Show us your sticks (finished handle projects)...

[rocketman]

I have stabilized lots of spalted wood, and frequently the starting weight of a blank is around 50 grams-- finished weight 150 grams..
Looks the same, the only change is the density. Of course you can use dye to change the colors too if you want.
This is a big learning curve. So think about having someone do it for you , as the cost, and time , unless you intend to do a lot is
hardly worth it.

 

[rocketman]

Off this subject, but I can not find a place to ask the question: I tried to look at a contemporary thread, and the site says I do not have permission to view this
page... What is going on?? What do I need to do?? There were three posts yesterday...

 

[Wabisabi-Ken]

I have stabilized lots of spalted wood, and frequently the starting weight of a blank is around 50 grams-- finished weight 150 grams..
Looks the same, the only change is the density. Of course you can use dye to change the colors too if you want.
This is a big learning curve. So think about having someone do it for you , as the cost, and time , unless you intend to do a lot is
hardly worth it.

That sounds ideal, the handles are too light at the moment! I get the feeling it'll be a pain to try and find someone to stabilise wood for me here in Japan.. oh well, I wonder how much weight using tung oil would add

 

[tostadas]

That sounds ideal, the handles are too light at the moment! I get the feeling it'll be a pain to try and find someone to stabilise wood for me here in Japan.. oh well, I wonder how much weight using tung oil would add

Minimal weight added with oil. Probably no more than 5g.

 

[Wabisabi-Ken]

Minimal weight added with oil. Probably no more than 5g.

Haha damn!

 

[Justinv]

I just don't want anything that will colour the wood. I like how light the colour is on whiter woods so for previous handles I've been using a water based polyurethane. It does the job but I'm not sold on its durability!

I recently used a product called Loba Invisible that is an ultra matte waterborne 2-part finish intended to leave wood looking unfinished (like raw wood). Its $$$$ due to having to buy a gallon. I used it on a table and was blown away by it. Its self leveling is beyond any water based finish I’ve tried. Its super durable since it is a 2-part finish.

 

[rocketman]

Wasabi-ken..
Go to the web site Cactus Juice Stabilizing Resin, Chambers, and Accessories , the guy there is Curtis, he invented the stabilizing business, and his customer service is amazing. If I were you, I would ask him if he has anyone in Japan who he sells to, and who might be interested in doing your spalted wood.
If anyone will know, it is him...That way you can have it done locally... I have done a ton of spalted wood, and whoever you get to do the job must know that the process will have to be run twice or more, as the fungus which creates the spalting also opens the porosity in the wood, and the surface tension of the stabilizing liquid is not enough to fill the enlarged pores with one treatment... Has to be done twice..
A good result with your wood will make it much more durable, but will not change the appearance.

 

[Wabisabi-Ken]

Wasabi-ken..
Go to the web site Cactus Juice Stabilizing Resin, Chambers, and Accessories , the guy there is Curtis, he invented the stabilizing business, and his customer service is amazing. If I were you, I would ask him if he has anyone in Japan who he sells to, and who might be interested in doing your spalted wood.
If anyone will know, it is him...That way you can have it done locally... I have done a ton of spalted wood, and whoever you get to do the job must know that the process will have to be run twice or more, as the fungus which creates the spalting also opens the porosity in the wood, and the surface tension of the stabilizing liquid is not enough to fill the enlarged pores with one treatment... Has to be done twice..
A good result with your wood will make it much more durable, but will not change the appearance.

That's a damn good pointer! I'll hit him up, worth a try. I hear you with the spalted wood part, I can tell that the wood really has deteriorated quite a lot. It's so light and soft.

 

[deltaplex]

Tung & c? Im not too familiar with oils, so far I've heard a lot about try oil. But I'm keen on trying oils out, I just don't want anything that will colour the wood. I like how light the colour is on whiter woods so for previous handles I've been using a water based polyurethane. It does the job but I'm not sold on its durability!

