Spyderco Forums

I am looking for some thoughts on stabilizing custom cherry wood scales I made for my mules.
At first I was just going to go with clear resin to show off the wood but after looking at so images on K&G it might look great to use a color like red or even dual colors.

http://www.kandgstabilizing.com/gallery.html

Has anyone stabilized wood scales and use clear vs one color vs two colors? Any recommendations for a color or two to use on cherry or should I just stay with clear?

Thanks

I myself would not stabilise a coloured on darker wood like cherry.

Maybe on a lighter wood colour.

The cherry pictured above will come out darker just stabilised in clear.

I'd second Standy. Cherry can be outrageous on its own, no stain. I'm working on a pair of Cherry scales right now, just BLO treatment, and they're medium-dark, colorful, and beautiful. A red shade of tawny.

Now: Poplar? Pine? Ash? Maple? Go crazy with the colors...!

BTW, you have some beautiful grain in the above pieces. As long as you can see the grain, it'll be great...

If it were me, I'd do some tests. Stabilize one set clear, then stabilize another in a color, and see what you think.

My experience has been that dark colored woods don't take light colors very well. Things start to look muddy. For something like your cherry, I'd go with a color that enhances the natural coloration (so maybe a red or reddish brown).

Don't get me wrong. Brightly double and triple dyed psychedelic looking wood is actually my favorite look for a handle material. I'm just not sure that you can achieve that with your cherry. I tend to go color-crazy on the light burls--I've had some really good results on maple and birch burl. The burl patterns tend to guide the color really well. But coloring pieces with more regular grain (like yours), I've never been able to get a multi-dye job to look good.


For what it's worth, I think that all the color dyed pieces in the K and G link you posted are burl. The non-burl woods seem to be the clear ones. Most of the dyed non-burl pieces I've seen are either curly maple or some other very light wood, with a single uniform dye color.

Thanks guys, sounds like clear it will be. I just want to wait a few more weeks before I send them off to keep the moisture as low as I can.

I have the scales down to about 9% moisture content after letting the cherry dry for a year at 4/4. Now cut down to 1/2” thickness they are inside and I hope over the next few weeks I can get them close to 5% as recommended by K&G.

Bolster wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:11 am

I'd second Standy. Cherry can be outrageous on its own, no stain. I'm working on a pair of Cherry scales right now, just BLO treatment, and they're medium-dark, colorful, and beautiful. A red shade of tawny.

Now: Poplar? Pine? Ash? Maple? Go crazy with the colors...!

BTW, you have some beautiful grain in the above pieces. As long as you can see the grain, it'll be great...

Thanks, they came from a piece of crouch cut cherry, right where the trunk split into two branches.

I agree with most that clear will most likely be your best bet with Cherry.

If you are considering any color I highly suggesting testing it first. Every wood takes color differently based on density of the species, the oil content as well as the particular cut you have. Also, if you test colors don't be afraid to try black..it can look really good in some wood species if you don't use too much.

But basically... use colors on Maple and Buckeye..colors look fantastic on those two.

Agreed. ^ And I'd add, that if you decide to try a BLO finish (which will add more color than a clear resin finish), you'll need a half dozen coats of BLO before you really know what it's going to look like. I am just finishing up a pair of cherry scales, not nice figured wood like yours but still nice; I'll post up soon. Couldn't be happier with the natural orange-red colors that the BLO brought out...it *looks* like I stained it first, but I did not! I'll try to photograph it against the original wood.

BTW, good job on your drying method. You're almost there! I've also seen 7% as a threshold, but 5% would be even safer.

My cherryscales are now around 8% MC. I have seen some people recommend baking them at 220f for 12-24 hours to remove additional moisture. Has any one tried this, is it over kill for scales that will be stabilized?

After I oven dry for 12 hours I would plan to vacuum seal them in a food saver bag then in a few weeks send them to K&G. Thoughts?

My goal of MC was 5-6% but I don't know if I will get there with just air drying.

ALSO: Once I get the stabilized cherry scales back do I need to put any finish on them after shaping them? Or since they are stabilized nothing will absorb?

I always bake mine in a convection toaster oven. 12-24 hours sounds like a long time to me. I tend to dry them for a couple hours--4 at the most.

You don't need to finish stabilized scales. Sand them to the highest grit you have (I've gone to 5000 and the results are great). If you want to throw some Ren Wax or something on them, I don't think there's any harm in it, but I haven't seen any real improvement over just super high grit sanding from anything I've tried (Ren Wax, Wipe on Poly, Boiled Linseed, etc).

My best tip is to sand them to a way higher grit than you think. I was disappointed when I sanded to 1200, and when I went back and sanded up to 5000, I was really happy with the result.

A matter of taste, but maybe the lightest pieces could be stained a natural looking darker red.
Alkanet root is my favorite natural dye used in the finest gun stocks.

Xplorer wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:51 pm

But basically... use colors on Maple and Buckeye..colors look fantastic on those two.

Agreed with this. I bought a handmade smallish fixed blade from a local custom maker (he called it his bird & trout model). It's 1095 and buckeye burl with a violet coloring and it is stunning. One of the more beautiful ones I've seen.