Using different woods together

[Bill Brush]

I have an odd question which I'm not sure where to ask so I'm going to ask it here.

I've got some knife blanks which just need final polish and handles. I've designed my handle but I haven't decided what to make it out of.

I've got some really nice wood that the store had marked as "redheart" which is a beautiful red colored wood, and very hard. I think it's a kind of hickory. I also have some walnut. I'm considering gluing up the handle pieces so that I have walnut and redheart layers. The walnut would be a thin layer next to the tang, and the redheart would be on the outside. My concern would be differing rates of movement that would cause the glue joint to fail. The handle will be pinned so I'm not sure if this is a valid worry or not.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

Thanks!
Bill

[John Towns]

I am not certain about the joint failing...might be worth a try. As far as the Redheart wood, if I am not mistaken (by the way, I am mistaken frequently) Redheart can change color to a reddish brown as it ages or is finished. I used Redheart on an intarsia project and it aged to a very pleasing shade of reddish brown, not as bright as when it is fresh sanded, though.

John

[Tony Shea]

I think you will be ok and is worth a shot. What's the worse that could happen? If it does fail I'm sure that it would be a long time from now especially if you plan to pin it somehow. Put a decent finish on to help control the moisture content through the seasons and you'd be ok.

[Chris Padilla]

The size of a knife blank is quite small and so the wood movement will be even smaller. It is larger, wider pieces where such concerns come about and with modern glues being harder than the wood, I think such concerns are minimized....

[Bill Brush]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to use a good epoxy to laminate the pieces and brass pins to hold it to the tang. If it pans out I'll post some pictures.

[Harvey Pascoe]

I agree, you will have no problem with pieces that small. I do it all the time with small boxes and use only Titebond without a single failure over many years. I even do end grain to end grain. It would be a good idea to seal the undersides of the grips to deal with water entrapment, which WILL happen.