Thread: Olneya Tesota or Desert Ironwood

Does anyone have experience with this hardwood for scales? Most sources I've been able to find sell knife blanks which are just short of the size needed for a rescale.

Desert Ironwood - Olneya tesota

I haven't had a chance to use it personally, but I believe it's a relatively popular wood for scales. I've seen quite a few restos that were done in ironwood, and a few new razors are even sold in ironwood scales.

As the name implies, it's a VERY hard wood with tight grain.

My only question is it soft or hardwood(I would imagine its hard), if its a hard wood it should do fine. Some soft woods arent bad either. If its being used as handles on knives it should be fine for scales.

Used it for one of my first restos. Gorgeous timber.
A hard, dense wood. Hard on cheap bandsaws & sanders too

Smells bad while you work it & is probably one of those in the toxic or allergy causing list ~ Just wear a dust mask

I love Ironwood, I find it hard to resist. Unfortunatly it tends to be out of my $$ range most of the time

The Hiromoto AS Wa Sujihiki was rehandled by Stefan Keller Stefan's handles - Home

holy cow! That's an awesome set of handles you have there!
It is a hardwood, and one of the heaviest I've seen. I have a very nice silvertip brush made in AZ ironwood, feels like an iron ball in my hand when using it, in a good way. Also a didgeridoo made out of hollowed OZ ironwood that would serve very well as a weapon. I've used it from time to time for a workout
I have ZERO experience with scales, but this is a project I've had in mind for as longs as I've been straight shaving, so I don't mind waiting longer for the right razor and blank of wood to come around, if they do at all.
I picked up a Helje that had broken scales for very little bread recently, it's cleaning up very nicely with some sandpaper, little bit at a time, might be a good candidate for this project... time'll tell.

Hey bassguy I've got an Ironbark didge. One of our Eucalyptus species. Weighs a ton & unusual for a didge coz the termites don't like to chew on such hard timber. Anywho we've got 2 or 3 trees here they call Ironwood but none as pretty as the Arizona desert ones. Good luck with the scale making.
Don't forget to consult the oracle... I mean Wiki

YES! DIDGE! Oni, do you play it much? did you teach yourself? and other questions related to the world's oldest and coolest instrument?

Magical instrument. Ever played one in the bush ? Interesting reactions from animals.
Used to give it a few toots years ago. Haven't picked it up in ages. Sorta taught myself & used to hang around one of the Kurri cultural centres down the South Coast with a buddy who now makes Shakuhachi (Japanese flutes). Bought & sold about a dozen didges, with the locals permission of course. Kept 3 for my self.
Funny, taught myself about timber finishes thru didges. Came in handy for my first set of scales. I mean razor scales

No doubt about that, a powerful instrument.
I used to live closer to the edge of civilization and would walk out into the desert (if it's not OZ, it's not bush). I made friends with a small coyote once, and hooted the didge at some big horn sheep, they're mesmerized by it. Tends to calm down domesticated animals as well.
I have three as well: one is varnished eucalyptus which was a gift, the varnished iron bark didge I picked up here in Vegas, and my most recent I brought back (responsibly and respectfully) from Melbourne is painted by Djalu Gurruwiwi: boy I love that instrument. Think I'm going to give it a hoot now that I think of it.
I hear the sacred didj's are covered in duct tape and allowed to soak in water before they're played. An archaic precursor to whetting one's whistle perhaps.
Didgeridoo Cultural Hub - iDIDJ Australia