When using wood I will only use highly figured wood, I believe one of the reasons for a custom knife is to set itself above the norm. There is no reason a hard useing knife cant have a "WOW" factor.
The reason wood can be used for a hard using knife is because of a process called Stabilization where resin is injected into softer wood which then dries inside and creates a practically indestructible handle. It is water proof, oil proof yet retains a wood feel and still allows a high polished finish.
What is a Burl you might wonder? A tree Burl is a large, dense, heavy, frequently gnarly outgrowths on trees whose fancy, compressed grain figures, when sliced, make them ideal for exotic wood veneers; commonly used as decorative material on the consoles and dashboards of expensive automobiles; burls frequently are harvested during the process of cutting down dead trees for guitar tonewood. Common figures are Burl, Birdeye,Quilting.
Click the link to see example, some are the actual peice I have in stock
WOOD:
Amboyna burl : A rare, exotic very hardwood that grows in Southeast Asia,Concidered the best of all exotics.
Afzelia Burl : One of my favorite woods, very hardy beautiful hardwood from Loas sometimes Africa.
Black Ash burl : A beautiful burl harvested in the US, Some I have access to is Amazing, Needs stabilized.
Bubinga, Quilted: Often used by luthiers for harps and other instruments. Best known for trim on lexus cars.
Australian She oak : Also known as Beefwood. Very cool looking wood and I have found some amazing she oak.
Beech Burl and spalted: A Very popular northamerican wood, and can be some of the prettiest wood there is.
Blackwood: A African dense, lustrous wood ofpure black If you want black forget ebony this is it.
Briar Burls: The best briar is found along the rocky coastline of the Mediterranean A very cool burl wood!
Bocate: Very nice figured wood from mexico
California Buckeye burl: One of my favorite US woods,Can have several colors in a single handle. Needs stabilized
Cherry Spalted and burl: Another very pretty US wood.
Cocobolo: A extraordinarily dense pretty South American wood.
Coolibah Burl: A northern Australia Eucalyptus, red in color and one of the prettiest burls to be found bar none
African Ebony, a very hard dark wood from Africa, often with cream colored streaks.
Sonoran Desert iron wood: found in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona Mexico. It is one of the hardest and most dense woods in the world.
Gidgee : A very hard, dense and sometimes rare Aussie wood
Hackle berry, Spalted : A colorful US wood, Spalting caused by mineral and water .
Madrone Burl: A US west coast wood, the Burl is ussually not as tight as other burls and as such not as busy.
Spalted Maple: Spalted version of maple wood.
Tiger Maple: Also known as curly maple.A very rustic looking wood, great for period Hawks and blackpowder rifle stocks.
Maple
Burl: naturally occurring growths in the trunk of the Northwest Big Leaf Maple tree.
Birds eye Maple: wood is of course hard maple, but for reason, yet to be clearly understood, in some rare cases the tree grows little "eyes" throughout the wood.
Myrtle Burl: Another very pretty wood from Oregon.
Mesquite Figured and burl: This beautiful wood is heavy and very hard. . The yellows, pinks and orange/reds appear in marble like grains to make this an exquisite wood.
Black Oak,spalted and burl: A darker oak colored burl, very striking and hard to find.
Olivewood,Figured: Olive wood is heavy, dense and durable with a distinctive colors that range in nuances of red and creamy pigments with irregular gray, brown, and wild black lines. A medditerainian wood, Mine comes from the holy land of Bethleham Israel.
Redwood,Lace and burl: A stunning reddish burl and lacing from the westcoast US. SOme very nice peices are known as fire lace do to the figure.
Rosewood, Brazilian: A very rare, very pretty tone wood, common in guitars.
Rosewood, Indian ,Sapelle/Quilted: Considered the finest mahogany from Africa and India, lustrous reddish or purplish brown in color with a medium texture and interlocked grain.
Snakewood: A amazing South American wood whose name comes from the grain looking like snake skin.
Sycamore Spalted: A spalted version of a common US wood.
Black Walnut burl: A commonly available, reasonably inexpensive high quality burl.
Figured Clario Walnut: A slightly higher quality version of blackwalnut, uncommon to be in burl figure.
Wenge,Figured: A pretty African hardwood, poplular with wood turners due to its stability.
Zircote:A hard, dark greenish/grayish wood from Central America, mostly from Mexico, this wood frequently has one of the most wildly swirly and billowy grain patterns of any wood.
Zebrawood:A very hard African wood distinctive for its zebra like light and dark stripes
Other handle materials
Stag (Antler)
I often use antler for handles.There are a variety of species to choose from. If youd like a handle from your personal antler I can do so.
Elk
Mule deer
Sambar stag
White tail deer
Sitka deer
Man made handle options
G-10
Micarta
Fittings:
Nickle Silver
Damascus steel
Wrought Iron
Mild steel
Brass
Red Brass
Copper
Mokume
416 Stainless steel |
