Here's some river redgum timber I've recently sliced up.

The wood was recovered from fence posts removed from an old jam factory site. This factory was dismantled and the land turned into a suburban parkland just south of the Adelaide CBD. The wood was very generously given to me by a client. His best information says the fence posts are circa 1880, making them well over 100 years old. Now that's seasoned wood!

It has a wonderful swirling figure that can be cut as broad fiddleback such as third from left or as ripples and swirls such as the other three examples.

The blocks are resting on the fence post from which they were cut.

This photo was taken indoors under my workshop lights.

Sure they're busy, but I love these scales. I've had them for four years now and I'm still waiting for inspiration, a design that won't waste a millimeter of such a precious thing.

CAMATILLO is a kissing cousin to cocobolo. It's a rarer wood, especially with good figure. Very similar to work, oily so rough up the sides to be glued, medium-hard, bogs up files and sandpaper quickly, drills like a block of dense plastic so back the bits out regularly to unclog them. Whatever you do, never use your good files for shaping this stuff because it is frustratingly difficult to clean the gummy debris from between the teeth. You will think your file has been dipped in purple cement. It takes a good polish without filler or penetrating oil. Colours go darker over a period of years.

Most specimens have a purple tint but as you can see, these give the impression of crimson and black. (They do have a bit of purple when viewed with the naked eye). The figure in this example is dramatically and dynamically chatoyant, magically rippling as you change the angle of lighting, a character I haven't seen in cocobolo.

RINGED GIDGEE is an acacia species typical of the inland ephemeral floodplains and low open woodlands. This piece is from the wheat belt of inland Victoria. A relatively common timber in plain form but highly sought when it has dense curly figure like this. Often the timber is a darker chocolate brown, the lighter red tones of these scales are out of the ordinary.

Gidgee is hard, works well enough but tough and takes a good polish. It benefits from penetrating oil to bring out the depth of field. Doesn't necessarily require a hard finishing coat. Only mildly splintery, shouldn't give problems but don't cut too close to your lines with a bandsaw.

When worked it gives off a smell like red cordial. It does blacken easily if sanded with blunt belts. But just to complicate matters, the figure will look blackened though it isn't, even with sharp belts!

MULGA is a common inland acacia covering some twenty percent of arid Australia. While there are different types of mulga, this is the common species. The specimen is seperated from the pack by a sensational and dense fiddleback figure over a beautiful walnut brown base. This is one of my prized pieces of wood, so far I've only used it to make my personal carry knife.

Mulga is iconic Australiana. Medium hard to hard, dense, polishes beautifully, pore free, wax free, stable and wear resistant. In fact the handle of my own knife is more polished now after a couple of years in my pocket than it was when I made it. Watch out for minor chipping on the bandsaw and drill.

Mulga will darken with extended use but the degree is unpredictable and depends on the particular specimen.

CONKERBERRY is a narrow, twisted, knotty shrub which grows parasitically from the roots of desert trees in the monsoonal northern inland scrubs of Australia, distributed as far south as the fringes of the inland deserts.

The tree has a thick tessellated dull-grey bark and white sapwood which contrasts the startling yellow-orange inside. The trunks nearly always contain a central ant tunnel and are rarely over 10cm wide. Getting a slice large enough for knife scales can involve bandsawing a lot of material.

Professional knife makers have told me that any knife they make with conkerberry sells as soon as it's displayed.

The wood is a pleasure to work, medium hard, not prone to splinter and polishes very well. Do trouble yourself to keep it clean of metal dust etc or use a filler. It does not require penetrating oil but one light application will saturate the colours.

This is a once in a lifetime bit of wood. The section in this photograph is 15cm by 30cm and has a good story;

The wood came to Australia from Japan with a repatriated soldier at the end of WW2. It remained un-used for years until the soldier died and his effects cleared by his widow. Purchased by a riflemaker, there was enough for three stocks. Two were made and this remaining block kept for that very special client. The riflemaker obviously never thought his clients special enough because when he retired it was still sitting on his shelf like an artwork. After a year of being pestered, the riflemaker reluctantly sold it to me. Not that he considers it's mine because money changed hands. Far from it. For years afterwards he rang me to see what I'd managed to produce and recently commissioned two skinners from it. Love can be your master.

Steve has contacted me from Gifu in Japan where he trades antique and recycled wood. He says it is figured Tochi no ki (horse chestnut).

If you know what it is, please contact me here and let us all know.

BOCOTE. I love the scent that comes from this when first worked, very floral, almost like roses. Unfortunately also very volatile as it evaporates and disappears within minutes.

This is a wonderful wood to work, medium hard, sands drills cuts easily, behaves itself very well and stable in service. It benefits from being kept clean during the build and is best with a hardcoat filler / finish. I also like to apply a penetrating oil before the hardcoat.

I've used it many times. When first finished the handle will be more yellow than this photograph shows however over the years it will go a deep golden coffee colour, which looks rich and fabulous.

