Is there a List of wood types that require stabilizing????

McClellan Made Blades

McClellan Made Blades

Well-Known Member
Hey Dawgs,
I got an assortment of wood blocks in a while back and some of them I'm not familiar with, White Limba is one of them, pretty stuff, feels kinda dense but not oily, so I'm not sure if I should send it off to be stabilized. I was thinking it would be a good idea to compile a list of woods in categories like, the MUST BE STABILIZED list, with a "Best To list" or OPTIONAL list, does anyone know if this list already exists?

And if there isn't one, would someone like to assist me in putting one together, I would think putting it on an Excel sheet would probably work pretty good, or Open Office, since that is free and everyone can get it, word might work OK as well. It might be a better idea to include everyone that wants to help, that way we could include others opinions, for example, a lot of makers like to have Missouri Walnut burl stabilized, while Don Hanson says it messes with the figure of the wood, and doesn't ever stabilize it. Opinions like that should be included, coming from someone that has used a particular wood extensively.

I know there are literally hundreds of different kinds of wood used for knife making, so I think this would be a running list, continuously updated as we compile more info, we could probably start with some of the stabilizing companies, BUT they will say to stabilize all of it, or at least most of it, my idea is that if it isn't necessary say so, I don't like to stabilize if I don't have to, I really haven't worked with a lot of stabilized woods, the ones I have, I hated, while I know it is necessary to be able to use certain woods, I don't care for the plastic feel they have. But the beauty of it is worth it.

Not sure how I would go about it, maybe have everyone send me and maybe 1 other person their info, and we put it in the format, or something like that.

It's just an idea, y'all chime in and tell me what you think, AND if anyone knows if White Limba needs stabilizing, please let me know, Thanks, Rex
 
Hi neighbor!

I like the idea of such a list, but it would have to be based largely on opinion... for instance, I personally feel ebony should be stabilized, but judging from the fact most suppliers will not stabilize it, I must be the only one who feels this way. I just know that it will check if you look at it funny. Some folks will tell you curly maple should be stabilized, yet it has been used for knife handles and rifle stocks for hundreds of years without it... So whether a particular wood species should be stabilized or not is largely up to the knifemaker and the customer.
 
GHEzll,

That IS exactly what I'm talking about, but Ebony is a BAD example, being that there are so many makers that will no even use Ebony due to the fact that it is so unstable and stabilizers don't want to stabilize it because it is so dense it won't absorb the chemicals needed to stabilize it, Curly Maple is a perfect example, being that you can stabilize it BUT it may not be necessary. I have some Curly Maple I have had stabilized AND I have some that I won't get stabilized, so it is not only opinion, it is also preference. That is the kind of info I'd like to put in one place for every one to reference.
That is a great example of the different categories that will be needed.

BTW, how far North are you? I'm smack dab in the middle, I'm sure you've heard of Prattville, with as many 6A State Championships as they've won, you have to know where that is, of course it is right on I-65 when driving South. I'm in Autauga Co, not real far from Prattville.
Thanks Bud, Rex
 
I'm also in AL, Jacksonville, in the North East portion of state. I'm just down the road from Jacksonville State University. I've never seen a list of woods that can't be stabilized, one would be nice to see though.
 
Dang Tom,
Looks like we're it! I surely thought there would be more interest in this than there is, I guess since no one really cares about this one, I'll just work on it on my own, and if anyone wants it, I'll share.

Time, of late, is at a premium, I've been busting it, to get the shop ready for my Electrician/Bro-n-Law to come over and do the important stuff. He will be here today and I'm proud to say that I'm ready for him to work his magic! We hung 4 lights and a couple of boxes last night, cleaned a little bit, and got some stuff better (a little anyway, not all the way) organized. I'm whipped from the weekend and Monday, but with him coming I had to keep going, and will have to work harder tonight helping him, and hopefully learning some of this stuff, if I can. Once he's done I have 3 more work benches to build, several vises to mount, my forge has to be mounted some how, AND I still have to figure out how I'm going to safely unload my Tire Hammer.....no rest for the weary!!!!

Give me a little while and when ever I get time to work on this list, I'll let y'all know what I come up with, probably better this way, as I can do this at my, <snails>,pace, at my leisure when I have time. Thanks TOM!

