teak for handles?

I just made a chef knife with teak per a specific customer request. There are pros and cons to teak.

pro:
teak is impervious to water and rot. this one is obvious since boats have used teak for centuries.

it is very grippy

it is very dense and strong.


cons:
it’s not much to look at with zero figure. about the only thing you can give it is an oil finish to make the color richer.

if you don’t oil it every so often it will dry up and eventually shrink and crack. This is the primary concern for a knife handle over the long term.

The big challenges for teak is that the customer has to treat it like a good wood cutting board. So long as they remember to oil the handle now and again it will outlive the customer. The easy solution is to oil it whenever they oil their cutting board and they can use the same mineral oil.
 
^^^^^^^ DITTO^^^^^ Nailed it! The only thing I can add, is that I personally don't use it for knife handles....for the "con" reasons that John stated.

The one thing that I have discovered in over 3 decades of knifemaking..... if a customer can destroy it through neglect or misuse.... they will. I'm simply not willing to give them any fuel to do it with. ;)
 
i agree with you 100%, Ed. I did everything in my power to talk the customer out of using teak. Since the customer is a dear friend of my wife, the customer had no problem with tossing the heart strings card on the table. “This is a piece of teak left over from the porch my Dad made for my Mom. The knife is is a gift to my Mom to commemorate my Dad....”

Well ####.

And so I made it.
 
Thanks good advice. I actually should have mentioned it is for a small camping axe. I don’t know if that makes a difference. I also wonder about grain for an axe handle. knife handles often have little knots or twists that are very nice looking. I’m wondering if an ax handle should just be straight grain for strength.
 
I typically try to use woods with large straight grain for hatchet/axe handles..... Hickory, Ash, some Maples. In the exotic realm I've used Bocote, African Blackwood, and straight grained Desert Ironwood. I can't speak to how the Teak would do for the handle of a hatchet/axe..... never tried it in that capacity.

John..... Don't ya just hate when they throw "that card"!? The red flag goes up, the lights flash in your head, and then you go..... "Oh..... OK."

Not like I've had any experience with that myself (as my nose grows!) :p
 
Mark Barone said:
Thanks good advice. I actually should have mentioned it is for a small camping axe. I don’t know if that makes a difference. I also wonder about grain for an axe handle. knife handles often have little knots or twists that are very nice looking. I’m wondering if an ax handle should just be straight grain for strength.
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I would not. Teak, while dense, is not hard. In fact the 2in x 2in teak board that I used for the handle took a warp in my shop just from leaning. I stood it up in the corner for a while before I got to the project.

Teak bends very easily which makes it perfect for rub rails and decking on boats. It is commonly edge set for decking. “Edge set” is a boat term, meaning that you lay the board long-ways and flex it sideways so that the edge butts up to the edge of the board next to it. In this manner you get deck planking that follows the lines of the boat as it bows outward at its widest point and then pinches in again. This seems like a trait that runs counter to what would make a good axe or hatchet handle. Teak is about as soft as Ash or Hickory is hard, if that makes sense.


Here’s an example of edge-set decking on a sailboat.
 

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John Wilson said:
I would not. Teak, while dense, is not hard. In fact the 2in x 2in teak board that I used for the handle took a warp in my shop just from leaning. I stood it up in the corner for a while before I got to the project.

Teak bends very easily which makes it perfect for rub rails and decking on boats. It is commonly edge set for decking. “Edge set” is a boat term, meaning that you lay the board long-ways and flex it sideways so that the edge butts up to the edge of the board next to it. In this manner you get deck planking that follows the lines of the boat as it bows outward at its widest point and then pinches in again. This seems like a trait that runs counter to what would make a good axe or hatchet handle. Teak is about as soft as Ash or Hickory is hard, if that makes sense.


Here’s an example of edge-set decking on a sailboat.
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John Thanks, I am glad I asked. I was hoping to get a free lunch with the teak. It was pretty but not worth it. I think I may use it for shelves in my coastal kitchen.
 
I've worked with teak for over 30 years in the boating world. While it's good for boats, I'd never consider using it for knife handles. Not only is it plain looking with no figure to speak of, as John said, it's a fairly soft wood, but due to the silica in the wood it dulls cutting tools (hand planes, etc) quicker than other woods.
 
KenH said:
I've worked with teak for over 30 years in the boating world. While it's good for boats, I'd never consider using it for knife handles. Not only is it plain looking with no figure to speak of, as John said, it's a fairly soft wood, but due to the silica in the wood it dulls cutting tools (hand planes, etc) quicker than other woods.
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I did not know it had silica in it. That explains a lot.
 
Here are some interesting teak facts (Old growth is best - trees over 80 yr old): https://www.floridateak.com/teak-facts-top-quality-hardwood/

  • Teak wood has a high oil content which makes it extremely resistant to harsh environmental conditions and highly resistant to rot, mold, termites and boring insects.
  • Teak has a low shrinkage ratio, which makes it excellent for applications where it undergoes periodic changes in temperature and moisture.
  • The high silica content of teak wood make it uniquely non-skid, even when wet. It maintains its unique properties even under the worst effects of the sun and rain.
 
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