OT Briar question

[Olivier]

I used some briar to make handle slabs on two folding knives and although I took a lot of care not to get it wet or overheat while sanding down and shaping it warped rather seriously and also seem to have shrunk slightly even before the knives are completed. The slabs are 3.2mm thick and screws onto the liners with micro screws. I'm thinking about wettening and clamping them down bent slightly in the opposite direction of the warpage and then leave to dry. At this stage it will be extremely difficult to make new handleslabs that will fit perfectly since the knives are almost completed.

Has anyone tried anything like this before ? Any advice will be highly appreciated.

[Sasquatch]

I have slices of briar of all shapes and sizes, and all sorts as relates to grain orientation, and they are all dimensionally stable. Like, they haven't moved a micron since they came off the table saw.

[jeff]

I've had some VERY wet blocks warp on me before. That's why most pipemakers who buy large bags of briar regularly rotate their stock. Their wood comes in still in need of air curing because they're noticeably wet. As they dry, they need to be rotated to ensure that the drying happens evenly. The result of uneven drying is what I experienced--extraordinarily grained briar that are now elbow shaped.

[baweaverpipes]

I've had some VERY wet blocks warp on me before. That's why most pipemakers who buy large bags of briar regularly rotate their stock. Their wood comes in still in need of air curing because they're noticeably wet. As they dry, they need to be rotated to ensure that the drying happens evenly. The result of uneven drying is what I experienced--extraordinarily grained briar that are now elbow shaped.

Mine NEVER go into an elbow shape.
They seem to always look like a womans' breast

[KurtHuhn]

I used some briar to make handle slabs on two folding knives and although I took a lot of care not to get it wet or overheat while sanding down and shaping it warped rather seriously and also seem to have shrunk slightly even before the knives are completed. The slabs are 3.2mm thick and screws onto the liners with micro screws. I'm thinking about wettening and clamping them down bent slightly in the opposite direction of the warpage and then leave to dry. At this stage it will be extremely difficult to make new handleslabs that will fit perfectly since the knives are almost completed.

Has anyone tried anything like this before ? Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Both this knife:


and this knife:


Have briar handles. The stuff I used I'd had for about 5 years or so, and was unfit for pipes for a variety of reasons. Both are doing quite well, with the first one above actively used by a hunter for skinning and dressing game without the wood warping. One thing that I did do was soak both with Danish Oil - though that probably only provides the barest of protection.

I think the most important thing is that the wood be dry to begin with. I actually cut the stuff I used here into slabs and they sat for an additional year before I used - not because they were particularly wet, but because I just didn't have knife to put them on yet.

[Alan L]

These have briar scales too. Same story, they were just scrap on the bench. These were finished with Tru-Oil, thus the gloss.

[Sasquatch]

Speaking very generally, wood that has dried too quickly or in funny stages develops what is called "case hardening" which leaves the stuff with all kinds of interior tensions, sadly released when the stuff is cut. So you can take a block of what appears to be beautifully dry, straight wood, and cut it in half, and if you manage to push it through the saw without it pinching and kicking back, what you get is two pieces of wood that are both twisty pieces of shit. It happens in real-time - no waiting.

Taking that to briar, I would be thinking that briar that moves so much when sliced has not been cured slowly or thoroughly or both.

[Olivier]

Thanx for all the replies guys. Strangely enough the problem seems to have remedied itself somehow (at least for now) . The slabs were cut fresh from what seems to be very dry wood. It was raining, humid and cold on the day I cut the wood and yesterday was the first warm day in a long time. By yesterday evening all four slabs were straight again and this morning it is still pretty straight. Must be the humidity. I guess I'll just monitor any movement for a while before I make a final decision on wheter I should use them or not. If they were to be epoxied and pinned to the knives it would not be such a big deal but these are liner lockers and can be completely stripped down. Both the knives are a bit upscale with damascus blades and fileworked titanium liners, bolsters and backspacers so I would not want them to warp in the hands of a collector.


EDIT: Now that it's a bit warmer again they're both warped again so I decided to chuck them and use something else instead. The problem seems to be temperature related. Makes me wonder how much a pipe expands and retracts or even warp while being smoken?

[Frank]

If a pipe expanded and contracted as extremely as your slabs, the stem would constantly be falling out or gripped too tightly in the mortise. Consider that a pipe undergoes both heat and moisture during smoking.

It sounds like a couple of factors are involved, not least of which is what Sasquatch mentioned, internal stresses. It seems like you got a crappy hunk of briar.

PS: Just my logical thinking, I could be dead wrong.

[Olivier]

If a pipe expanded and contracted as extremely as your slabs, the stem would constantly be falling out or gripped too tightly in the mortise. Consider that a pipe undergoes both heat and moisture during smoking.

It sounds like a couple of factors are involved, not least of which is what Sasquatch mentioned, internal stresses. It seems like you got a crappy hunk of briar.

PS: Just my logical thinking, I could be dead wrong.

Hmm, Your logic makes me feel rather stupid. Crappy briar it is then, or worse................., crappy craftsmanship
Point taken. NOW STOP POUNDING ME WITH THAT DARN HAMMER!!

[KurtHuhn]

crappy craftsmanship

I've seen your work in person, Andries. It's decidedly NOT crappy craftsmanship.

[Frank]

NOW STOP POUNDING ME WITH THAT DARN HAMMER!!

That's actually meant to be you pounding me with the hammer!

The Oil Covered Goth is right, your knives attest to the fact that your craftmanship is anything but crappy.

[Olivier]

NOW STOP POUNDING ME WITH THAT DARN HAMMER!!

That's actually meant to be you pounding me with the hammer!

The Oil Covered Goth is right, your knives attest to the fact that your craftmanship is anything but crappy.

LOL. The hammer is not really my weapon of choice

Thank you for the compliments gentlemen.

Please don't tell me Chris is actually showing the reject I sent him to other people