Jacksonville is in Jackson Co.? That is a good drive from me, around 3+ hours I'd say, depending which way I went, I've been to Jacks State before, good school, and great Baseball and football programs, we played them when I was in college. BTW I went to Huntingdon, back when they were in the NAIA division, they're Div3 now!Not the quaint littel school I went to, when I was there maybe 600 students, now over 2000! Yeah, they ruined it!!
I appreciate the reply, Thanks Bud!!!! Rex
 
Jacksonville is in Calhoun County, in the North East corner of the state. Jacksonville State University is about five miles from us.
 
Sorry for the delay. I'm in Limestone county, only a stones throw away from the Tennessee state line. Dead center of the north end of the state pretty much.
 
I don't remember where I got this list, but it was floating around the internets somewhere. I found this copy in my old emails that I send to myself when I want to remember something. I would not take it as gospel, as I'm sure it depends on process. The "+1" indicate woods that I have personally had successfully stabilized (at WSSI) and worked with. I did add camphor burl to the list of woods with limitations.

Woods Than Responded Well To Stabilizing:
- Acacia
- Afzelia
- Alder
- Amboyna +1
- Black Ash
- Bamboo
- Beech
- Beefwood
- Birch
- African Blackwood
- Box Elder
- Bubinga
- Buckeye +1
- Canary Wood
- Carob
- Chechen
- Cherry
- Coolibah
- Cottonwood
- Carpathian Elm
- Elm +1
- Eucalyptus
- Gum
- Jarrah
- Koa
- Locust
- Madrone
- Santos Mahogany
- Maidou
- Brown Mallee
- Red Mallee
- Mango
- Maple +1
- Masur Birch
- Mesquite
- Mulberry
- Oregon Myrtle
- Tasmanian Myrtle
- Needlewood
- Australian Oak
- Oak
- Olive
- Tasmanian Olive
- Osage Orange
- Paduak
- Black Palm
- Red Palm
- Pecan
- Pink Ivory
- Pistachio
- Purpleheart
- Redwood
- Russian Olive
- Sandalwood
- Sapele
- Sheoak
- Sycamore
- Tambootie
- Teak
- Tulipwood
- Vitex
- Black Walnut
- English Walnut
- Wenge
- Woody Pear
- York Gum
- Zebrawood

Woods With Limitations:
- Bocote - May Weep Stabilant
- Ebony - Scales Only
- Asian Ebony - Scales Only
- Striped Ebony - Scales Only
- Juniper - May Weep Stabilant
- Snakewood - Scales Only
- Thuya - May Weep Stabilant
- Claro Walnut - May Turn Black
- Pacific Yew - May Weep Stabilant
- Ziricote - May Weep Stabilant
- Camphor - Stabilant may not have penetrated completely. Did not add much weight/hard to tell. Still required a {tung oil} finish.

Woods Where Stabilizing Did Not Work:
- Cedar - Stabilant Did Not Polymerize
- Curly Ipe - Stabilant Did Not Penetrate
- Lacewood - Wood Turned Black
- Limba - Wood Turned Ugly
- Merbau - Stabilant Did Not Penetrate

Woods We Have Not Tested:
- Cocobolo
- Desert Ironwood
- Kingwood

Erin
 
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That list was from Chuck at Alpha Knife Supply who has a whole lot of experience having
wood stabilized. BTW: I have had two lacewood handle blocks successfully stabilized by K&G
so there's clearly some variation (type of lacewood, stabilizing chemicals, who knows...).
 
Thanks Erin,
I was beginning to think that there wasn't any interest in this thread! That's a great place to start, again, I will say I think there are MANY variations to which woods can be stabilized to which woods HAVE to be stabilized. Like Dan says, the type of chemical used in the process and the wood itself are to be take into consideration, some woods may not allow for much of the chemical to absorb. Personally, I would'nt stabilize Camphor Burl, due to the oily nature of the wood, the oil will displace a lot of the chemicals used in stabilizing. It would be like stabilizing Cocobola, the reasons to stabilize are many. I feel like most woods in general shouldn't be treated if it isn't necessary, take Buckeye Burl for instance, beautiful stuff. But if it isn't stabilized it probably would fail in a short time, I'm not sure how strong it is, but I don't think it would hold up to years of use and abuse, it doesn't seem very durable, especially at the thickness of a knife handle. But Cocobola is, being an oily wood it won't absorb much of the chemicals used in stabilizing as well as other woods will, the oil in the wood helps it be more stable, as it doesn't completely dry out, AND that same oil is why the wood polishes up so brilliantly.

