Yeah yeah.. gelan made another knife ..
Boring..

Introducing GMW reloaded 2013 - a repeat order, baby brother to the first GMW.

Steel 1075 - 60 HRC
Snake Wood (Beef Wood) scales.

Maybe one day I'll manage to take decent photo of my works..

That is sweet Gelan...your knife making skills make mine look downright primitive mate. I am very impressed with that knife...the shape, size and handle scales...brilliant mate.

Maybe one day if I can ever afford to buy a linisher attachment for my bench grinder, I might be able to come close to turning out products like yours mate.

Absolutely gorgeous Geland!!and I love that wood too!

very nice.

Very nice work!
Have you ever used "Purple heart" for scales?
My wife wants me to make her a dagger from aluminum Bronze with Purple heart handle. I have never used it and don't have any information on the wood. Can you help?

I have worked with Aluminum Bronze before..... ONCE. Not easy to work with but it looks almost like gold when you are finished.

PaulS wrote:

Very nice work! Have you ever used "Purple heart" for scales? My wife wants me to make her a dagger from aluminum Bronze with Purple heart handle. I have never used it and don't have any information on the wood. Can you help? I have worked with Aluminum Bronze before..... ONCE. Not easy to work with but it looks almost like gold when you are finished.

That is an interesting looking piece of wood Paul...would be nice with a gold coloured metal mate.

Purpleheart

When I bought a drift boat it came with oars that were rotted and broken at the tips from being covered with a rubber tip protector that held water, which eventually allowed them to rot. I cut the tips off and epoxied on some purple heart tips. It's very hard and durable to punishment. After over 20 years of use they've held up with only some dents in them. I also made a nice turned table lamp. Tough going on the lathe, it tends to burn black streaks when your tools dull. A router bit tends to burn the wood a bit like cherry does. It also tends to change color. A fresh cut is going to turn somewhat brown over time but on large pieces it doesn't retract from the beauty of the color.

I kinda like it because it's so dense you can be really precise with it, don't have to worry about expansion and contraction so much. But it's hard to get a real polished finish on it because of open pores. Gotta fill dem pores! They used to use it as crate material for Kubota tractors and they used to practically give the stuff away, not anymore though. I haven't looked for it for years but shop around cause it should be a lesser priced hardwood. It would totally make a great knife handle as you can make it pretty thin without fear of it breaking-it's strong stuff. I've used it as trim material on furniture too, it makes a nice contrasting color with maple. I also made a butt pad out of it for my Dad's ole 22 rifle.

I never use purple heart before, not sure even where to find some.
IMO it will be a great gift to veterans, Purple Heart wood on golden knife.



I have good luck to come by a source of some snakewood and bull oak.
These wood are rare and precious.

Well, I picked up a piece at a "mom & Pop" hardware store for next to nothing. It is 7-1/2" x 10" x 1" and the grain is straight and there is more than enough for a few knife handles or scales galore. I only paid $1 for it as it was "scrap" from a custom cut.

WOW...that's a real bonus Paul...well done mate.

$1 for a great piece of timber!

@#$#@ !!

gelandangan wrote:

$1 for a great piece of timber! @#$#@ !!

Check out Ebay for bargains mate...they are not common, but do come from time to time. Another way to get offcuts is to visit high-end cabinet makers, they will often have small offcuts that are suitable for knife scales.

I scour the bush every time I'm out there for nice dry pieces of timber with unusual grain. Another alternative is to find a tree with a nice burl on it and ask the property owner if he minds if you cut it off. They take a little time to dry, but have beautiful grain...also good to barter for unusual timber.

it may sound morbid but check out the makers of high end coffins.....loads of great timber there. NZ honeysuckle/rewarewa has a grain more honeycombed than oak and seasons harder than your Aussie hardwoods. NZ rata has a purple colour to it when wet that too is hard, by far the hardest is maire which is technically a softwood??? that stuff doesnt split with an axe it shatters but only if you are directly with or against the grain. it will cook a log fire in no time at all it burns that hot. I would hate to try and turn it.

When I was makin furniture for myself there was a cabinet shop i'd visit once a week. They'd throw out the cut-offs and bent stuff, the knot wood and less desirable stuff let you rummage through it. Then once a year they'd have a sale and I'd pick up some really great wood bargains.

Beautiful knife Gelandangan....