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Main Boards => Hunting Knives and Crafters => Topic started by: kbaknife on April 07, 2009, 07:04:00 PM
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I forged this out of a chunk of "stuff" I found on Jerry's floor.
Just kidding! Believe me - I earned it.
W2 and 203E twist from Jerry Rados' shop.
Now, that handle is the first time I've used some Stabilized Hickory that I sent off a while back. Man! Am I impressed with that stuff!
I've got a buddy across the river who does custom kitchens and such and he had quite a stack of Hickory blocks left over from a job that he was going to use in his wood burner to heat his house.
I cut up some blocks, put them in my shop ceiling for about a year and sent them to K and G for stabilizing.
I am so totally thrilled with it.
It was AMAZINGLY hard and dense and has character and figure that I did NOT know was in there.
Anyway, sorry. I just like it. A lot.
You can sort of see the little "sparkles" in it that I think may be some type of resin or something. It really dances!
And I liked the contrast it gave to the hot-blued Damascus and stainless take-down fittings.
Thanks for letting me run on.
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c247/kbaknife/rth3-1.jpg)
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great job karl, i have never used hickory but that looks great. looks like you are full blown on the damascuss too.
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wow, love it!
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good job Karl love the hickory Wild Bill
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wish we could see the "chatoyance" you speak of in the handle...thats tough to capture on film
from a woodworking forum-
Chatoyance ("C") is the result of light reflected from wood cells that are not all nicely aligned. Rather, sometime during the growth cycle cell groups took on different wavy directions. When viewed from one direction, some cell groups will reflect more than others but as the piece is moved, a reversal occurs. You are seeing the cell groups from a different aspect and their colors have changed. If you've ever had to try to repair a piece like this, you know that it is impossible to do with the usual arsenal of powders and sticks.
"C" can be enhanced by enhancing the color differences between the cell surfaces and this can best be done with dyes (water soluble is better here) or colored, transparent finishes. That's why amber shellac, oil, and NC Lacquer work well - they have color and they are transparent. If you want more enhancement, use multiple coats of very dilute dye or multiple coats of very thin shellac (1/2# to 1# cut) to which an alcohol soluble dye has been added. Stay on the lighter side and build your color with multiple coats. Sand lightly with very fine paper between coats. When you get the look you want, finish it with a transparent coating. Different woods have different cell sizes and grain structures and will react differently and some woods need more color added than others but this approach will work for most everything. The dye and sanding enhances the color differences and the transparent finish enhances the shimmer. I have a piece of cottonwood burl that barely shows "C" in its raw state, but give it a couple coats of orange dyed shellac and it looks like it's on fire.
I have also seen (but not tried) chemical stains that really pop the grain on some woods. A gentleman name George Frank who wrote a lot for Fine Woodworking produced some spectacular results using ferrous sulfate on figured maple. Forget pigments - they will only hide, bury, obscure, muddy, or mute what you want to enhance.
Very neat damascus Karl
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Great job Karl!!!!
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Ray, no chatoyance on this hickory.
I'm talking about actual "sparkles" from resin or sap.
I've never seen it before.
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Karl, I have seen that in walnut around here. Looks like really fine sand in the grain of the wood.
Incredible knife, by the way.
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Karl, looks good, especially the damascus!
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Wont be any pick handles safe now ;)
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I love it. Awesome!!!
I found some hickory that I put up a couple of months ago can not wait to play with it now.