wood for knife handle

[M.J.Lampert]

please correct me if I am wrong

 from what I've read some woods require to be stabilized in a vacuum chamber and something like cactus juice.

what I'm wondering is it ok to use oak or apple wood (I was given both) with just keeping them dry and then a good finish of BLO on top or if i need to make/ find someone with the equipment to stabilize 

thanks and sorry if I'm repeating something in another thread I did do some basic searches but might have missed it

M.J.Lampert

[Daswulf]

Dried wood will work. Stabalizing will help it last longer or make it work for less suitable wood and such. They certainly didn't have vacuum chambers back in the early times of knife making. 

If you have good dried hard woods to use dont be afraid to use them and add blo, oil finishes or other appropriate finishes after. 

There isn't One way to do it and if it works, it isn't wrong. 

 

[Frazer]

Before I started stabilizing with cactus juice (for the sake of transparency this is a relatively new development) I used to finish my knife handles with stain and polyurethane.. IMHO sealing the scales is better than trying to avoid getting them wet.

Selecting woods that are relatively stable naturally is something to keep in mind. Stable woods maintain their dimensions well with changes in humidity and/or moisture content and some (but not all) "stable" woods have natural rot restive properties.

I'm not saying unstabilized oak etc. scales won't work and if it's your knife then use whatever wood you like and care for it accordingly. I'm just saying that there are many naturally stable woods out there that are worth looking into.

[ThomasPowers]

Just for fun; look at the list of woods used for Medieval knife handles that is in "Knives and Scabbards, Museum of London".

(For my friction folder, (#309 iirc), I used boxwood like the original.)

[Frazer]

I do not have that book... Would you mind sharing a few?

Boxwood is a very dense and stable wood. Apparently it has been used for instruments for a couple thousand years..

[ThomasPowers]

I was doing a copy of the folder and trying to do it all by hand with no modern abrasives or tooling.  Boxwood works a lot like aluminum when you are using hand tools!   Scraping the slot for the blade to be in using a "single tooth drawknife"  made from a masonry nail and spending 5 hours smoothing the sides of the blade on a stone in water I remember well.  Bet I could make another in 1 day using modern equipment!

[ThomasPowers]

Lets see if I can reproduce the chart of Materials used for Handles from "Knives and Scabbards, Museum of London"

  material   | 12C  | E13C | M-L13C | E-M14C | L14C | E15C | US | (Un Stratified)

bone                                                       1               5         2        2

copper                                                                    1

brass                                                       1

horn                                            1                           8

Cow horn?                                                               2

tin                              1

  material   | 12C  | E13C | M-L13C | E-M14C | L14C | E15C | US |

Alder                         1                                            1                  1

Beech                                                                     1

Birch                                                                       1

Box                 1                         4              2           14         4        1

Holly                                                                         1

Maple                                                         1             7

Oak                                                                                              1

Pomoideae Family     2                                           1                  2

Willow/Popular                                                                            1

Yew                                                                                              1

Wood Unknown         1             2                           4          2       3

  material   | 12C  | E13C | M-L13C | E-M14C | L14C | E15C | US |

Not going to do the charts on the Composition of the metal pins used or inlay materials or the type of blade based on how the high carbon edge was applied (7 different ways!)  I strongly suggest you buy or ILL the book if you want that info!

I will say that out of 300+ blades found in the excavations, I don't recall a single double edged blade,  What this suggests about their common use at these periods is left to the reader to juggle artifacts of preservation, frequency, etc.

[M.J.Lampert]

thanks

Thomas what are the  items on top dating ?

M.J.Lampert

[ThomasPowers]

Centuries: Early, Middle, Late, Un Stratified(unknown).  The Museum Of London book on "Knives and Scabbards" basically covers the excavations of the dumps that filled in behind the antiflood walls along the Thames.  So generally used and discarded items and not the versions used by Kings and upper nobility.  The book contains over 300 archaeological scale drawings with cross sections and information on the metallurgy of certain of them. Lists of maker's marks, details on how they were made, etc.  One of the best sources for how sheathes were made and stamped with designs of those periods too!

[HondoWalker]

I use oak, cherry, cedar and maple for knife handles. I give them a soak in linseed oil after they're made and once it has sunk in I cover the handle with epoxy.