I could use a wood lesson

[Kreg Whitehead]

Just finished heat treating my 6 th blade.....9th if you count the 3 I broke trying to do an interrupted quench. lol

So far I have made micarda for all of em with the exception of the bowie I used some elk antler on.

I have hear you guys throw around the term stabilized wood.

Is there any wood(s) that would be a good choice un stabilized?

There is a place here in salt lake called macbeth hardwood that has pretty much everything.

I would kind of like to see some ebony on this one. I love spalted maple and tigerwood also.

Is the "stabilizing"  something I can do myself??  Any sugestions where a fella can buy some stabilized wood.

I would love to see a pic of your guys fav wood to work with.

[Doug Crawford]

Ebony is so dense you wouldn’t get much out of stabilizing it. The wood needs to be porous to absorb the stabilizer

[Kreg Whitehead]

Soooooo what exactly would a person use to "stabilize" a less dense wood? Just some urethane....or??

[Jon Cook]

Ipe is kind of naturally stabilized, with the sap making it just about waterproof.  Only thing is, well, a couple things. Some people are allergic to it, it doesn't like epoxy, and it's a bit chippy. And lightly figured. But it's readily available since it's used for decking. 

[Doug Crawford]

Stabilizing is done in a vacuum, you submerge the wood in the stabilizer and reduce the atmosphere, which sucks the stabilizer into the wood. I have only used non-stabilized wood. Boiled linseed oil is what I use to protect it, it needs several coats and occasional maintenence, but I haven’t had any problems with it. A stabilizing setup costs around $500, and the stabilizer is fairly costly.

[Jon Cook]

@Doug Crawford I've done the same so far, but nothing I've made had been around long enough for me to be confident in the results. With a touch up coat now and then, how did you think tung oil would hold up to the air flavoured soup we swim through here in the summer?

[Doug Crawford]

58 minutes ago, Jon Cook said:

@Doug Crawford I've done the same so far, but nothing I've made had been around long enough for me to be confident in the results. With a touch up coat now and then, how did you think tung oil would hold up to the air flavoured soup we swim through here in the summer?

Pretty well if you keep up with it- most of what I make is kitchen knives, so they are wet frequently, i give them a touch up coat about once every week or two depending on how much they get used

[Kreg Whitehead]

1 hour ago, Doug Crawford said:

Stabilizing is done in a vacuum, you submerge the wood in the stabilizer and reduce the atmosphere, which sucks the stabilizer into the wood. I have only used non-stabilized wood. Boiled linseed oil is what I use to protect it, it needs several coats and occasional maintenence, but I haven’t had any problems with it. A stabilizing setup costs around $500, and the stabilizer is fairly costly.

Thanks for tips...would one of those food vav bag dealios work?

[Vern Wimmer]

Right now I am looking at a cabinet/bookcase that my Great-Grandfather made 110 years ago. It must be a miracle it survived this long without being made of "stablized" wood.

There are a few woods that might need the process to be used, but there far, far more that get along just fine without it. I have even used our local myrtlewood, which can be beautiful but is well known to be too unstable for cabinets without a good dose of luck. Some fragile or twisty woods, and other natural substances need it but you almost have to seek them out deliberately.

Some one mentioned tung oil. If you have a real figured piece of wood and you have sanded it down properly try "polymerized tung oil" follow the instruuctions about temperature etc, but you can work it a bit like oil until it starts to set. 

[Wes Detrick]

What Vern said.  Most hardwoods do not need to be stabilized to make a good handle.  They have been used for thousands of years without problem. 

Stabilization is good for a few reasons. 

1. It is good for porous, pucky woods that would not stand up to being used naturally.  Lots of burls fall into this category.  Spalted wood certainly does.  

2. You don't want the wood moving because of environmental changes, i.e. swelling in humid places, shrinking in arid ones.

3. Environments that are hard on woods (like working on a fishing boat) but you want to retain some natural looks and not use something synthetic

There are some hardwoods fulfill all of the above without being stabilized.  Cocobolo, Desert Ironwood, Ebony (which is prone to cracking and checking though), Gidgee and I am sure a bunch more I have no idea about.  

