes along the handle...and the light glints off the exposed tang! Pretty sad. :(

I tell ya, the life of a perfectionist is not an easy one. ;)
 
oupa said:
If the offending shrinkage is minor enough, small voids can be filled successfully...
Click to expand...

There are no "voids" to fill - the scales on each side have shrunk proportionately so that now the sharp edge of the tang is exposed all the way around. This has also happened on several folders I own, but it just doesn't bother me as much as it does on this knife.

(Thanks, BTW, for all the suggestions on how _I_ could fix this knife; however, being a "Technical Idiot, First Class" I would no more try to "fix" this knife myself than I would attempt open heart surgery on one of my children! ;) )
 
I understand that you may not wish to risk the handle with doing it yourself.The repair is REALLY SIMPLE.It is merely taking down the slightly raised edge, exposed by the shrinking,with a hard backed piece of 400 grit paper.Taking it to a higher grit and buffing will finish the job.If done by hand there is no risk to the valuable handle material at all.Any competent maker could do it in less than an hour.Rob Brown would be glad to do it ,I am sure.It does not entail removing or risking the handle.I would gladly do it for free,as would most of the good Canadian makers nearer to you.Give one a call.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
I understand that you may not wish to risk the handle with doing it yourself.The repair is REALLY SIMPLE.It is merely taking down the slightly raised edge, exposed by the shrinking,with a hard backed piece of 400 grit paper.Taking it to a higher grit and buffing will finish the job.If done by hand there is no risk to the valuable handle material at all.Any competent maker could do it in less than an hour.Rob Brown would be glad to do it ,I am sure.It does not entail removing or risking the handle.I would gladly do it for free,as would most of the good Canadian makers nearer to you.Give one a call.
Stacy
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Thanks, Stacy, but it's not just a matter of finding a competent smith to do the work. I have a personal objection to letting someone other than Rob Brown correct this - as I am sure Rob does. And as I have stated several times, Rob has offered - of course - to correct this. Not only do I consider him a friend, but there is probably no one else whom I would trust to "fix" a knife, after the fact. I have had tiny blemishes or flaws corrected in other knives by other makers and I will never go that route again. That knife is very special to me and, right now, I don't feel a I want to ship it back to South Africa. (and to take away some of the pain, I have just ordered another knife from Rob ;) )

And thank you for your offer to do it for "free" - I appreciate it. :)
 
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