Thread: Show me your knives

A quick question to all our forum knife gurus, im playing with the idea of buying a Condor knife blank off Blademasters and making NZ hardwood scales for it.....

as a 'virgin' which of these three would you suggest, Matai, Totara or Rimu......as regards filing, sanding and the finish at the end....if i dont "bin it'....

Originally Posted by Scouser

A quick question to all our forum knife gurus, im playing with the idea of buying a Condor knife blank off Blademasters and making NZ hardwood scales for it.....

as a 'virgin' which of these three would you suggest, Matai, Totara or Rimu......as regards filing, sanding and the finish at the end....if i dont "bin it'....

Matai then Rimu then Totara in order of suitability if not stabilised

Black maire is a really good native option, very dense timber.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Matai then Rimu then Totara in order of suitability if not stabilised

Black maire is a really good native option, very dense timber.

I used Black Maire on this knife I made 20 odd years ago. It is my go to hunting knife and the handle has not shown any sign of deteriorating.
It was interesting to work. I ended up using an angle grinder to shape it as it was so hard.


I have also used Bamboo flooring as knife handles. It is a bit plain but seems very stable.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Matai then Rimu then Totara in order of suitability if not stabilised

Black maire is a really good native option, very dense timber.

Big thanks Nick, theres a guy on TM selling pieces and i quote "Shed dry for at leased 20 years" shall i give it a go?

Originally Posted by Scouser

Big thanks Nick, theres a guy on TM selling pieces and i quote "Shed dry for at leased 20 years" shall i give it a go?

What about Jarra ? Piece off an old hardwood power pole.
Amongst native timber a bit of Rata would be superb. Source would be West coast drift wood

Originally Posted by Scouser

Big thanks Nick, theres a guy on TM selling pieces and i quote "Shed dry for at leased 20 years" shall i give it a go?

Yup if he's not talking shit, good dry timber is a great place to start.

Originally Posted by Scouser

Big thanks Nick, theres a guy on TM selling pieces and i quote "Shed dry for at leased 20 years" shall i give it a go?

It all comes down to moisture content at the end of the day.

20 years in an open shed in the Buller vs 20 years in Central Otago will give two different moisture contents.

You ideally want 12% or less.

I put Kauri grips on my kiwi knife,although its a soft timber 20 years later they are still fine.

Originally Posted by norsk

It all comes down to moisture content at the end of the day.

20 years in an open shed in the Buller vs 20 years in Central Otago will give two different moisture contents.

You ideally want 12% or less.

I put Kauri grips on my kiwi knife,although its a soft timber 20 years later they are still fine.

Stabilising is the way to go for alamost all knife handle wood for elimination of moisture uptake and also adds a toughness to the wood that aids in wear resistance. I have a reasonable amount of swamp Kauri and have used it on a number of knives for those in the US who want NZ woods.