Drying Wood for Handles

I was wondering if anyone could give me a good run down on what I should do to help dry or a time frame for drying wood when I cut it for handles?

I buy the blocks made for turning from Woodcraft and just slab it out for handles. It is about 2"x2"x12" and is sealed with wax or coated with wax.

I found that one of the knives that I made had the handle scales shrink away from the edges on the tang and I need to prevent that.

I think we all have had similar experiences at one time or another. I will try and explain some of what I know about the subject.

Each species is different. But all need to be dried/cured to allow for them to shrink or move (find there happy place) Before using them as a knife handle.

I dry and process lots of burl wood. and the drying process can take 2 to 6 years depending on size, species, area where you live and how you go about drying it. Some, woods are going to continue to move long after they reach what most would consider "dry" These woods need to be "stabilized" to make them a viable handle material. There are many ways to "stabilize" the woods. Thats a whole other subject!!

I think you will find that A moisture gauge is helpful tool yet only one part of the puzzle..

I dont know if any of this helped. But I tried! Good luck and have fun
Randy

Good info Randy,

I guess right now I am working with a piece of Osage Orange and Paduk. I know I can just slab it and then let it dry but is there a good way to help it dry faster in my kitchen Oven?

I would really hate to have to wait 2 - 6 years to let it "dry". That would defeat the purpose of getting blocks and cutting them myself to save some $$$

lol OK I see what your asking. I start out with Whole burls and tree trunks!! With pieces you are working with. Neither need to be stabilized. and both take a long time to dry. Due to the density of the woods. I guess you could bake the block to dry it. I have never tried it.

Good luck and God Bless
Randy

I guess I need to ask then

1) what would be a good starting point to "bake" my wood? 2) What Temp? 3) Should I leave the wood as blocks and "bake" it or should I cut it and then "bake" the scales?

When you purchase your woods ask for and buy DRY Or Kiln Dried woods. About 8-10% moisture is considered "Dry"
I use Professional Stabilized woods mostly and get it done or you can buy from K & G supply or WSSI. My preference is WSSI.
He is the most consistent in my experience.

Paduk Can't be stabilized cause it's too oily and dense. I am working on a few with Paduk now and all of these natural woods can shrink or expand some even when "Dry" depending on the humidity etc..
So there is always a unknown factor when working with Natural Products.

Hope this helps you some? Here are some pics of dry Woods I purchased and I Stabilized.

Laurence


The first is Black Ash,
The pic with the three is Red Flame elder, Spalted Black line maple & the third paring knife is California Buckeye.

I found an idea about using a box, tin foil and a light bulb as a little oven/dehydrator.

If anyone has any good ideas let me know!

Wood turners sometimes use a microwave but remember that they are dealing with turned pieces so the thickness of the work would not be that great. They just heat it in the microwave for a minute or two at a time and stop when there is no longer any weight change. Yes, you would need a scales. How this would work on 1" block I'm not sure. I imagine that some woods respond to this better than others. I'm making a guess that it wouldn't be such a good method to try for one of the ebonies. If it's green wood, the general rule is one year for each inch of thickness plus one year if you are stacking the wood someplace out of the way to dry. Make sure that you have battens between each layer to allow air circulation and seal the ends of the boards. You drying box is also a good idea that will speed up the drying. A moisture meter is a real good idea, almost a must. I found mine on Ebay, probably something like crafts>woodworking. Stores that sell work turning equipment should also carry them.

Remember, which ever method you try, different woods will respond differently. Some dry quickly and some will dry slowly and will be more or less susceptible to problems like checking or warping.

Doug

Years ago, I had to get a whole Thuya Burl dry enough to stabilize - and though it had been on the shelf for at least a couple years as a whole burl, it was nowhere near close. To complicate it, Thuya is full of oil that inhibits stabilization. I did a long slow dry in the kitchen oven (I was single at the time) which also leached out volumes of oil. I cut the blocks oversize and I lost 25 - 30% of the blocks to cracking / splitting. The balance stabilized beautifully (by WSSI) and lasted for many years in commercial service. The trick was to accept the high losses in return for the quick prep and solid results.

Rob!

I had to think about it for a while and then I talk to my father who is a wood worker, (Don't know why I didn't ask him first). The consensus was that I should cut the wood and let sit for about a month. I live in Colorado where it is pretty dry and it should dry out pretty well in the time frame. I will let you guys know how it turns out.

P.S. I am going to try my "hot box" as well. I just put a 90 way light bulb into it and tested it out. It would be like setting the wood in the shop for a day anyways.

Weatherman
I made my "Wood Box" from a recycled wooden Army foot locker.
Standing in it end, I put 4 shelves made of steel mesh, lined it with aluminized wall insulation.
Placed a ceramic light bulb socket in the bottom @ 10" below the bottm shelf, and wired into a timer.
Used a 75 watt bulb set to run 10 hours per day. Holes were drilled in top of box to allow heat and moisture to escape.

When I buy wood I put it on the top shelf and rotate periodically. I store all or most of my non stabilized wood in this box.
Has worked well for me, but I have had blocks crack on occasion.

Hope this helps.

God Bless
Mike

Go for it? Help the young makers get the dried woods/now!

Laurence

Few things ....

1). I would scrap off the wax with a scraper, cut your blocks into 1 x 2 x 5 sizes, and then test the moisture. If its under 15% just air dry it for awhile.

2). If you do the home made kiln......(which is a great idea) get your self a cheap "computer style fan" for like $15 to circulate the air.

3). Padauk and Osage both oxidize and goes from orange to red and from orange to brown over time........just an FYI in case that matters to you.



Larry

Weigh your wood if you don't have a moisture meter. It's what I do. It's an easy indicator of moisture disappearing from the handle.

In normal terms, the thinking is it's approximately 1 year to dry per inch of thickness of the wood.

Something that others have done, but I haven't, is boil the wood in salt water. It breaks the cell walls down in the wood, enabling the moisture to then get out at a faster rate, I believe.

i have microwaved wood, with varying levels of success. It can be very catastrophic to your wood, unsurprisingly.

Another method is smearing or soaking in a mixture of washing up liquid and water. I've seen it used by wood turners more than knife makers, but I know some knife people have experimented with it. I haven't knowingly seen any completed knives with wood treated in this way though, so I don't know how well the glue will hold up. Google Ron Kent - I think he was the guy who came up with the idea.

These are all good ideas. I cut the scales over size roughly ( .5"x2"x6") and left most of the wax on the edges and then put them in my home made "hot box". I ran the box with a 90watt light bulb, for about 10 minute increments just to test out what would happen. So far so good I guess.

It is really dry in Co. so I expect it to air dry pretty well if it doesn't work out to well.

I should have known better and weighed the wood first, however!!!!!! I can weigh the wood now and then see if I loose any weight every day and then when it stops it most likely has equalized.