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Weird Wood Pusher
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These are the last of the natural Bubinga blocks. I will be adding them to the web store tomorrow.
There are a couple dozen blocks of this at K&G getting stabilized. I keep getting requests for some of these blocks as natural, not chemically stabilized wood so I am putting these into the web store for a few days. Any left over will go with my next batch of wood that I send to K&G.

Bubinga takes stabilizing very well. It is already hard and durable but the stabilizing tends to fill the small pores making it easier to finish. Based on comments from customers who have used it natural and stabilized that seems to be the primary difference. And price, the non stabilized sell for about $10 less than the stabilized ones. If you have not used Bubinga before, it is very hard wood. Cutting and sanding is a lot like working with Rosewood except Bubinga does not clog up your sanding belts as much as Rosewoods.

Tomorrow I will measure, photograph and price these blocks and get them posted in the web store. I thought some of you might like a sneak peek. I really like this wood. It has very 3 dimensional figure with lots of chatoyance so the figure seems to move around when the light hits from different angles.

lbb001_zps4904f98d.jpg


I was supposed to cut some of this up for saya material but I forgot and ended cutting it all into blocks. Some of the blocks are just under 8 inches long so maybe they could be used to make sayas for small knives.
 
Mark,
How would you recommend finishing this wood (non-stabilized)? Do the pores need to be filled? I kind of like the idea of an oil finish, rather than something that puts much of a coating on this beautiful wood. Also, what would be the recommended maintenance for the knife handle?
 
I like a danish oil finish the best.
Apply a coat, let it sit about 15 or 20 minutes and wipe off any excess with a soft cloth.
Let dry a couple hours and then repeat until you like how it looks.
Some of the guys will wet sand and let the slurry dry then sand again to fill the pores.
The pores on this are smaller than what I am used to with bubinga.
The nice thing about an oil finish is when the handle gets scuffed just rub it down with extrafine steel wool and wipe down with oil and it all blends together.
 
When can we expect stabilized blocks to came back from K&G?
I was drooling on these for quite a while but finally convinced myself to wait for stabilized version.
 
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