oak?

B

boltcutter

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I just wonder why I don't see oak being used for knife handles. It is possible that everyone knows something i don't. Happens all the time, I like the looks of the oak and wonder if it would hurt to use it for handle material. Thanks for any help you can give me.:les:
 
It is a large pore, open grain.

You can use it, but there are so many nicer choices.

Figured maple likely grows in the same geography as oak, and is much tighter grained & much more pretty
 
I have used some awesome curly oak before that I had stabilized, It took a nice finish and made a durable, beautiful handle.
Sampson Knifeworks
 
I think the Count is right... its mainly about pore size, but once stabilized, it should be as reliable as any other wood.
 
Quarter-sawn oak can have have really good-looking "rays" or curls. I've seen oak that was treated with ammonia fumes to give it an antiqued look, it was very cool looking. Anyone know more about this?

I'm certain oak is stable and tough enough to make good handles. Anyone have any experience having it dyed and stabiliazed?
 
I cut a live oak crotch the other day just to see if it shows the same kind of figure as other crotchwood I'm familiar with. It was a small crotch, about 5 or 6 inches across the butt and 3 inches or so on each limb. It did show some pretty nice figure, but was full of holes from wood wasp larvae, so it made it to the smoker. I'd like to find some bigger crotches amd have them cut and stabilized after drying. It looks great to me, but it does have really open grain. Stabilized it should be great.
 
Oak will make a durable handle,the main drawback is that it is plain,and on a custom knife we want something prettier.
I did a run of 5 drop point utility knives for my brother inlaws from some 90 year old red oak cut by my wifes uncle when he was a kid.It had sentimental value,I had it stabilized by Wssi andit turned out real nice.
Stan
 
Maybe my tastes are simple - but I love how oak looks - here's one of my Bowies with an oak handle:
BowieSN5_1024a.jpg
 
Here is one I made for one of our KnifeDogs with 450 year old white oak. This is from a log that was recovered from a river in Kentucky from when they used to float the logs downriver in huge rafts. Some would sink. This was old growth timber and according to the growth rings it was 350 years old when it was cut down 100 years ago. As you can see it does have large pores but I wanted the rustic look for this knife.

PlainsDaggerLR.jpg


PlainsDaggerHandle.jpg


The sheath is by our own Ironlath.
 
I dyed oak a deep red with aniline dye and then a coat of white latex paint and then "squeezed" it into the pores with a piece of cardboard as a trowel and then sanded off the excess paint until I had just the dots of the open pores filled and then finished it and it came out really nice. If I could figure out how to post a pic I would. good luck H
 
I have worked with oak before and I know that it is a tough, hard wood but I have not seen it used for knife handles. I assumed it was because of the large, open grain and it looks very plain in small pieces. I did find some stabilized oak burl and tried it. The stabilized oak burl made a very nice handle and I had no issues with open grain.

goldenknife008.jpg
 
Oak is a great wood to work with, but a lot of the problems we see isn't so much about the wood as the matching of wood to knife design. Some blades look right with micarta. Others, like we've see in this thread, look great with a plain oak handle. Burls are always sexy!

I'm interested in getting some oak and pecan stabilized and dyed with multiple colors (maybe some black and gold, or dark blue and grey) to see how they come out.
 
I just finished two drop points with spalted oak handles I'm really pleased with them. When I get some pics I'll post em.
 
i have wondered the same thing, i was thinking of stabilizing then carving a design and accenting the deep portions with a burner
 
Heres some spalted oak burl that is going out very shortly to be stabilized. Only have a few of these, but they sure have a nice pattern to them. Larry

oak009.jpg
 
While cutting wood from log tops this fall, all Oak, we came across some very nice spalted pieces, that I saved from the furnace, it is in the shop drying out good before cutting up into blocks, I also cut a Black Jack Oak burl off of a tree to see what it looks like, it had a nice redish color and alot of figure, it is drying out also, but is cracking alot, so it may not work out at all. I will have to wait and see how it all looks when it dries and is cut. Has anyone ever used Black Jack? That is what it is called around here, not sure what the real name is, it is in the Oak family, and is very hard.
 
boltcutter said:
I just wonder why I don't see oak being used for knife handles. It is possible that everyone knows something i don't. Happens all the time, I like the looks of the oak and wonder if it would hurt to use it for handle material. Thanks for any help you can give me.:les:
Click to expand...

Forget the metal work and concentrait on the oak handle...:) A practice knife from a coil spring, I picked up a small piece of oak at the local Home Depot. After I cut the pieces down I soaked them a few days in Min-wax Wood Hardener. With a bolster and some nice twisted Damascus it would look fine on a knife. Classy picture hu? I'm learning something here:1:

TCfinal (Small).jpg
 
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