Wood stabilising for knife scales | My thoughts and processes
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- I have been stabilising wood for knife scales for several years now and I have learned a few things along the way.
In this video I talk about and show my process that I now use with very good results.
Wood stabilising is a lengthy process from the drying of green timber to the final time allowed to soak in resin first under vacuum and then in a pressure vessel.
It's a process that cannot be rushed especially with some woods like English Yew wood.
Other woods like Masur birch take the resin extremely well however and can be stabilised quickly.
Walnut and other hard woods like Maple are a different story and require much more time to fully impregnate with the resin.
I rarely comment, but I've been following you since your early knifemaking days many years ago. I've been a hobbiest knifemaker since the late 90s and have been fortunate enough to see a lot of wonderful makers blossom in their art over the years. Without a doubt, you have come further than anyone else I can think of in your attention to detail and your dedication to perfection of the craft. Love watching you work!
Hi Paul,
That is very kind of you to say so. Thankyou. I'm still learning:)
Paul Gibson Here, here!!! 👍🏻
Don't take this in any wrong way, but I love you. You're teaching me so much.
Sandy, you are so right about everything we do can be considered a journey. I’m on my own journey and I have learnt so much as I go along. I can honestly say I enjoy watching your journeys, whether it’s knife making or paramotoring or hiking. I don’t make knives but love the knowledge you share in this video. Thanks. Tony
Thankyou Tony:)
Really interesting Sandy . The reason it takes you longer to process your blanks is because your knives are top class and setting the standard by far!! Because of your enthusiasm to your craft even the Mrs just loves watching your workshop videos.
Thanks Sandy . Brilliant !
The results speak for themselves. The more I see of Yew the more I like it. Stunning work Sandy.
Nicely said Sandy as a guy who is well known for stabilizing Australian hardwoods which take a few months of vac, soak and pressure. I'm often amused by people who tell me it they are stabilizing Australian hardwoods and have done several batches but have only been doing it few weeks. 😩 great work mate 👍👍
Hi Toby, Yes it is a long process and goes slowly. I have some Australian hard woods to stabilise so thanks for the heads up.
@@Jackloreknives no problems mate I'm sure you don't really need it but I have some videos on it on my channel. Love your work by the way
Thank you for the in-depth explanation on all your building processes on your knives. Truly a work of art!! 👍
NOT a knife maker here, however, I started making custom ferro rods for friends and friends of friends. I bought a small-ish vacuum chamber and compressor from a local fella (One day I might even recoup my expenditures!). I'm convinced the moisture I see in the in-line moisture trap on the pump is being drawn from the urethane itself. I have noticed that with each sequential use, the liquid becomes a bit thicker than the first use (maybe three or four uses until I need to top it off). Just a thought on the subject, I am 100% not certain about it. It's just a thought. I have enjoyed every video you have made, sir. Thank you for sharing your rather vast knowledge of your craft.
I do believe the resin maybe hygroscopic in that it will absorb moisture from the air or objects placed in it but any water present in the resin will boil off under vacuum. I have noticed this and if you leave the pump running long enough you will see these bubbles diminish and stop when any water present has gone. I believe this has given some folk the idea that the resin itself will boil off, this is not so.
big thanks sandy,for taking the time to take us through the process.your diligent approach has always made me stand back in admiration,
Thanks again. You are one of our great knivemakers.
Great stuff, very useful info. Not many do it this way.
Absolutely beautiful knives
You were my second RUclips channel after Walter Sorrells many years ago now. You dropped off my list and I had to find your channel again, all is well with the universe again. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Brilliant Sandy. Nuff said.
Noel
Very interesting Sandy, takes me back to my job I had for 38 years (instrumentation & control systems), feeling very nostalgic! Lovely work - cheers, Keith
Making knives is a multi faceted job Keith
@@WiltshireMan I've always found materials, engineering and design very interesting, takes a long time to develop the knowledge & skills to stitch all those elements together. Fascinating stuff OC, could watch your vids for hours!