I use stabilized wood because I sell knives to people all over the country, and having wood shrink a little when it gets someplace different really pisses me off.

[Kreg Whitehead]

Thanks for the advice guys. A couple of final questions.

If I were to want to try the linseed oil deal....where do you find that. I dont think I have ever ran across that.

This is probably a dumb question....do you boil it before or after you attach it to the blade.

I really like the look of the iron wood...think I am gonna seek out some of that for this blade.

 

[SteveShimanek]

The linseed oil is pre-boiled by the maker and is usually found in hardware stores and home renovation places in the paint department. Don't let rags soaked in linseed oil accumulate as there is a risk of spontaneous combustion (fire).

Edited October 11, 2017 by SteveShimanek

[Vern Wimmer]

Linseed oil is carried by Ace, True Value, and almost anyplace that sells paint. Almost all is "boiled". Don't let that word confuse you. Simply put "boiling" refers to a process that is done by the manufacturer to assure the oil drys. Raw linseed doesn't dry. Be sparing with it. For a full rifle stock the rule is "one drop and a week's worth of rub." An exaggeration to be sure but correct in principle.

[Kreg Whitehead]

Great info...thanks guys!

[Doug Crawford]

1 hour ago, Vern Wimmer said:

Linseed oil is carried by Ace, True Value, and almost anyplace that sells paint. Almost all is "boiled". Don't let that word confuse you. Simply put "boiling" refers to a process that is done by the manufacturer to assure the oil drys. Raw linseed doesn't dry. Be sparing with it. For a full rifle stock the rule is "one drop and a week's worth of rub." An exaggeration to be sure but correct in principle.

To follow up on this- start out kind of heavy with it, put it on thick and let it soak in good, after about 10 minutes wipe any extra off and let it dry for a couple hours. Repeat that a few times. I usually give mine about 6-7 coats initially. Any excess won’t fully dry and will be slightly gummy. Boiled linseed oil was the military’s preferred rifle stock finish for a long time. I shared a room with a member of the USMC silent drill platoon for a while and their treatment was once every hour for a day, once a day for a week, and once a week forever. Their stocks were heavily used, handled daily though, so frequency will depend on how much you use the knife. One can of oil will last you a long time.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Doug Crawford

[GEzell]

Raw linseed oil does dry, it just takes several months instead of a week...

[Alan Longmire]

And wash your hands after using it, too.  The original stuff from back in the day had a little lead carbonate added as a drying aid in case the oil hadn't been boiled long enough.  Nowadays they don't boil it at all, they just load it up with metallic drying agents, most of which are compounds of cobalt and manganese.  Not deadly for skin contact, but not nice either, and toxic to eat.  And yes, a rag soaked in the oil and left wadded up to dry can spontaneously combust, so don't use a rag to apply.  A finger works well.

I use it on my hawk handles by applying one heavy coat, wiping off after a few minutes, and allowing to cure for a week or more.  Follow that with a single drop rubbed in hard with the bare hands.  It will get HOT.  Let cure for a few days.  Repeat the drop.  At this point it will have a nice gloss to it and the wood will look like you can see into it.  Now you can oil whenever you feel like afterwards, but I usually let it cure until it no longer smells of linseed oil at all, then hit it with a coat or two of high-end car wax.  This leaves a high-gloss finish that will withstand rain, bugs, and road salt at 120 mph, so I figure it's fine for a handle.    It's also easier for a new owner (one who isn't a Marine, anyway ) to maintain.  Just tell them when it starts looking a little dull, give it a spot of car wax.

[Vern Wimmer]

My Dad taught me to cut a small amount 50/50 with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and apply that as a first coat and keep it wet with that solution for an hour or more sanding down with my finest grit paper and then follow what Mr. Longmire said. 

[Brian Dougherty]

32 minutes ago, Vern Wimmer said:

My Dad taught me to cut a small amount 50/50 with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and apply that as a first coat and keep it wet with that solution for an hour or more sanding down with my finest grit paper and then follow what Mr. Longmire said. 

I do something similar to this on rifle stocks.