Choosing Handle Materials

BrokenCamillus · Post by **BrokenCamillus** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:34 am

Is there a source of information for choosing handle materials? To be specific, is there a book that tells you how to cure your own wood, or stabilize other materials?

What do you do when you don't want to order something exotic?

What native (hard) woods make good handle material?

Have you ever used bone from something you'd eat?

What's the scoop on Handle Materials?

Al

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:02 pm

Al, with handle materials you are only limited by your imagination. Any native hardwoods make a good handle, just depends on how you want them to look. Depending on where you live osage orange, hickory, mulberry, black locust, honey locust, and oaks make good handles. Bone from something I'd eat? Sure! I've used cattle bone a few times, you can also use deer antler and deer leg bone, here is an easy open I put weathered deer bone one.

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 3:07 am

I love to work with exotic hardwood. I am fortunate to live within an hour or so drive from Gilmer Wood in Portland, OR. I like to go in and look around and pick out the pieces I want. http://www.gilmerwood.com/

My youngest son also installs hardwood floors so I get some nice scraps from him.

Dale

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:29 am

I also love to work with exotic hardwoods. Thanks for the Portland tip, my brother lives near there and my folks live in Medford. So, I have been going over to Cook's in Klamath Falls. They have been good people to work with. Some things are a little pricey, but when you can pick out your own wood in the warehouse, it's worth it.
http://www.cookwoods.com

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:55 am

Thanks for the link. I didn't know about Cook's. I also get some of the more common exotics at Wood Craft in Tigard http://www.woodcraft.com/
& Woodcrafters in Salem http://www.woodcraftersoregon.com/index2.ivnu

I live in Salem so Woodcrafters is handy for me, but Gilmer's has the selection of all the rare exotics. The guy at Gilmer's said, "The other places are meat & potatoes, we are the candy store." It is true, they have all sorts of wood I have never heard of. I was able to get some nice King Wood, which I guess isn't even on the world market any more. One of my favorites to work with is Panamanian Cocobolo. It seems to have more color to it than the Mexican Cocobolo, at least the stuff I got has.

Are you going to the OKCA show in Eugene this April? If you do, we will have to have a get together of all the guys from AAPK. It might be fun.

Dale

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:05 pm

I'd sure like to make it up to the OKCA show, it would be fun. Thanks for the other links!

At Cook's I was able to browse the warehouse and come away with some real stunning Thuya Burl, Snakewood, and Buckeye Burl that I intend to send to WSSI to be stabilized. Some of the items I picked up were green, for turning, I'll be patient and let they dry out. I did use pentacryl on some of it to displace moisture. Snakewood can't be stabilized because it's to dense, but I got some there that had no cracks in it at all, a problem I've seen in other places. Alas, snakewood is sold at $35.00 per lb,

so I got just enough to make some knives for my brothers.

I got some Claro walnut (western black walnut) from Cali'co Hardwoods who specialize in high end gunstock blanks. (they sell to some of the most premier makers in the world. $275 to $900.00+ for a gunstock blank

) I was able to beg (free) for a few cut-offs, just because the guy was a knife maker also.

They don't live in my neighborhood!

The only other source for wood around here is http://www.mountstorm.com and they don't have as much as Gilmore's or Cook's.

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:21 pm

I will only be stabilizing the Buckeye Burl, in it's natural state it is far to soft for a knife. But, a good piece is memorable.

Another handle material to consider is to buy some antler off ebay, I have a good supply of whitetail, elk, and mule deer antler I picked up as a single batch.

Another source is your butcher shop or pet store, get shin bones that are intended for pets. Once you have them, boil them in TSP, do this twice until they are clean. Let them dry and then they can be cut up, jigged, and dyed. Elk or deer bones can be used also. The shin bone is regarded as being the most dense.

Uuuh, I guess you could even use road-kill.

sunburst · Post by **sunburst** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:28 pm

I apologize if I am getting a little bit off topic here but it always amazes me at what can be used for handle material...Material such as this crocodile and armadillo hide...

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:31 pm

Those are beautiful. I especially, like the armadillo scales....very unique. Thanks.

s-k

MITCH RAPP · Post by **MITCH RAPP** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:55 pm

Damn! Sunburst, you always have the coolest Knives.

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:00 pm

My favorite source for wood (for knife handles) are the bargain bins at Woodcrafters and Gilmers. I can pick through and find pieces with cracks or other imperfections and work around them to get knife handles. Often I can get a great handle or two from a piece of wood that only cost $4 or $5, but if the whole piece had been flawless it might have cost $20-$40, depending on the wood and size of the piece. The pieces are left over from cutting other pieces. Wood Craft (in Tigard) has woodworking classes and sometimes I can get good scraps there also.

Dale

PS- That armadillo handle is way cool.

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:44 pm

sunburst, that armadillo is way cool, I'll have to see if my buddy out west can ship me a roadkill

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:20 am

smiling-knife wrote:Those are beautiful. I especially, like the armadillo scales....very unique. Thanks. s-k

I like how he designed the bolsters, really makes the knife flow with the armadillo handle.

nmikash · Post by **nmikash** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:40 am

Hukk said

Another source is your butcher shop or pet store, get shin bones that are intended for pets. Once you have them, boil them in TSP, do this twice until they are clean.

TSP= Tri Sodium Phosphate?

Nick

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:23 am

I saw some big beef bones at Walmart for dogs to chew on, about $5.
I could off the ends, give them to my dogs, boil the bone I keep in the TSP and I am in business.

At least it sounds good.
Has anyone tried this?

Being a Scotsman that idea appeals to my thrifty side.

Dale

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:18 pm

orvet wrote:I saw some big beef bones at Walmart for dogs to chew on, about $5.
I could off the ends, give them to my dogs, boil the bone I keep in the TSP and I am in business. At least it sounds good.
Has anyone tried this?
Being a Scotsman that idea appeals to my thrifty side.
Dale

I haven't yet, but it is on that MONSTOROUS list of things to do that I have, taxes next week

here is a link to another site: http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showt ... one+scales
There are even tips for dying, actually this is where I got the idea to do it myself.

I told my brother to save the hide and shin bones from next year's Elk, the mailman will just love that package.

Actually I'll just have him send the hide to the tanner. A package of shin bones better be overnight and listed as perishable, imagine the smell if it's lost.