You are a very skilled knife maker.And i enjoy all your videos showing all the steps it takes to make such a beautiful knife.
Incredible. I never thought that making a knife required such skills. You really are a outstanding multidisciplinary professional. I´ve no words ....Best Regards.
This was an incredibly fascinating and informative video for me. I only wish I could have seen it before I bought about 50 pair of scales from people claiming to accomplish that process in one day start to finish. Your work speaks for itself. Absolutely stunning!!! Thanks so much for bringing clarity to the involved process of stabilizing wood. I personally like wood scales on all the knives I build. I look forward to following your videos from now on.
Some woods will stabilize readily. Porous or punky woods quite quickly but I find others need a lot more time to get the resin to penetrate. Sometimes weeks for especially hard timbers. A test I will use is to poke the wood with a sharp scriber and see how easy the scriber penetrates. If it marks easily there's a good chance the timber has not been stabilised well.
Thanks, I actually tried my moisture meter. The probes were quite difficult to penetrate on some with a 0% reading yet another did penetrate and did have a moisture reading however slight. I really do appreciate your sharing your knowledge. Like with everything I should have known before I bought all the scales is if sounds too good to be true it probably is.
I’m enjoying making my way through your videos, absolutely stunning knives. Take care Sandy.
Thanks Justin
Very nice work! Thanks for the lesson.
Your dedication to improving your skills in all aspects of knife making sees no boundaries Sandy, I am proud to own and use one of your knives, thank you and atvb to yourself and Mandy.
Sharing your knowledge not only adds value to my education but also makes my J.C. even more exciting and priceless! The amount of time and effort you put on your craftsmanship and the quality expectations you have set for your tools make you the best in your profession. Not to mention that my knife also comes with a video 😁!!!
Always great to see an educational video Sandy, every day is a learning day. Thank you so much !
Thank you for this very informative video. It is easy to think that scales were just dipped in resin, but there is so much more to it than that!
Your insight and craftsmanship is beyond inspiring, sir. Thank you for always showing how the best is done.
One day I hope to have the honor of owning a Jacklore knife. Beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Sandy, that English Yew is beautiful, amazing work you do , i have enjoyed watching all your Videos making knives ! I didnt realize so much was involved to make a great knife ! My XX Case (pocket) i thought was nice but yours takes the Cake ! Great work ! 73, Jerry K9UT
Thanks for sharing that with us Sandy. All the best.
Absolutely marvellous Sandy, always a pleasure to see how you work. 73's
You had me at "Journey"
Another fantastic video Sandy. I completely agree on the time needed for some wood to absorb the resin is longer than others. I was able to shorten the time a little if I could pre-form a handle so the wood was thinner. Still had better results with days rather than hours. Attention to detail results in a superior product. Your knives are second to none.
your knives are amazing jack, i hope i can get one looking half as good one day.
Very good explanation. Dont give away all your tricks now Sandy! ;) The wood is incredible beautiful!
Really are beautiful Sandy. You are a master craftsmen.
I wish I could give this video more than 1 thumbs up! Great work as always Sandy. I'm still enjoying my Jacklore "Classic", the craftsmanship is superb!
What a truly fascinating video, thank you for sharing your skills. Very informative and enlightening.
My walnut blanks still float after doing basically the same thing. Thanks for the video!
Sandy, those are Beautiful knives. Congrats
Great video, you are obviously very proud of what you do.
Fantastic video Sandy. I think your stabilising process is as thorough and complete as it could be with today’s technology and materials. I love your work and have thoroughly enjoyed watching your journey in knife making. It is always good to watch a perfectionist at work.
