STABILIZED WOOD FOR HANDMADE KNIVES
In this article I want to talk a little about stabilized wood.
What is stabilized wood?
Stabilized wood is wood treated in a special way in order to improve its operational qualities. Compared to ordinary natural wood, stabilized wood is resistant to temperature and humidity fluctuations, has high density and hardness.
Stabilized wood is not exposed to ultraviolet rays, technical oils, organic solvents.
In addition, stabilized wood has an extremely good appearance, is easily processed both manually and with the help of various mechanical devices.
Stabilized wood can have a natural wood color or be painted in one or more colors. During the stabilization process, the wood undergoes full through impregnation, so its coloring is also through.
Stabilization of wood is the impregnation of wood with special chemical compositions followed by forced drying, during which polymerization of the impregnating substance takes place in the fibers and capillaries of the wood. Different chemical compositions can be used to make stabilized wood. These can be natural oils, various varnishes, paints, impregnations, polymers, resins.
When making stabilized wood, the voids, fibers and capillaries of the wood are freed from existing moisture as much as possible and filled with impregnating compounds. At the same time, vacuum rarefaction is used, followed by high pressure, during which the prepared material is completely immersed in the impregnation solution. During the process of manufacturing stabilized wood, it is also possible to dye the blanks in different colors by introducing dyes into the impregnation composition, which allows you to obtain a wide range of color shades.
Drying of impregnated wood is carried out at a certain temperature. During drying, heat treatment of the workpiece is used, during which complete polymerization and solidification of the liquid impregnation compositions, which are used to treat the wood, take place.
High-quality stabilization is a rather expensive and time-consuming process, as a result, stabilized wood is an expensive material and is not used for wide industrial production. Today, stabilized wood is produced in small blanks, which are used to make knife handles and various decorative products.
Wood with a pronounced fine texture and iridescence is used for stabilization. Most often, these are sapwoods of such trees as maple, chestnut, elm, birch, as well as valuable species of wood, such as Karelian birch. A stabilized tree made of fruit and exotic wood species looks very beautiful.
Correctly manufactured stabilized wood is extremely beautiful, after processing, grinding, polishing and covering with natural oil, products made of stabilized wood acquire an amazing, incredibly beautiful appearance.