Wood vs Stabilized wood.

Great tip. Going to use a finished knife with vulcanized fiber in the house awhile and see what happens. I do like the idea of using a very thin layer of G10. That will sold the problem right off.
 
Thanks for the tip on the correct terminology. I'll take your advice on rounding the scales more next time. While it's rounded it could certainly be more round. I ran into a problem with the mosaic pins on this knife in that I was using the end of a tube and 1/4 inch of the pin wasn't showing up when I started cleaning up the handle. So I ended up having to make the handle thinner than I planned to bring the pin back. Pain in the butt. I finally got the pin to show through in it's entirety.
 
Thanks for the tip on the correct terminology. I'll take your advice on rounding the scales more next time. While it's rounded it could certainly be more round. I ran into a problem with the mosaic pins on this knife in that I was using the end of a tube and 1/4 inch of the pin wasn't showing up when I started cleaning up the handle. So I ended up having to make the handle thinner than I planned to bring the pin back. Pain in the butt. I finally got the pin to show through in it's entirety.

That is just so inconvenient, isn't it? This is why I make my own pins now... sure its more work, and its a bit of a headache, but this way I get exactly what I want and I know exactly what I have.

God Bless.
 
That is just so inconvenient, isn't it? This is why I make my own pins now... sure its more work, and its a bit of a headache, but this way I get exactly what I want and I know exactly what I have.

God Bless.

I'd love to learn how to make my own pins. Baby steps though. I'm going to try the handmade pins Sally Martin makes to see if they're any better. I've had more than a few problems with pins from Jantz and TexasKnife. Nothing they've done, but I'll get into a tube 3 or 4 inches down and an entire section of red will go missing and then will appear again.
 
Nice size and I like the profile. FYI, Any material in between the tang and scales is usually called a "Liner"

The handle also looks nice, In the future you may want to round the scales to the tang a bit more so it's more comfortable for long term use..

All around you did great and the customer should be happy.

I worked on a new knife today and tried to round it out more. What do you think about this? It has a yellow vulcanized fiber liner, but this is the last knife I'm making with that material. phcleaver1.jpg
 
I use fiber board liner material from Jantz Supply and haven't had any problems with swelling?

This Nakari style blade looks good. I would lower the nose a bit to raise by changing the angle of the edge on the next one to facilitate bigger hands and not risking having someones knuckles hit the board. Doing this will raise the angle of the handle.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Personally as a maker i would rather use stabilized wood over natural to guarantee my work that much more against swelling and movement in a finished knife. For a kitchen knife the only exception to stabilized or synthetic handle options would be ironwoods.
 
Just an FYI on cutting G10. Use a bimetal blade. I used a regular wood cutting blade to cut some 1/4" G10 stock and it tore the teeth off the blade then caught on a broken tooth and damaged the motor before it hit the off switch. That caused the motor to bog down more easily, and each time it did, it lost more power. Fiinally it would even cut a pine board and I had to replace the saw. Also, wear a respirator while working with it. You really don't want to breath the fibers cast off during the cutting. They can lodge in your lungs and not come out.

Doug
 
Hey guys,

I want reiterate my appreciation for all the great info on this subject and let you know I've compiled this information into an article for my new knife blog. My goal is to share this knowledge in a complete form and help other new knife makers, like myself, have easier access to the shared knowledge found here. I've posted the compiled article on bladesmithnews.com in hopes of crediting and sharing the info gathered here. Again, thanks for the great base of knowledge. My first inclination wasn't to write an article on what I've found here, but as I mulled it over I decided it was too good to keep a secret.
 
I use both, but lets remember stabilized wood is relatively new when you look at how long knives have been around.I think we all own a couple antiques that have been hard used for a decade or two with the hard wood still perfectly intact.
 
Just an FYI on cutting G10. Use a bimetal blade. I used a regular wood cutting blade to cut some 1/4" G10 stock and it tore the teeth off the blade then caught on a broken tooth and damaged the motor before it hit the off switch. That caused the motor to bog down more easily, and each time it did, it lost more power. Fiinally it would even cut a pine board and I had to replace the saw. Also, wear a respirator while working with it. You really don't want to breath the fibers cast off during the cutting. They can lodge in your lungs and not come out.

Doug
Weige,
My experience is that G-10 will destroy any band saw blade including Bi-metal blades. I used Scissors or fiber disc's to cut G-10 and I won't even use the stuff anymore because if it get's into your lungs the only way to get it out is by autopsy. Always wear a respirator when doing any of the work we do.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Here is my take
Stabilized wood is great. Lot less finish work to get a great finish. Putting all those coats of finish oil takes a lot of time and you still have to sand it to the same grit. As state some woods would be worthless as knife handles without it. As stated some woods don't need it and many of those won't take stabilization anyway.

That being said. the are tonnes of walnut gun stocks out their that are very old and still in great shape. Same thing with natural knife handles. Part of it depends on the wood and another big part is how well the knife is taken care of. I wouldn't have a problem with a good walnut handle that was well finished with something like tung oil as long as it wasn't left in water or left laying in poor environments. Part of it is the knife and use. If I made a W2 blade with a hamon, or any other non stainless stainless steel for that matter I wouldn't really worry about stabilizing a set of walnut scales or any other solid dense hardwood for it. If not taken care of the beauty won't last anyway. What good are nice stabilized scales on a piece of rust.
 
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Here is my take
Stabilized wood is great. Lot less finish work to get a great finish. Putting all those coats of finish oil takes a lot of time and you still have to sand it to the same grit. As state some woods would be worthless as knife handles without it. As stated some woods don't need it and many of those won't take stabilization anyway.

That being said. the are tonnes of walnut gun stocks out their that are very old and still in great shape. Same thing with natural knife handles. Part of it depends on the wood and another big part is how well the knife is taken care of. I wouldn't have a problem with a good walnut handle that was well finished with something like tung oil as long as it wasn't left in water or left laying in poor environments. Part of it is the knife and use. If I made a W2 blade with a hamon, or any other non stainless stainless steel for that matter I wouldn't really worry about stabilizing a set of walnut scales or any other solid dense hardwood for it. If not taken care of the beauty won't last anyway. What good are nice stabilized scales on a piece of rust.

You make a great point SS but in my experience, people seem to have an easier time cleaning and maintaining a blade properly than they do a handle. The customers with whom I deal, like a knife that needs as little maintenance as possible at a good price point and performance. This typically translates into High Carbon Steel with durable handle material. Many are willing to wipe down and oil a blade but seem more hesitant to spend the time with oils and waxes to keep their handles looking new. Now, if your customer wants a wooden handle in a natural state, there is no reason not to give them what they want but they have to understand and be capable of providing the type of care and upkeep that the knife requires. Just my .02¢
 
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