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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 10-16-2013, 06:03 PM
ferris ferris is offline
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knife scale questions

hey everyone, since ive started making knives, everyone i know has been giving me pieces of wood to use as knife handles and some of it pretty nice..jarrah wood, black walnut, african ebony...etc.
i decided to start making some scales for some knife projects im working on but cant decide if i should cut the wood with the grain or across? does it make a difference streangth wise? i am stabalizing the scales also using a vacuum pump and mason jar, how long should i leave the scales in the wood hardener? i was thinking about an hour?
appreciate any advice i can get..
thanks
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Old 10-16-2013, 06:20 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Ya, that happens a lot. One of my customers once sent me a 44 pound box of wood from half way across the country. After weeding through it I got about 5 pounds of truly great wood, the rest went in the fire place. Generally, that's about what you can expect from free wood but what you listed sounds pretty good.

Mostly, scales are cut so that the grain runs the length of the handle.

Stabilizing is a good idea, I send out all my wood to have it professionally stabilized. There is a world of difference between wood that is professionally stabilized and what you are doing. It's perfectly fine to do stabilizing the way you're doing it as long as you understand that the results will be limited. How long it takes the goo to penetrate the wood will depend on the wood, the thickness of the goo, and how much pressure and vacuum you can apply and for how long you can apply it. You need to do some testing and determine the results of your process...


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Old 10-16-2013, 06:33 PM
ferris ferris is offline
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thanks i realise the results wont be professional grade, just figured it was better than not stabalized at all and i have fun doing every step possible of the knife making process myself..thanks for the advice!
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Old 10-17-2013, 07:30 AM
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miketheknife miketheknife is offline
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I have stabilized some of my scales with Minwax wood hardener and it seems to work well. Some of them have been on knives for over a year without any issues. I also use the vacuum pump with the Mason jar and I leave it under vacuum until all the bubbles stop coming out of the wood. I then release the vacuum and then do it again. I did cut up some before using them and most of the wood that I have used will be solid all the way through. One trick I use is to drill the pin holes and shape it to about 95% before stabilizing them. The holes in the scales seem to help the penetration of the stabilizer. I stabilized some Spanish cedar out of a cigar box because it is very soft wood with plenty of porosity and I was surprised how hard they got after I stabilized. I even used them on my deer skinner I made for myself.
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Old 10-17-2013, 03:41 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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You need to be aware than the Minwax Wood Hardener is not waterproof.

Doug


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Old 10-17-2013, 05:28 PM
Hurley Hurley is offline
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I haven't tried this, so I don't know about the results. Might not even mix correctly. What would happen if you added a bit of Thompson's water seal to the hardner? This question is for me also, because I stabilize my wood that way also for now.


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Old 10-17-2013, 06:34 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Well, don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure there would be a severe chemical reaction that would catalyze the nitrogen in the atmosphere around the world and thereby bring on the much ballyhooed Zombie Apocalypse. Either that, or something else entirely.

In other words, how can we know? Try it and see. But, what we do know is that whatever it does it still won't be as good as the commercial process which, after everything is said and done, probably doesn't cost any more than what you're doing ...


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Old 10-18-2013, 07:24 AM
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miketheknife miketheknife is offline
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I hear what you are saying Ray and I agree 100%. I just like trying to do things myself and see what happens. Sometimes good, sometimes a complete disaster!
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Old 10-19-2013, 06:06 AM
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One year?
Our museums are full of hard used knives that are 200 years old and older with the handles still intact and useful....no stabilization process was used. A year won't tell much.
If you are going to mix chemicals and aren't a chemist....do it outside and down wind of the house!
My guess is you are going to get a gummy mess that will not harden up.


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