Hi Guys ... Looking for a source to purchase wood for knife handles. I have ordered some equipment for doing stabilizing and am wanting to purchase a few different types of wood. Thanks.... Kevin
Where are you located? I get raw lumber from the woodshed in Grimsby and exotic woods in Burlington ontario.
if you have access to or know anyone with some forested land, you'd be surprised what you can find on dead trees.
Kevin, A couple routes you can go. Cut some trees down, mill them, sticker them and let them season for a couple of years or send out for kiln drying. Or you can buy blocks and scales that are already dry and cut to decent dimensions. My go-to for unstablized scales is Michel at https://www.ebay.ca/usr/aplushardwood_com out of New Brunswick, but I am not sure if he's gone out of business on just on vacation. He had some nicely figured scales, maple burl, cherry burl, Birdseye maple that were cut and planed for reasonable price. Now call me silly, but I have found some great pieces of wood in equipment pallets coming in from overseas. Many Southeast Asian species of hardwood. Some as tough as nails, beautiful red tones, probably some species of eucalyptus. I know a lot of pallets nowadays are heat treated SPF or stacked plywood as this is a requirement for international commerce as per the IPPC, but there are some good old ones out there still. Most store-bought maple and birch will be pretty plain looking. I feel that if you are investing in stabilizing you want a good looking piece to start with. In saying that, Windsor Plywood has some interesting exotic pieces in from time to time. It may pay to stop in for a visit. Dan
Try finding local cabinet makers. They often work with things like birds eye and curly maple as well as exotic woods. They will have lots of scrap pieces lying around that I’m sure they would sell for cheap or even give away. May even be able to do a trade for a custom knife???
https://exotic-woods.com/products/squares-wood-turning-carving I’ve always wanted to drop into this place. Lots of different woods from all over the world. If I were going to stabilize for my own projects I’d probably go here for unique pieces.
