Mahogany knife scales

[RJ55]

Just wondering if anyone has used mahogany for making knife scales, and if so how did they turn out? Thanks RJ

 

[Mirac]

I've never used mahogany for a knife.. But I've used a lot of mahogany.
It's a very porous wood that will take oil well. it's naturally weather resistant too.
it's a bit soft, will scratch easily .
If you built up some layers of tung oil to get a good surface coating it should work out well, though don't keep it soaked in water.
Coating it in thin CA Glue would work out well too. which would be tougher than the tung oil. you could sand the CA and polish it.
There are some really nice examples of mahogany with beautiful grain patterns..

Good Luck !

 

[RJ55]

Thanks. Last handles I made were maple. Only used wax and a buffing wheel for a finish.

 

[Windini]

I've worked some mahogany - wonderful wood to work and it looks beautiful.

If you use tung oil (any oil finish, really), buff & re-apply once a year, or more often if subject to heavy use. The oil hardens as it cures, which "toughens up" a softer wood like mahogany. Also enhances moisture resistance and keeps it lookin' sexy!

 

[Bailey Boat]

Won't work well, too porous and will absorb the epoxy before setting resulting in a very weak scale/blade bond....

 

[Catfish]

You'd need to stabilize it first. I think maybe @mckenziedrums knows something about this?

 

[Mirac]

The work around to the epoxy absorbing too quickly is to pre-coat the back of the scales first.
Let cure, then scuff sand flat and epoxy as normal.

 

[RJ55]

A guy I work with brought me some mahogany this morning. After hearing all of this I may just stick with walnut and maple.

 

[mckenziedrums]

Well... I'm not sure you'd HAVE to stabilize it. It's a nice durable wood on its own. You could seal the back with something like zinnser sealcoat which is a shellac barrier coat. That will promote adhesion of the epoxy and keep it from soaking into the wood. Easy enough to do whatever finish you want on top of that sealer too.

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[Crazy Carl]

Pore fill with CA & you'll be GTG.

ETA- if it has any figure or ribbon, a couple coats of shellac will make the figure/chatoyancy really pop.