Cheaper Handle Material?

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Burl Source

Weird Wood Pusher
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
4,340
Reaction score
7
The purpose of this thread is to get some input from the handle and knife makers.
Do you want cheaper handle material?
What I am talking about would be stabilized woods but with light to medium figure.
Currently I try to use the best woods I can get my hands on but some of it can get pretty spendy.
Most of my stabilized blocks can start at just under $40 and go up to $100+.

When I cut up wood there can be a lot left over that is not super dramatic but still way nicer than what you would find in a lumber store.
I was wondering if you guys would be interested in less dramatic stabilized wood that would be selling in the $20 to $30 range.

What prompted this was a recent phone call where a knife maker was going to do a run of about 100 knives and he wanted stabilized blocks in the $20 to $25 range. Thinking back I get calls like this monthly. It wouldn't make sense to keep large quantities of medium grade stabilized blocks on hand just in case a company needs them for a special run of knives. But if you guys would be interested in blocks like this for less expensive knives that you make, that changes everything.

Thank You in advance for your input.
If there is enough positive response I have a lot of medium figure wood ready to go to K&G for stabilizing.
 
I love your blocks for my higher ended knives, but when bringing new life into flea market finds, it can be a bit pricey. That price point would be a good alternative to some of the plain kiln dried exotics I've been using. $20 properly stabilized scales would be awesome on an old forgie....
 
I like that when I buy a burl from you I know it is the best of the best. Your wood is always so beautiful and your stories are great.
 
I agree with Fran. I only do 1-2 knives at a time, and would rather spend $50 on a super block than $20 on an okay one.
 
I can see a place for both. My handles are often semi busy in other ways (spacers and liners). Inexpensive woods could be utilized nicely in something like that...even for spacers themselves.

If they were there I'd consider them for sure...but I don't know if that's enough to have you fund that kind of thing.
 
I love your blocks for my higher ended knives, but when bringing new life into flea market finds, it can be a bit pricey. That price point would be a good alternative to some of the plain kiln dried exotics I've been using. $20 properly stabilized scales would be awesome on an old forgie....

I agree +1

cheaper scales would be a big plus for me. I started rehandling western style knives and would love the option of cheaper but properly stabilized wood for workhorses and old butcher knives.
 
For people new to handle making, cheaper woods would be ideal I think.
 
I also think you'd attract a lot of entry level makers and potential repeat customers with this. Once they try stabilized, they'll be hooked.

But these blocks wouldn't necessarily be just for "beater knives" or practice for newbies. Some handle designs look very nice with simple, non-burly wood. I'm thinking in particular of Marko's handles, which are often rather minimalist and elegant without the highly figured wood.
 
I always try to use and get the best woods available, however with the quantity of knives I make that isn't always possible. The battle I have been fighting lately is to have enough variety, especially in the stainless knives, so I am not making the same knife over and over again. We have a like mindset, and you have been spoiling us all with the high quality of the wood you offer. I would be happy to see what you have available in what you call medium grade figure. I suspect it's higher than most of us have seen.
Del
 
For people new to handle making, cheaper woods would be ideal I think.

and BINGO was his Name-O!

i have been enamored by a pair of high carbon steel knives. enough so, that i have been reading every re-handle thread i could find.

there is no way, i will use a high end hunk of material on my first maiden voyages. trying to talk my buddy out of a hunk of old teak as we speak. :D
 
Well......this is going to be an expensive gamble for me.
But I am going to roll the dice and see what happens.
Quite a few of these will be budget blocks after they get stabilized.
Figured Walnut, Wenge, Bubinga, Curly Maple, Quilted Maple & Spalted Maple.
cb001_zpsa4ec3a14.jpg
 
Thank You everyone.
The blocks I sent to K&G today will be back in a few weeks.
I have a large batch of blocks on their way back from K&G right now so I will see if any of them qualify for the budget blocks category.
If this goes well it should enable me to lower the prices a little on the fancier stuff as well.
 
For something like this I would imagine you would not have to spend time taking photos of each one. You just post a sample image and you get a random one from the pile. Save you some time photographing and cataloging all of them.
 
I really think that curly maple is one of the coolest woods out there. And if you sell it cheap it is a big + :D
 
Just saw this thread, and wanted to say that I think it's a great idea. I like tinkering around with handles and such, but as Chris said, for an old Forgie a cheaper set of scales would be great. One other thing I've noticed is that I haven't been into the hugely contrasting/vibrant woods in a while, so less figure might actually make a guy who is in the same mindset interested in upgrading with a nice stable, slightly showy wood.

One thing people need to remember is that you aren't going to suddenly start selling wood that wil pose problems down the road; it's more like great wood that only has ok figure.
 
Mark,

This will let me make a good sized order on nice wood ready to work and make a vast amount of knifes for my friends for hunting,fishing, and yes even some Kitchen knives . looks like they should be back about when I am back from my Vacation trip .

Thank you for doing this .

Sam
 
Back
Top