philburt nut tree wood

[remist17]

Not sure how to spell it but has anyone used filburt nut tree wood? We just cut two trees down and they have good color. If someone has do I need to stabilize or can I just dry the wood and seal it after the handle is done.

[Ray Rogers]

I've never used it or heard of it being used but its wood and pretty much any wood can be a knife handle. Most wood doesn't have much figure in it and so it can be a serviceable handle but not really much to look at. Still, if you like the color you can at least give it a try.

If the wood is not oily it can be stabilized. If you don't stabilize you'll need to do some testing to see what other kinds of finish might work well with that wood. As long as the wood is dry and not oily it should be easy to find a finish you like and it sounds like you have plenty of wood to experiment with ...

[Crex]

Most nut trees are dense and solid due to their slow growing characteristics. I'd look at the crotch areas for figure. Like Ray said, if a dry not oily wood it is a candidate for stabilization, if oily or waxy probably not. Either way you need to try it on a "beater" or shop knife first and see how it performs. Wouldn't recommend stabilizing if the wood has no figure or distinctive coloration.
Easy test to get an idea of it's finished look is to sand a chunk down smooth 400-600 grit and just spritz with some water (not soak). Color and grain will stand out.
Stump is likely to have the best figure, but you got to really want it to get it.

[remist17]

Thank you all. I take photo of the wood and post it. When I did initial cut it reminded me of zebra wood.

[Gary Mulkey]

Many nut woods are very dense are prone to cracking when being dried and need to be dried slowly. If there is anyone locally who can professionally kiln dry it that would be a good move.

Gary

[jmccustomknives]

A trick I was told about a few years ago was to cut the wood into blocks then put the blocks into clear ziplock plastic bags. The moisture will collect on the bag and you'll need to change the bags daily. The moisture condensation in the bag will taper off. When it stops you can take the next step.
This method works well. I'll leave the bags in the cab of my truck, the extra heat generated from the sun speeds up the process, but it still isn't fast enough to let the wood crack.