Wood handle, dishwasher damage

[DavidPF]

Long ago I bought a secondhand slicing knife for a few dollars. The blade is OK but the plain wood handle isn't, obviously because someone put it through a dishwasher. The wood swelled badly, cracked in places, and has pulled away some distance from the tang.

Do I try to save the wood?

 

[Yet-Another-Dave]

Probably less work to use new wood and make something like the original to replace it.

 

[DavidPF]

The only reason I didn't reach that conclusion immediately is that the rivets/pins are holding fine.

 

[inferno]

new wood! get good wood. pakkawood is dishwasher safe. i think.

 

[DavidPF]

I don't own a dishwasher so I'm OK for regular wood too

But if someone else ends up with the knife - and they probably will - then the better stuff is probably the right way

 

[Yet-Another-Dave]

Yeah, that wood's shot. New wood will be easiest. Nice new wood and some care will be nicer too.

If you wanted to patch it up, you could probably fill the cracks and gaps with epoxy and seal it up. But good epoxy is more expensive than wood and the process would probably be a huge mess and more work start to finish.

As far as materials, knife "making" projects seem popular and there are kits & parts available from most wood working stores with a blade & handle materials right now. I assume Vancouver Canada, so you have an actual Lee Valley store. If you need guidance, I'd drop in there. They'll be able to offer tips and they have parts on their website they can get even if they don't stock them there.

 

[DavidPF]

Lee Valley store isn't too far from me, you're exactly right.

Now I just decide if the knife will be worth it in the end.

 

[Yet-Another-Dave]

Rumor is just visiting the store is free, so you can do some recon and then decide. (Given how much each visit to their website costs me and other rumors that their stores are even better... I don't actually believe a visit will be free. )

 

[DavidPF]

Rumor is just visiting the store is free, so you can do some recon and then decide. (Given how much each visit to their website costs me and other rumors that their stores are even better... I don't actually believe a visit will be free. )

I'll be like Odysseus or whoever it was, chaining himself to the mainmast as his only defence against the Sirens. Or something like that.

But first I'll need a mainmast... Maybe Lee Valley can help...

 

[Yet-Another-Dave]

... Maybe Lee Valley can help...

Call customer service, I'm sure they'll try.

 

[drsmp]

If you decide to keep as is - Soak in mineral oil overnight then clamp and let it dry for a few days. Most of the cracks can be filled by sanding with tru-oil or other hardening oil and working the wood/oil slurry into the cracks.

 

[drsmp]

Here’s a dishwasher victim that I soaked, clamped and refinished

 

[big_adventure]

Here’s a dishwasher victim that I soaked, clamped and refinished
View attachment 114245View attachment 114246

That's beautiful work! My limit is "rub mineral oil in by hand and hope."

 

[kbright]

Restoration project:
Lots of water damage. I was able to flatten and reuse part of the handle wood, but added G10 spacers and G10 ferrule to add thickness and strength.

 

[billyO]

If the Vancouver location refers to WA, then you should also check out Gilmer Woods in NW Portland.
https://www.gilmerwood.com/
But if you want to plan for the knife going into the dishwasher, using stabilized scales would probably be a good idea.

 

[cotedupy]

As others have said - it is going to be possible to save it if you want, and I reckon probably easier than making a whole new handle.

If you are doing restoring, I'd bear this in mind... I think you'll probably need to use epoxy at some point to fill, and it may not hold very well between metal and wood that's been soaked in oil. So you may want to epoxy and clamp it first, and then oil second. There's perhaps a slightly higher chance of cracking the wood this way round, but from your pictures I think it's unlikely.

I've done very similar things, and it's quite easy to get decent enough results. This just used a bit of sandpaper, a bit of oil, and some epoxy: