Makers, tell me about iron wood.

SVTFreak

SVTFreak

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
5,488
I know it's a heavy, dense, tough wood. I love woods and am trying to decide what covers to get on my next custom. I want a user. I know g10 or micarta or even carbon fiber would be best, but I just love the warmth of wood. (Traditional style slip joint, about 3.75 closed). I have concerns about wood though. The knife will see all sorts of uses, including food prep when needed, and will get washed in water. Not daily. Weekly maybe. Of course it will be dried and oiled after (usually mineral oil for that reason). Also, I live in South Louisiana. It gets hot and humid here.

Would I have a problem with iron wood swelling, moving etc? Should I just go with synthetic (I think black g10 with the right shield will still be very sleek and stylish) and avoid any possible future problems?

Need advice from the knowledge of makers.

Thanks!
 
Also, I'm open to recommendations about woods that would be ok with the above conditions.
 
Stabilized woods work well under those conditions, so the sky is pretty much the limit. They do not move when they get wet.

If you take care of your knife well, ironwood should be just fine as well.
 
There are a lot of choices. Desert ironwood is obviously a great choice "It wouldn't be so popular if it wasent" but that is certainly not to say its the only, or even the best choice.

Ironwood is a seriously strong wood with a closed pore structure, which is one of the major reasons it takes such a glossy shine. Figure can be stunning, though the wood is known to darken a fair amount over time towards the deep brown/ black end of the spectrum It has a lot of variation, and most ironwood is pretty unattractive which is why the prices on pieces of figured or burled woods are so damn high. Another thing that makes it so attractive to knifemakers is its high stability means it is not likely to crack once its dry. While it does OK in wet conditions, woods with a higher natural oil content like rosewoods and lignium vitae are better choices.

Kingwood is one great choice, its about 10-15 percent stronger than ironwood and just as stable. It comes in either the deep purple mexican kind, or the deep brown/ purple and gold form from brazil. Its a rosewood, so its incredibly stable and water proof.

Burmese blackwood: Another insane rosewood, about 7 percent stronger than ironwood. Its colors are more of a moltted brown/ purple with black lines running through it.

Cocobolo: While not quite as strong as desert ironwood, it is very close. Its an incredibly attractive rosewood, and its high strength, weight and stabilty make it a popular choice, especially on knives that will be wet often

Lignium Vitae: Classically the strongest wood in the world, Lignium is some seriously tough stuff. Its not the most attractive wood, but if you just want strength its a great choice

Green heart/ Bulletwood/ leadwood: See Lignium. These species arent related, but all look and act pretty similar to each other.

Have any questions about these or other wood? Or looking for these woods "I carry cocobolo, both kinds of kingwood and burmese blackwood" let me know!
 
Your issue is in the size of the scale. On a folder, the wood is very thin compared to length. It is attached with two small pins or screws. This makes a situation where movement can cause problems. Things that are rather stable, like bone and antler, MOP, and ivory, are traditional. Synthetics are very secure, as they don't move to any degree. In wood choices for uses that will get wet and dry, use woods with lots of natural oils. Cocobolo, rosewoods, desert ironwood, and similar woods work for folder scales.

In working DI, keep it cool, use fresh abrasives, and go slow. Heat build-up is your enemy. After cutting into the scales, allow to sit for a week or two to move as it wishes, then flatten the backs. After flattening, let it sit for a week to move any if it feels like it. Bu releasing the stresses before putting on the knife you will avoid most of the warping issues.
 
Thanks so much for the advice! That's what I needed, and better summed up than my Google turned up.

My builder is checking to see what stabilized wood he has. Then I'll decide weather to go with that or obtain some myself and send to him.
 
There are a some problems with desert ironwood:

1) It turns dark over time. I have some knives that were highly figured burl that are now almost black. Washing and oiling will make the darkening happen much faster.

2) Ironwood is endangered. The most highly figured wood comes from the Sonoran desert in Mexico. It is illegal to import desert ironwood into the US. However, that has not stopped smugglers. We stopped selling ironwood because we could not track the wood back to the person of company who harvested the wood in the US. I would be very careful to get paperwork showing the wood is from the US. It is just a matter of time until wood is being scrutinized like ivory.

3) Desert ironwood smells bad when being worked!

Chuck Bybee
 
Whereas amoboyna burl smells like you are baking cookies when you grind the unstabilized stuff. :thumbup: Any stabilized wood is going to smell like you are laminating the hull of a cheap bass boat at some point. :barf:
 
The smell of amoboyna always reminds me of dill pickles.

I love the smell of olivewood. My wife always has Italian food ready after we work with olive.

Chuck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top