Cheers
Jim
Hi Jim,
I brought the larger chamber after watching your stabilising video. However after doing lots of stabilising now I believe it is quite hard to actually boil the resin. Curtis says it has to be quite warm to actually boil when under vacuum. When most of the air is evacuated your left with smaller bubbles that just seem to keep on coming. This is water that has either been released from the wood or has been absorbed by the resin. After approx 3 days I managed to get all bubbles to stop completely even with the pump running, there were no more bubbles!
Sandy
Jackloreknives Hi Sandy, that makes sense and is another great tip, I will do some experimenting. The larger vacuum chambers are much easier to work with and can be used for other things too. I also use mine for degassing silicone and resin. Being able to transfer the blanks from the vac chamber to the pressure pot and keeping them submerged throughout the process has got to be better. We never really stop learning.
Cheers
Jim
One other thing too Jim is that some of the bubbles seem to expand quite big then burst. To my thinking this is water boiling. When water turns to steam it expands 1200%, so perhaps something similar is happening under vacuum, too?
Very impressing Sandy!
So profound work with stabilization 👍🏻 Pleased to see this. Osmo
Thanks Osmo. I hope you are well.
Fascinating. Is this something I might do someday? It sure looks like heaps of fun, I'll say that!
Beautiful work - as always! One day I hope to get one here across the pond.
I remember the tall clear wood stabilizer you had years ago. Dam , that means I'm getting older as you get better with your processes. 👍👍
Awesome , absolutely awesome. Everytime I see your videos , I remember Lee. Man , I miss that guy with his son on his videos. 🙏
Take care and be safe my friend.
Hi Bryan,
Yes we all miss Lee. He was such a character.
As always....I've enjoyed every minute of this video!!! Love the craftmanschip, your knowledge sharing, your honesty, the music....did I mentioned your craftmanship?? It's so lovely to see from how you've started many years ago and were you are now. It's just amazing. Respect! The finished knives (woods) look astonishing beautiful at the end of this video
Very nice thanks.
Great stuff Sandy, nice to see how you've progressed, since the last video on wood stabilisation, years ago,,
Your knives are absolutely superb nowadays,, atb,,,
MASTER CRAFTMANSHIP i hope some dayi can own one...bucketlist
This is one of my favourite videos in which Sandy details the finely tuned processes he follows when making a Jacklore. The best part is when you realise that despite all the time, effort, energy, experience and know how that goes into stabilising the knife scales, the whole process still only results in one component part of a Jacklore being prepared so that it can enter the manufacturing process. When one stacks up all the component parts of a knife, the processes involved and then the build, it's incredible just how much work goes into the manufacture of each and every knife. Fantastic stuff as always.
Ahhhh, I've so been looking forward to these! And the knives preview is wrapped up in another interesting and enjoyable peek into your workshop to boot! Seeing the knives now I'd say I'd pick the classic with red liners, but that would be a Sophie's choice 😍
Btw, noticing the knives laid out by your new vacuum chamber was bloody tantalising 😃
Shame about the new chamber being made from aluminium though, as there won't be any bubbles-fests to observe as with your old one. Incidentaly, today I tried making primitive diy vacuum chamber by connecting a surgical suction machine to a closed tissue sample beaker and had some fun with a bit of oil and a piece of wood 😃 Nowhere near as good as with your pump though, as we can't really drain blood from open cuts with your settings 🤷♂️😒
But nice jacklore cup in the background and happy to see your little finger working fine 🙂
Thank you for the great video
Little finger is ok Vojta but there is still some numbness but not bad. I've got used to it. Also the finger feels the cold more now and turns a little blue in cold weather. Dupuytrens is becoming a little worse in the rest of my hand so another op in the future.
Well , I reckon if I was in the market for some stabilised wood I would be happier hitting you up rather than some of the others who recommend an half hour a side and swift flutter with a draughty hand fan.
For some odd reason your method sounds a tad more thorough . Maybe I am just an odd devil... :) Always enjoy the 'How you/how Sandy does stuff vids.
Tapered tangs ! shiver... love'em .
