Wood Problems

C

ceramicsedge

Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
4
Just started this gig as a hobby, I have always been fascinated by knives and this is a logical thing to do. I have started out by ordering blades and attaching scales and finishing knives. This was the best thing for me to do to see if this is what I want to do long term. I have put together some knives that I was not ashamed to sell for a small price of course. I have learned some valuable lessons on finishing handles and protecting blades during this process. I learned the hard way.

My background is in Quality Assurance, I am currently a Quality Engineer at a Ceramics plant. This is quite handy since I have access to all kinds of refractory that we throw away, this may come in handy if I decided to build a forge. We also have some type of moldable refractory that can be poured in molds. We make Alumina Oxide, Silicon Carbide and Tungsten Carbide, and yes, I see me making some knives with these materials. This stuff is hard and would make great knives. The tungsten is especially durable as far a ceramics go.

Due to my career in QA I don’t think I will ever make a knife to my satisfaction, this is probably a good thing .

To my question:

I have worked a lot with Cocobolo as a handle material. I am making some steak knives and forks for a dear friend at cost. I purchased the blades and forks and have put Cocobolo handles on them. They look very nice considering my current skills, but I took some out the other day and the wood had split through the middle pin. I purchased the wood at a thickness of .250 inches to save me ripping it. The split is perpendicular to the blade. I glued and pined the wood with brass pins.

Q – Does all wood have to be stabilized?
Q – Is the wood too thin to hold up?
Q – Did I get some bum wood?

I know I am asking the right group of folks. The knowledge that is shared her is amazing and the folks here are as kind as any I have seen. Thanks for any assistance you can lend.
 
Wood doesn't have to be stabilized and some , like desert ironwood can't because it's too dense.But it does minimize warping ,cracking and it doesn't have to be finished .With your cocobolo I would suspect you put too much force installing the pin and thus cracked it. Mother nature makes each piece of wood different and sometimes includes some imperfections
 
Cocobolo is one of those rosewoods which, like Robert mentioned, are too oily to accept much of the stabilizing agents. It should give years of good service, but for dinnerware, please remind them to wash by hand, no dishwashers, and perhaps wipe with some veggie oil occasionally to preserve the wood. Soaps will wash the natural oils out, of course.

What company you work for? I spent my first year of fulltime work in R&D for VR/Wesson in Waukegan, IL, too many years ago to think about. Made tungsten carbides, tantung, and aluminum ceramics. The sintered WC/Cobalts make a marvelously sharp blade, but chip terribly when there's insufficient cobalt. Talk about edge holding!
 
Cool. I can't begin to think how much Coors ceramic labware we used in the pharm lab where I spent the bulk of my career. Good stuff, much nicer than the crappo imports.
 
ceramicsedge said:
...........I purchased the blades and forks and have put Cocobolo handles on them. They look very nice considering my current skills, but I took some out the other day and the wood had split through the middle pin. I purchased the wood at a thickness of .250 inches to save me ripping it. The split is perpendicular to the blade. I glued and pined the wood with brass pins.

...............
Click to expand...

Chances are that you drilled a hole that was too tight for the pin, and compounded that by overheating the scale when finishing. Either can cause cracking.
Here's a simple guide for drill bits VS pin size.
1/16" = #52
3/32" =#40, or 41
1/8" = #30
5/32" = #22
3/16" = #10
1/4" = 'F', or 6.4mm

It's also a good idea to mike the pins when you get them. They never seem to be exactly what they say.
 
Maybe the cocobolo wasn't quite dry enough to use? How old was this wood?
 
Mike Hull said:
Chances are that you drilled a hole that was too tight for the pin, and compounded that by overheating the scale when finishing. Either can cause cracking.
Here's a simple guide for drill bits VS pin size.
1/16" = #52
3/32" =#40, or 41
1/8" = #30
5/32" = #22
3/16" = #10
1/4" = 'F', or 6.4mm

It's also a good idea to mike the pins when you get them. They never seem to be exactly what they say.
Click to expand...

I made the asumption that tighter was better, bad move
 
Danbo said:
Maybe the cocobolo wasn't quite dry enough to use? How old was this wood?
Click to expand...

Not sure, another mistake. Bought it off the web. Is there a way to ensure it is dry enough?
 
I keep all my natural handle material 2-3 years before I'll ever use it, unless professionally stabilized. Even then, I used to toss it in the oven for a couple days when we had an oven with a pilot-flame; it was just warm enough. Let it sit a couple days after that and it would come to a nice balance with the home environment. If you don't used stabilized wood, then oiling the heck out of it will help a bit, but after it's well dried.
 
ceramicsedge said:
Not sure, another mistake. Bought it off the web. Is there a way to ensure it is dry enough?
Click to expand...


I'm so much of a procrastinator, that any wood I buy sits for at least a year, before I even think about using it. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top