After the dishwasher / sandblaster

[larry shaughnessy]

I had given a couple blades and a scoop to some relatives and they put them thru the dishwasher. Needless to say the dishwasher was like a sandblaster and they looked horrible afterward and there were gaps between the scales and the tang on the bigger blade. The scoop was cocobolo but looked really bad after the dishwasher. It was like all the natural oils had been stripped out of the wood and it was bleached a lighter color.
Anyways, I am mailing them back now with new handles and a new scoop.
Red Mallee burl and Box Elder burl on the scoop.
Heres some pics.... Larry
http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Knives/PGoutgoing001.jpg
http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Knives/PGoutgoing005.jpg
http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Knives/PGoutgoing009.jpg

[John Keeton]

Larry, you are a better man than I!! Running knives through a dishwasher is a no-no regardless of the handle material. But, doing that to a gifted handmade knife would be the end of the gift giving for me.

That said, these are beautifully done!! I really like the rivet application, too. The mallee is predictably attractive, but the box elder burl is surprising - very nice contrast. Does it have any dye on it? Seems dark, but really very nice.

[Jim Underwood]

Nice looking stuff! Where did you get the rivets/bolts for the knife scales?

(John, I have to say I'd be rather unforgiving about the dishwasher myself. AT the least, there'd be a lecture...)

[Ted Calver]

Larry, Those are fantastic!! Do you make the blades too?

[Dennis Ford]

Those look very impressive, good job.
I am with John though and think you should find someone else to give them to.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

doing that to a gifted handmade knife would be the end of the gift giving for me.


got that right
no regift from me.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Agreed on the no regift policy. Wood in dishwasher?? For SHAME!! Very nice work, though!

[tom martin]

Larry,
I would like to see them before the fix. It would be a good thing to mount on some poster board to show people what not to do! ( I don't have a dishwasher so I can't do it myself) Any chance you took a before picture?
Thanks,
Tom

[David E Keller]

Nicely done. The mallee burl is really nice.

[Karl Card]

nice rehandle job for sure... very nice wood.

I tell ya tho i have a small peeler as i call it that is right around 25 years old, has a hickory handle on it. My mother used it before I got it and she alwasy hand washed it due to no dish washer, I however ran it thru the dishwasher all the time. Yes it is discolored but the wood is still there in the same shape and form, I like to look at the knife sometimes and just think about how tough it is...more so than I...

[Charlie Reals]

Nice job Larry, I also would like to know about those fasteners as I also make handles. Unless you told them no dishwasher then they have learned a lesson. Not all folks are as wood edgeumicated as ussin's ;)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice knives and scoop Larry. Beautifully done. I would put one great big warning in the box also about dishwashers.

[Baxter Smith]

Beautiful utensils!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very impressive work! Sure hope they last longer this time around!

[Robert Arrowood]

nice rehandle job for sure... very nice wood.

I tell ya tho i have a small peeler as i call it that is right around 25 years old, has a hickory handle on it. My mother used it before I got it and she alwasy hand washed it due to no dish washer, I however ran it thru the dishwasher all the time. Yes it is discolored but the wood is still there in the same shape and form, I like to look at the knife sometimes and just think about how tough it is...more so than I...

The key to your knife Karl is "25yrs old".I've got some of those I want to make carving knives out of.I would almost bet that your's has Hickory on the handle.

But with out a dought those are some good looking knive's.

[larry shaughnessy]

Thanks guys,
I didn't get pics of the blades prior to fixing them, but I still have the old scoop. I just bought a new kit for the scoop thru rockler, since that was easier than trying to dismantle the thing any further. The other reason is the old one was brass and the now they have stainless, which seems a little nicer. Anyways you see can a pic below of the cocobolo scoop and how the collar came off. That was put on with long set epoxy, same with the handles on the blades.

I normally grind my own blades and send out for heat treat but in this case I was in a hurry, so I bought blanks from Jantz knife supply. The pins are handmade from another knifemaker, but Jantz sells those as well. They are called "mosaic pins". The blades are a decent stainless AUS-8 steel, and come already heat treated and ready for handles. Heres a link if anyone is interested. http://www.jantzsupply.com/

The wood on all the new handles is professionally stabilized and the box elder was stabilized and dyed purple. Basically that means it was infused with acrylic all the way thru. Retains the characteristics of wood, but does not shrink, warp or swell like regular wood (no raised grain), regardless of moisture.

Any of you guys could do up some blades / scoop like these....its really not that hard. Thanks for checking out my post, and for the kind comments. Larry

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Knives/DWscoop001.jpg

[tom martin]

Thanks for the picture Larry, Who does your wood stabilization and what is the cost?
Tom

[larry shaughnessy]

I send my material to WSSI in Iowa. Mike is great to deal with. He charges by the pound based on outgoing weight, and the more you do the less it costs. Think its $8-9 a pound after 30lbs. You can check their webpage too for more details.

Larry