To get some hard woods thoroughly stabilised takes time Will, even with a good vacuum chamber and a pressure pot. Sometimes weeks.
When I first started stabilising a few years ago I did it the way others were doing it thinking that is how it's done but I saw the results some time later and was disappointed the handle had moved. Even very experienced knife makers back then were advocating short turn arounds getting handle materials stabilised in a day or two. You might get resin into the first few mm but not much further. To fully impregnate a block of hard maple is a two week minimum process using the equipment I have. A pressure pot rated to higher pressure would be better.
Very helpful thank you and beautiful knives 👍🏻
Kiln dry the wood, put it into the resin, then put the resin in the vacuum chamber and evacuate it, then transfer to pressure chamber. When the wood goes in the resin, it has air trapped in it, and drags air in with it; so the process works better if you vacuum chamber the reservoir with the wood in it. Just keep it submerged and run the vacuum chamber for an hour. Technically, you could do the whole process in one chamber, just put a bleeder valve in, add a vacuum valve, and put a pressure valve in.
Close off the pressure, close the bleeder valve, and open the vacuum valve. Shut off vacuum valve after an hour, slowly crack the bleeder to equalize pressure, close, then open the pressure valve for two hours, close, crack the bleeder valve, and you're done. You should have a means of maintaining a gap between the pieces in the reservoir though. Blocks put in vertical, with a mesh screen on the bottom and spacers or dividers between them, and a weighted screen on top. Some kind of wire basket would be ideal I think.
hello sandy .still making great vids.
so good to whatch..
i have 4 of your knifes and love them all .one was purchased from someone else. the others my girlfriend leanne got from you. all suprieses keep up the great work gareth from Newcastle
Hi Gareth, Thanks for watching. Regards
Sandy
The issue with pressure pots- they don't remove air at the center of the wood. Resin casters who pressure pot wood/resin are counting on the air bubbles being compressed and thus invisible in the hardened resin. The air is still in the wood. As you are using two separate handle slabs you would reduce pot times by slicing your blocks in in half and let them spend more time in the oven to almost zero moisture content. Three days in the vacuum chamber at that point should improve the penetration of the Cactus Juice into the halved parts of your block. No need to pressure pot the scales. I've been there and this works. 😃
I've tried cutting the blocks in two in the past and had them warp badly as they dried, so prefer to leave them as a block and cut the halves after they have been stabilised. Perhaps a good idea would be to dry the blocks first as a whole in the oven then cut them in half before placing in the vacuum chamber!! Worth a try! Thanks
Good news indeed, thankyou
Every time i go to the jacklore knives site the knives have been sold 😆.Very popular knives because of the work that goes into them.
There has not been a workshop session for a while.....Except the heat treatment one in September. The Yew is amazing.
Awesome work...
encyclopedia for knivemakers! thanks
Thanks for that, very interesting and it demonstrates fully your attention to detail which pays off in the finished item. BTW what is the resin that you use?
High standards getting higher!
Great video again Sandy, thanks 👍
I have a question you might be able to answer (and it's the right time of year to ask this)... In the 70's my dad introduced me the wonders of conkers! He was particularly impressed with and fond of their swirls & markings and colour & shine! I see similarities in many of your finished scales... What wood gives a finish most closely resembling conkers?
some Cocobolo can have those rich dark tones and also desert iron wood though this also has golden flecks . A conker is quite beautiful.
@@Jackloreknives Thank you for that, much appreciated 😁
I need a knife you made. Not particularly but want one ASAP
Any reason you don't split the scales into matching halves prior to stabilization? Seems it would be less wood to draw air out of and therefore cactus juice into. Thanks for taking the time to post!
They warp if cut thin
As always 👌🏻
Will stabilised wood move or warp like normal wood? Does the process just make it water resistant or does it actually so more?
Hi Shelley it will still move due to coefficients of expansion and contraction. Every material will change dimensions to some degree with temperature changes but in this case it should be tiny. The large changes you get due to wood taking on moisture from the air will be eliminated.
