Saw Handle: Wood Selection

[Jared McMahon]

I'm playing with the idea of making a full-sized ripsaw. I'd like to use stainless steel sawnuts and then some very dark and lustrous wood for a strong contrast between the handle and the plate/nuts. I'm thinking wood criteria (in rough order of importance) would be something like:

- Moderate or better stability
- Not brittle, able to take a few drops/dings
- Not too open-pored
- Dark brown or red, or black

And of course it has to come from a tree that produces chunks of wood 6" x 6" or more. My current thoughts are:

- Wenge
- Hunt for an especially dark piece of walnut
- Possible padauk

If I can't find anything natively dark enough for my taste, would there be any issues with taking beech or hard maple and ebonizing it?

[Todd Burch]

Rosewood is always nice.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I know Walnut is probably considered too soft by some for this purpose, but I made a Walnut handle for a back saw I use for rough work and have used it extensively for the last couple years, I think Walnut is great as a saw handle wood. It will give you the dark look you are after and you will probably save a bunch compared to some exotic choices. Not sure why open pored would be an issue to be concerned about. If I was going to stain something to create a dark look, I'd go with Oak or maple. Both are easy to acquire in the thickness of your choice and have excellent finishability.