Bacon wood knife scales

[ArcticDave 1,444]

I've never made anything from it, but it is a tough wood. I bring home a small bundle anytime I'm up north in the pines. It is a fantastic cooking wood and when used in the smoker, it is extremely tasty.

[ArcticDave 1,444]

With all this talk of ironwood lately, I did some research on the darkening effect. It is a known issue with ironwood. The general consensus over in a custom knife forum was that uv plays a big role in how fast ironwood darkens. If you store it in the dark it seems to retain its original color longer. A finish that blocks uv could greatly extend that time. Shellac is very uv resistant and could be worth experimenting with, for those of us that prefer a more natural finish. The good news I read over there, was that the darkened ironwood can be sanded back to the original color fairly easily. Apparently the oxide layer is not that thick.

This is all second hand info, but it seemed pertinent.

[Au Seeker 2,184]

Well I can tell you from working with all kinds of wood on a daily basis being a custom cabinet maker for many years is that all woods will darken with exposure to UV light, even most paints will also darken, we have to deal with this with almost every customer when they ask why the cabinet/s next to their windows are darker than their other cabinets after a year or so.

[ArcticDave 1,444]

That makes sense then Skip. It appears that if you don't want to keep your piece in the dark all the time, the darkening can either be accepted, or you can refinish every so often. Since it still looks good even when dark (like Bob's knife), I'd probably just leave it alone.

[Au Seeker 2,184]

Dave that "patina" is actually very desirable to many people, we used a lot of reclaimed wood on some builds and we do little if any sanding on most of this type wood and then we either do a low gloss or flat clear coat or no sealer at all depending on the customer's wishes.

Many times the darkening on older wood is mostly in the clear coat but does go into the wood a bit or more depending on the age of the patina. 

If the reclaimed wood has never been maintained , i.e, repainted or sealed regularly the wood itself with most specics will turn gray as in most reclaimed barn wood.

[AzNuggetBob 1,344]

I think the Ironwood oil is darkening with exposure to sunlight. I do know Ironwood is a very oily wood. not sure why but Ive noticed on several knives the wood tends to darken when exposed to sunlight?.

AzNuggetBob

[ArcticDave 1,444]

I think fluorescent bulbs darken it too. There was a guy on the knife forum I was reading about ironwood, that said he had kept his knives on magnetic strip above the counter top. There was a fluorescent light fixture mounted under the top cabinets right next to his custom ironwood kitchen knives. The knives all darkened several shades within a year on the sides exposed to the light fixture.

 

[Au Seeker 2,184]

That's actually not surprising, studies have shown that fluorescents bulbs emit UV light, manufacturers say harmless low levels, but some studies say they emit high levels that can do damage to your skin.

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/10/18/study-fluorescent-light-bulbs-emit-high-levels-of-uv-radiation/

[ArcticDave 1,444]

  I've always hated fluorescent lighting. It seems like I get a real humdinger of a headache everytime I'm in a room lit with them.

[homefire 2,450]

Yep, it gives me the Creeps.  Like  something is going on behind your back and you just can't see it.  If your in a room with a bulb that's flaking out it bug the chit out of me. 

[ArcticDave 1,444]

Yep. Seriously....what self respecting serial killer doesn't have a creepy, crappy fluorescent light in his hideout?

Maybe the flickering light is better for showing off nipple belts and jars of eyeballs...

[ArcticDave 1,444]

One more knife I finished this morning. Acid etched the name with muriatic acid and the scales are figured maple I dyed blue. It's bright, but it came out great. The blue dye really made the grain pop on that maple.

[Morlock 790]

Nice work. What kind of dye did you use?

[ArcticDave 1,444]

Thanks!

The proper way is to use aniline dyes I think. Since I was experimenting...I used food coloring. The color came out better than I expected.

[Morlock 790]

I hope you sealed it good otherwise anytime you use it,  you might find up with some dye on your hands.

[ArcticDave 1,444]

17 minutes ago, Morlock said:

I hope you sealed it good otherwise anytime you use it,  you might find up with some dye on your hands.

It's very sealed. There are 8 coats of clear shellac on that handle!

Overkill is my middle name...

[Morlock 790]

Better to overseal it then underseal.  That green food dye is difficult to remove from skin.

[homefire 2,450]

What did you seal it with ? 

[ArcticDave 1,444]

1 hour ago, homefire said:

What did you seal it with ? 

A quick swipe of boiled linseed oil to accentuate the chatoyance of the burls in the maple. After that dried, just several coats of clear shellac, sanded with 320grit between coats. A final buffing off with fine scotchbrite and an application of paste wax as a top coat.

[GeoJack 577]

I just put down three decks of Tigerwood (Brazilian Koa) and have some pieces laying around. I think I'll try making some handles for the new knife I just got.

Dave, your work is excellent.

Edited July 6 by GeoJack

[ArcticDave 1,444]

That is some pretty stuff Jack! I bet that made beautiful decking 

Share some pics of the knife when you're finished...I'm sure it will be spectacular using that Tigerwood. 

I am researching small forge designs. I really enjoyed making the handles, but I am ready to do something more. I really want to forge my own Damascus. 

 

[homefire 2,450]

16 hours ago, ArcticDave said:

A quick swipe of boiled linseed oil to accentuate the chatoyance of the burls in the maple. After that dried, just several coats of clear shellac, sanded with 320grit between coats. A final buffing off with fine scotchbrite and an application of paste wax as a top coat.

LOL, I was shuttering here wondering if you used Urethane or the like.  LOL   GOOD MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ArcticDave 1,444]

1 hour ago, homefire said:

LOL, I was shuttering here wondering if you used Urethane or the like.  LOL   GOOD MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate polyurethane too!

Natural finishes wherever possible for me

 

[homefire 2,450]

7 minutes ago, ArcticDave said:

I hate polyurethane too!

Natural finishes wherever possible for me

 

Yep, may as just well use Plastic as that crap.  Any natural Finnish can be repaired as needed. Most handy for Gun Stocks and not.   Not that crap.  

[AzNuggetBob 1,344]

Nice work on your knife Dave.

Ive  tried using  boiled linseed oil like you suggested. it works pretty good on ironwood. clear coat polyurethane doesn't. the wood is too oily. you can literately hit a block of ironwood with a hammer and get a greasy spot on the face of the hammer. but that's one of the reasons this stuff weathers so well. Its very dense,hard and its oily. I got the best results if I wiped the ironwood down several times with acetone first, let it dry before applying a finish. this seems to help the finish bond to the grain of the wood.

Here is some photos of a knife I was building awhile back. you can see the Ironwood real good in these. when I took the photos I was in the process of fitting the pins and scales to the blade. that's all hand (flame) file work around the edge with a hot plum brown on the blade. handmade guard. it came out pretty nice. I'll see If I can find some other photos with Ironwood. Taking photo's indoors doesn't work very well but it is a nice shot of my wall switch in my shop.
AzNuggetBob