My COOLEST WOOD - New Stabilized Blocks

Fairly often that I get phone calls and emails asking me what is the coolest wood that I have.
In my opinion the Ancient Bog Oak is the coolest. Amongst my personal knives, more have Bog Oak handles than any other wood.

For those who are not familiar with Bog Oak here is a little information.
Bog Oak comes from old trees that died and either fell into a river or a swampy area. Over the years the wood tree was covered in mud and sediment. The Oak started out a blonde-ish color but over the years absorbs minerals from the mud turning the wood a darker color. Usually the longer it has been buried the darker it gets.

Before I found my source of Bog Oak in the Ukraine I had searched for a few years unsuccessfully trying to find good quality Bog Oak at a reasonable price. Most of what I had found was over priced and had too many flaws. Bog Oak is prone to internal cracks if not handled carefully during the drying. The fellow I get my Bog Oak from has worked out the process so he is able to provide me with flawless blocks of the Bog Oak.

The Bog Oak that I have in our web store was cut from a log that was carbon dated to be 5460 years old +/- 50 years. A copy of the carbon dating report is included with each block.

I read somewhere that Eastern Europeans believed Bog Oak to have magical properties. By keeping items made from Bog Oak in a home gave protection to the inhabitants. Not sure what it protected them from. Probably Vampires and Werewolves. I can't guarantee this is true but so far it has been working for me.

Currently there are 26 Stabilized Blocks of Bog Oak available in our web store. I am not sure if I will be able to get more in the future with the Russia/Ukraine issues that are going on right now.

This is some of the new Bog Oak blocks along with some Ringed Gidgee.


This is a copy of the Carbon Dating Report that comes with each block.


This is a photo of one of my knives with Bog Oak made for me by Knife Maker Greg Shahan. I just recieved a note that this knife is featured in the current issue of Knife World.

Mark, how does it look on a handle?

On a wa handle kitchen knife I like it best used with a contrasting color wood.
Here it is with Koa and Copper on a Nakiri Butch Harner made for me.

Here it is on a western style handle. This one is my 1st MS knife by Aaron Wilburn right after he made Master Smith

Here is an old video that helps to get an idea what the bog oak is like in person.
In the photos it can be difficult to see the rays and flecks that appear when the light hits the wood from different angles.
Hopefully this video will give a better idea what this wood is really like.
[video=youtube_share;cHA5ROVSvW0]http://youtu.be/cHA5ROVSvW0[/video]

Wow. Those pics and video really show how much dimension it has. You wouldn't think so by looking at it though. Especially to someone like myself that has no vision when it comes to wood.

I love that last piece in the video. If I wanted to secure a block for a later project could I just store it indoor AC, or does it have any specific needs? Sorry, don't know much about wood, stabilized or not. Thanks, Gary.

Just read about the liquid chemical process from your website. I think that answers my question and it should be fine sitting around in a safe place. Thank You