experience will cholla wood? will this work??

[jono7183]

I found this cholla wood pieces at hobby lobby for under $2 a piece. Anyone with experience with cholla, could this be used to make knife handles? I've seen a few posts on working with cholla wood, but not many. Is this too dried out and fragile? can it be hardened, and if so what type of epoxy mixture can be put inside? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Meridian Blades]

These were turned on a lathe, so the handles are round but you could do knife handles. I went back and filled these pin holes but you get the idea. Black epoxy or alumilite works well. Under a vac / pressure will help with air bubbles. Your pieces look kind large for knife handles tho.....smaller semi solid pieces work better. If they are too large you start sanding into the epoxy / filler and you lose the wood pattern. For large pieces you can flll the center with a hardwood dowel.