It's this kind of info I would like to put in one spot, for all to reference. While it may not be a "DO IT THIS WAY" list, it can be a great reference for those of us who want to try every kind of wood out there, at least once. My favorite wood is Walnut, at one time on my work bench I had 5 knives I had made all with Walnut handles, with a couple different kinds of Walnut, but all were Walnut Brown, EXTREMELY BORING!!! So I started buying other woods to try, most of which I didn't buy stabilized, everyone knows that raw wood is cheaper than buying stabilized. I've bought a couple big lots of wood as well as some from here and BF that were bought by the block. Many of them different types of wood I've never used, and some I've never heard of, trying to find out if this particular wood needed stabilizing was tough to find, and each different kind of wood needed it's own individual search. It took a lot of time to find any info on White Limba, most of it for guitars. With NO clear answer!

The way I have though about setting up this list will have catergories like this

Type of Wood

Stabilize<Y><N>

Chemicals Used

Opinions/ Who's (not sure how to title that)

I would use Excel or some version of it, these will be across the top and the cells below will have the answer to the questions, I've done other charts like this with this same kind of format, easy to understand, easy to do, with almost unlimited room for explanations.

This isn't set in stone, but it is a start, are there any other ideas or suggestions of catergories or subcatergories? For opinions, I would also add who those opinions came from.

I will be seeing Pat from Ankrom Exotics at BLADE, I'll email him tonight and see if he would like to participate with publishing this list, I have to go to Pat, as he IS a KNIFE DOG!! And owns a Sub Forum, we have to support those that support us, not saying I wouldn't contact any of the other companies that do this work, but I believe in being loyal to those that include themselves amongst us!

Looking forward to hearing the responses, it'll be a little while before I can get to work on this.

We worked till 11:30 last night, got all the lights wired in and all but about 5 plug boxes, which 2 are going to have to wait until I get another work bench built, I keep saying,"exhaustion is my friend, exhaustion is my friend...." it aint working!!! Tonight, we will get a few more plugs done, and the panel wired up. After that, I have to get work benches built and have a couple of plug boxes wired in and attached to it. Then I'll be ready to get everything moved over from my former work area, to my NEW and GREATLY IMPROVED KNIFE SHOP!!!!
Thanks Dawgs, Rex
 
The way I have though about setting up this list will have catergories like this [FONT="Arial Narrow" said:
[/FONT]
Type of Wood

Stabilize<Y><N>

Chemicals Used

Opinions/ Who's (not sure how to title that)
Click to expand...

I like the idea, but I think 'Stabilize Y/N sets up a false dichotomy.


  • There are some that are just too soft without stabilizing - Buckeye Burl - Late spalt maple - Clearly a Yes.
  • There are some that just won't take stabiliant - Cocobolo - clearly a No.
  • There are some that work fine unstabilized for the most part, but will stabilize very well for additional benefit - Curly Koa
  • There are some that can be processed but with heavy losses or limitations - Thuya Burl
  • There are some that can be processed, but uptake is so little that benefit is questionable - African Blackwood.
Could there be a key code more than Y/N? Maybe Y=Required N= No O=Optional, L= limitations, Q=questionable benefit????

Same idea for chemical - M=MMA and variants - R= Resinol 90C etc...

Opinions (including the few I just expressed) would have to be accepted as just that and may conflict.

Want to add Ivory? Bone? Horn?

Great idea! Thanks for getting it going?
 
Rex,
Your idea, and some of the collectors who have wanted to collect info on knifemakers should consider a database. Access come with most Office suites and will do more than you would need. Excel will allow you to do lots of stuff but limitation occurs when you are updating your info. A good example would be when a name changes, and you have to find everywhere on your spreadsheet that name appears to update it. When using a database (assuming its set up properly) you will only need to update the change in one spot and you will see the update everywhere else the name appears. Its very feasible to have all data, links to suppliers websites, stabilizers websites, pictures of the wood, pics of examples of what it looks like on a knife, and much more. Theres a famous motto in IT......"Anything is possible, it just depends on how much time and money you have" -Larry
 
The other thing I would do too is put it out in the cloud somewhere like DropBox in a public folder, so folks can be granted access and then they could input the data. The other thing that would also be cool about it is that everyone would have the same updated copy. Nobody would be sitting with an outdated version. You don't want to be the only one sitting down and trying to load everything by yourself. If everyone went out and put data out there it would be better as long as you control the integrity. Many hands make for light work..........

Just some ideas - Larry
 
Hey Guys,

This thread seems to have stopped with no info as to if the chart ever came into being.

Does anyone know of such a chart in existence?

Thanks for any help.

Grizzly Bear
 
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