So it took slightly longer than usual because I had to travel for work last week, but here's how some birch looks before and after a few rounds of applying tung oil and letting it soak in:

 

[deltaplex]

Handle #3: Started out as something very different, but then I started chasing some checking at the back that went further than I expected and I also couldn't correct out some of the unevenness in the facets I was cutting on the sander, so it's my first shinogi/D-shaped handle. A section of red oak branch from a lighting strike tree, I filled the checking near the front with CA, and I used beeswax to affix it to the tang. Again, as always, feedback is very welcome on pretty much every aspect, I'm trying to improve with each handle (on this one I really feel like I was able to refine in my single piece tang slot formation).

 

[Get a Grip]

Amboyna/Anryu

 

[BaqoXIV]

Turkish walnut

 

[tostadas]

My first mono handle. Stabilized maple burl.

 

[birdsfan]

Looks awesome, Brother! Excellent work with the tang slot!

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

@tostadas outstanding. Great work!

 

[tostadas]

Looks awesome, Brother! Excellent work with the tang slot!

Actually interesting that you mention that. This piece was originally intended for one of my cleavers with a fat tang, so I sized the hole pretty big. But my brother really liked the wood so I changed course and built the handle for a smaller gyuto instead. The hole was way too big (it would work just fine for install but too ugly to me). So I used a bunch of sawdust I collected from sanding it, and mixed with epoxy til it was almost like a cookie dough and filled the hole to a depth of maybe half inch or more. then reshape to the new tang and sand. It feels really solid so not worried about durability of the mod. And the color matches, so I was pretty happy with it.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

View attachment 205597

This picture is worth that handle's weight in gold! Thank you for tossing it up.

 

[ch_br]

@tostadas very nice work man!

The sterility of the latex gloves really puts the OCD touch on the craftsmanship.

As we were discussing, the delivery address for my holiday present is ...

 

[tostadas]

@tostadas very nice work man!

The sterility of the latex gloves really puts the OCD touch on the craftsmanship.

As we were discussing, the delivery address for my holiday present is ...

Hehe, the gloves were because the coating is still technically curing so I didn't want to get my dirty hands all over it til it's good.

 

[JayS20]

@tostadas Looks great on the Kaeru. Where did you get the wood from?

 

[tostadas]

@tostadas Looks great on the Kaeru. Where did you get the wood from?

I'm pretty sure it was from someone off Instagram. Quality of pieces off IG can vary, but this particular one was very good.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer the corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

 

[M1k3]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer toe corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

Looks great! I'd rock it on a knife!

 

[tostadas]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer toe corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

Far from rustic. I think it's beautiful.

Symmetric doesn't necessarily mean most comfortable. Personally I also think that if the handle is twisted just a few degrees off center, counterclockwise, it fits better for my hand (right handed). Unfortunately it bothers me to photograph so I usually just suck it up and install it straight instead.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

@M1k3 and @tostadas thank you both so much.

That really does mean a lot. I was very nervous.

 

[birdsfan]

Excellent work HHC! That style handle is indeed very comfortable to use. You and your wife will both enjoy the upgrade, both from the way it feels to grip, and because it is beautiful!

 

[ch_br]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer the corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

Looks great man!

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

@birdsfan and @ch_br thank you.

 

[deltaplex]

No. I didn't make a mistake. It's wabi sabi and that'll be two hundreds bucks!

Well, here it is. My first handle. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I'd managed to overcome all the little glitches - a touch off center here, a bit out of square there and so on and everything was going pretty okay. And then there was a power sander incident while attempting to chamfer the corners.

So I went for the lemonade from lemons approach. What is it they say? Rustic. That's it.

I was thinking about tossing it into the test pile but the wife was having none of it. She loved it and insisted I install it. She said it is the most comfortable handle of any of the knives in the kitchen and she might even try the "giant" knife if it was on there.

Who am I to argue?

So, it's all glued up on a 210 Munetoshi. I gotta say, it is pretty darned comfy.

Black walnut and cherry wood.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement!

I think I'll try another.

I'm ridiculously hard on my own work so I understand the general feeling of "It didn't turn out how I planned, so that's bad" but I think that handle is great and I hope you keep at it (because it's very satisfying, IMO).

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Thank you @deltaplex.