Spyderco Forums

Just received my Birdseye maple chaparral, and it is a beauty. Was wondering if anyone had information on whether this wood is stabilized or treated in any way? Would it benefit from Renaissance wax or other wood treatments like butcher’s block mineral oil from time to time to maintain its appearance and protect against moisture?

Good question. I was wondering the same thing too. I would like to protect it from moisture because I know wood can swell if it gets wet. Hopefully someone has a good idea.

I would just kept a very thin coat of mineral oil on it, it shouldn’t have an impact on the knife at all.

Dazen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:05 pm

I would just kept a very thin coat of mineral oil on it, it shouldn’t have an impact on the knife at all.

[+1]

That's exactly my thought, I've experienced XHP rusting before, now I treat it like all my tool steels and keep a very thin coat of mineral oil on the blade, so doing the same to the scales seems easy-peasy lemon-squeezy . . . or something like that :)

I'm super excited to get mine, every single one I've seen pics of look fantastic. More wood scales please guys! :D

Cheers,

John

JMM wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:26 pm

Dazen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:05 pm

[+1]

That's exactly my thought, I've experienced XHP rusting before, now I treat it like all my tool steels and keep a very thin coat of mineral oil on the blade, so doing the same to the scales seems easy-peasy lemon-squeezy . . . or something like that :)

I'm super excited to get mine, every single one I've seen pics of look fantastic. More wood scales please guys! :D

Cheers,

John

I think the op was talking about care for the wood, not the blade... EDIT: Sorry, you said that anyway.. :o

/ Hope we'll see pics of yours too!! :)

It’s got to be stabilized. Without some epoxy for support, a piece of maple that thin would be a giant pain to work.

I figured it would be stabilized because of how thin the scales are. Mainly wanted to know whether I am just wasting my time oiling the scales

I do not see how any oil would penetrate the maple. When I slide my hand, I do not feel any grain. It has a very smooth shiny finish.

My guess would be that Spyderco would use a stabilised timber for these type of scales. Their R&D testing on materials seems to be pretty extensive.

Even the extremely hard, dense woods like the diospyros ebonies, African Blackwood, et al can expand and contract slightly in different environmental conditions.

As Spyderco knives are used in all sorts of environments from coastal conditions, to deserts, rainforests and even Antarctica, any scales need to be as dimensionally stable as possible, within the constraints of the material being used.

In which case you don’t need to really do anything to the scales, as any oils will just sit on the surface. You could use a light coat of Ren wax if you like, once it has some wear marks on it, to visually ‘refresh’ the finish.