Knife maker question

[GunClick Rick]

Or whoever.Can wood like this be used for anything?Knife scales or whatever?This is just down the road a piece and they will probably be cutting more down around here,valley oak trees,there have beenALOT falling lately...They are protected here but that policy may change for awhile..

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20110706/NEWS01/107060302/Removal-Visalia-oak-tree-commences?odyssey=tab|topnews|img|Frontpage

[bowiemaker]

Oak will work fine for a knife handle. I would cut it into small blocks and then put it on the shelf for a few months to a year to dry out. You want about 12-13% moisture content when you work it.

Here is one I made with a white oak handle from an old growth tree that had been at the bottom of a river for 100 years.

[GunClick Rick]

I'll have to go by there and grab a limb or two..Very nice knife and sheath!

[Kid Terico]

Bowiemaker nice knife and great leather work. KT

[bowiemaker]

Thanks but I can't take credit for that particular sheath. I normally make my own but in that case one of my collectors, Mark Hecksel in Wyoming, made the sheath.

[Doc Arroyo]

You can also use ammonia fumes to "ebonize" oak.  I did it many years ago.  A small jar with a bit of ammonia and suspend the scales above it.  In a few days the oak will be a really dark color, that is hard to describe.  Learned the trick from an old wood-turner that used "poor man's ebony" for half of his chess sets.

[Jubal Starbuck]

   Vinegaroon will darken oak also.  I rescued some new unfinished red oak trim from the dumpster last year and tried vinegaroon on some knife handle scales and it worked great.

[bowiemaker]

Interesting. I have used amonia vapors to antique brass but I had never heard of doing it with wood.

[Doc Arroyo]

It is interesting for small pieces.  I would hate to be around a fuming hood for really big stuff!

It typically turns a really dark brown, depending on the wood, but never gets "black".  Then again, it never hides the grain like some really dark stains can.  Like I said...hard to describe.  And every knife I did like this sold back before I photographed everything before it left the shop.