PERUVIAN FLAMEWOOD . I understand this is a trade name invented by the purveyors as they didn't have a real monica for the wood.

Rarely and sporadically for sale, I purchased these three small thin boards four years ago on a whim and haven't seen much like it since. You will note two of these have a broad rippling cross cutting figure.

Being thin boards, I use them on small pocket carry style knives. The wood is medium hard, a little splintery, dirties if carelessly worked, a bit porous but stable. It doesn't want penetrating oil (none used on this photo) but needs a filler / hardcoat finish.

I like it, but have to ration it out as it is so hard to come by. During the 2008 Adelaide Knife Show a small knife made with these scales was my most remarked about piece, and the first to sell from my table.

PURPLE GIDGEE is a large straight trunked acacia from deep inland Australia. Not that commonly for sale, more uncommon in usable slabs. Often used in jewelry.

The photo shows a polished scale atop rough cuts. When first worked the wood is a dissapointing light grey or an even worse grey-brown. Thankfully it oxidises to a full bodied purple with exposure to light. The colour change will take time (weeks to months) but will deepen with degree.

Unfortunately it's plagued by abundant internal faults (from seasoning) which means a lot of wastage if you are after the perfect piece. Take your time to nitpick out all the fractures on a scale before starting the job and avoid them. The wood is hard to very hard, works well enough but watch out for splintering. Sands and drills ok but take your time with power tools. Polishes extremely well and doesn't need any finishing oils or coats. The end result is worth the trouble.

SAPELE is a very large straight trunked canopy tree from the Congo.

The wood is readily available in straight grain form but quilted specimens like this one are heavily contested when they come up for sale. It is expensive to very expensive with good figure. What a joy though to pick up a slab of this and watch the full muscle quilting move and shimmer in the light.

The quilting always looks best from one particular direction so go to the trouble of fine sanding both sides of your scales and making sure you hold them in position and get it right before glue-up . I suggest you sacrifice any thoughts of bookmatching to show off the quilting to it's best advantage.

It has a dry unpleasant smell when worked, medium hard, has deep pores so keep it clean. Otherwise behaves well. Really benefits from as many thin applications of penetrating oil as your patience will allow, the more the better. Needs a filler / hardcoat.

Dalbergia maritima, mostly marketed as BOISE DE ROSE, is by any measure my favourite rosewood. By no means common, it is gettable for those who look and are willing to part with the brass.

The wood has a deep rich purply-burgundy colour that speaks sumptuously of royal elegance. This will darken with years of age and the wood will self polish with wear.

A medium hard and waxy-dense wood with similar working characteristics to cocobolo, but sands easier. You really need a good extraction system when working this wood or your entire ship and all who sail in her will be forever stained purple. The dust also has a strong scent typical of rosewoods. I recommend not using penetrating oil as you do not want to darken this colour, it takes a wonderful polish but could use a hard coat.

RED MULGA occurs abundantly in ephemeral creek beds only in one small area on the north west edge of the Simpson Desert. It is common as a weed in these river beds but just in that incredibly remote and tiny area, go figure.

Called red mulga because of the red minniritchi (means kiss-curl looking) bark that covers it from head to toe, see middle photo above. The photo at top left is after the sample was driven 2000km out to Uluru and down to Adelaide, so is rubbed smooth. They are an unusual and attractive looking tree and I'm surprised the horticultural industry isn't onto them as water wise feature plants.

I cut a 1m length from a collapsed limb on a cattle property October 08 and can't wait to use it for knife scales in a year or so. The small test slab at top left shows one half polished and the other polished with penetrating oil. I can't tell the difference. The wood is hard to very hard and looks promising. It will be a rarity when finally made up.

Only weeks after the right hand photo was taken (shade temp was 43 degrees centagrade) a decade long drought was broken and all tracks closed for a month due to flooding.

This is FLAME SHEOAK . I've seen the spittle fly in debates about whether this is a textural variant of sheoak or a species in it's own right. I'm not qualified to join in. Either way I understand it's only one log in a hundred has this figure and colour.

This specimen has a background red tone with golden yellow flames. I have other examples which are either caramel or brown or sandy yellow.

Sheoak appears to be one of the most stable woods, easy to work, about as hard as dry pine, polishes well enough but could use penetrating oil and hard coat.

I like it. Relatively easy to find and not the most expensive, you can afford to search out the best examples. I think familiarity has made it one of the underrated underused Australian knife woods.

COCOBOLO, you either like it or hate it. With an amazing variation in colour, pattern and tone, from flowing lava scales like these to imperial and elegant burgundy the wood can match any mood you are aiming for with a project.

I've met one maker who suffers allergic reactions to the dust and have read about others, but the affects seem to appear on an individual basis.

Easy to obtain, even with good figure, ok to work but a pig at clogging files drills and sandpaper. