Knife Handle Wood

[AntMan232]

I am making my first knife, from a Russell Green River blank I bought. I have filed a guard, and will silver solder it on at some point, probably after mock results this week. In preparation. I have been looking into handle wood types, and have decided to use something from my garden, so it has some meaning to me. I have selected a piece of Magnolia, from a tree I used to play in, but have come across a problem. When I cut the piece of branch in half lengthways, a good friend of mine pointed out that the wood was cracking. He has informed me that this is due to the wood drying at different rates, and would probably carry on. I was wondering whether anyone could tell me how to solve this problem, and how to stop pieces of wood cracking in the future. Also, I was wondering whether if I varnished it directly after shaping, that would stop the moisture loss?

 

[Mesquite]

Did you allow the wood to season for a year or so after you cut it?

 

[AntMan232]

Yes, it should have seasoned, its been on a log pile for a while (saved from the fire )

 

[lannyman8]

i have had this very problem with cherry, some woods just tend to split, i have been told to wax the ends which helps stop this, it never worked for me though...

i would not leave much moisture in the wood as it might effect it later on with rot/mold etc etc...

i just wait for the wood to dry now and use the bits i can, the rest i keep for stacked handles or little things....

you could send the wood to be resin pressure treated, that way it will last for ever...

 

[Shinken]

as well as waxing endgrain, avoiding sunlight and draught should help

 

[AntMan232]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not really intending to get it resin treated, I'll just keep going, and hope it doesnt crack any further. If the worst comes to the worst, I'll make another one out of peach, which is really dense, so might work better.

 

[y0dsa]

Try soaking the green wood in very salty water for a week or so (depending on how thick the wood is) and then rinse the salt off. I've used this method for some hawthorne spoons and it works fine.

Oh, and remember to give your tools a good clean and oil after using them or the salt will assist turning them to rust in no time. I couldn't possibly say how I came to know this though....