got my oregon maple burl in last week...

May not be the correct place for this thread--gladly repost elsewhere if necessary, but just bought a really cool piece of Oregon maple burl from you last week so that I may attempt my first knife handle and I have a couple simple (likely ignorant) questions.

1) the knife I will be replacing the handle on is a cheapo Tojiro shirogami petty that I would like to replace the magnolia wa handle with the burl done as an octa-handle. The original wa handle has what I believe is referred to as a collar (cheap plastic). I've seen pictures of people doing without the collar and I seem to prefer this look, just curious if there is a real purpose of the collar before I eliminate it or if I should try to fabricate something--I've also seen many J-knives that come with Buffalo horn, etc...do you offer any of these or recommend other vendors if you feel necessary?

2) I've seen you refer to CA which I assume is a form of food grade adhesive? Just didn't know if it was a name brand or what...kind of hard to search for CA:>)

3) Is stabilized the same as kiln dried? Just curious as this would be the only thing I could relate to the term though I know little on the subject.

Thanks so much for the beautiful piece of wood, I look forward to doing more nicer pieces once I figure out what I am doing--can't wait to try some of the Sheoak on my better knives.

Cheers,
Chinacats

1) collar: It's called a ferrule and on a handle made from a stabilized piece of wood, it really would not serve a functional purpose.
2) CA: cyanoacrylate = superglue. You might have better luck if you search "CA glue" as opposed to only the "CA" part.
3) No. Stabilized means resin impreganted. It is basically wood where the empty space inside the wood has been filled with a plastic-type material. It prevents the wood from taking on or losing a lot of moisture and so the size and shape are "stable."

Thanks so much TK59! Your answers are clear and concise... though I should've figured out the CA search part myself:>)