If you get “sinkers” after the vacuum process are you happy that they have taken as much CJ as possible and it’s not necessary for the “pressure” process or do to pressurise them as a matter of course?......Interesting subject.
Hi Andy, I would still pressurise. It's a bit of a black art, but four days under constant vacuum and a week (7 days) in the pressure pot at plus 5 bar seems to make everything sink!
I like the video. I make knives as a hobby and stabilize my knife handles too. I follow pretty much the same process and made the same experiences.
I have one question. You go by floating / sinking. Did you ever weigh the wood before and after stabilization to calculate the resin “intake“? My experience, wood strats to sink at about 50% resin intake based on the raw weight.
I also have a comment. I don‘t the moisture at your pump exhaust is moisture from the wood. They way you dry the wood makes it bone dry. I also detremine this by weight. If the wood does not loose weight anymore during the drying process it is as dry as it can get in your climate. I think the moisture you see is evaporated resin, recondensed resin. The resin has a vapor pressure (I need to find the data sheet and look it up) you have a powerfull pump and run a high vacuum (low pressure how ever you see it) at this conditions all liquids will evaporate.
The vapour coming from the pump condenses and is water vapour and not cactus juice. According to Turntex the cactus juice will not boil even under the most extreme vacuum provided it is below 93F temperature and I believe this to be true as after approx 3 days and I can leave my pump running and no longer see any bubbles AT ALL. None , nada zero bubbles. This tells me all air and water has been removed and the resin is not boiling! SImples.
No I do not weigh the wood, I do not see the need as I pull all water out using firstly heat then secondly whatever remains is boiled off under vacuum and then removed via my gas ballast valve on the pump. The total lack of any bubbles whatsoever is all the proof I need that full evacuation has occurred!
Sandy
Thanks for the quick reply.
No problem Roland. :)
Quick question for you. The so called stabilized scales I’ve already purchased could I test them any way. See if they float in water or maybe wood hardener Just curious. Thanks
A good test is to try and press a sharp point into the scales and see how easily it penetrates. Stabilised scales should be quite hard and the indent should be small. Also they should have some heft to them. Stabilised wood is a bit heavier. Certainly stabilised scales will be less buoyant than none stabilised.
Am I right in saying that the Australian “Gidgee ” wood which you used for my scales didn’t go through this process because of the hardness of the wood and it was naturally desert dried.
Hi Kim, No I did not stabilise your Gidgee but I did do a sink test! I'm still unsure as to whether today I would try and stabilise gidgee wood. I don't have a lot of experience with exotic Australian hard woods apart from what I have read on the internet and the few pieces I have worked. I know that Gidgee is supposed to be the third hardest wood in the world and will sink in water very much like desert iron wood and lignum vitae.
The consensus of opinion is that Gidgee is naturally quite stable and will move minimally. Those that have tried to stabilise it say it takes months to get any resin to penetrate and even then the effectiveness is not easy to tell.
When I cut open a piece of stabilised wood you can often not tell from looking, instead the only way to tell is to poke it with a scribe and see how hard it is. You will soon find any soft spots if it's not stabilised thoroughly. Gidgee however is super hard to start with so how you'd know is the resin has penetrated I'm unsure!
Sandy
you tighten the lid in the same way I tune my Drums.
Who is the source for that larger vacuum chamber?
What's the hardest wood you've stabilised Sandy?
Yew was a difficult wood Coops.
👌🇬🇧
Quality Product and Workmanship ... Knive Porn 👍
Does anyone know the angle of the bevels he grinds?
I remember in one of his previous videos him saying that he grinds some at 11° per side, equaling a 22° grind, and others at 13° per side, equaling a 26° grind. Its all up to preference i guess.
Edit: Keep in mind that this couldve been years ago, and Sandys measurements are always being tested and evolving, it mightve changed.
Thank u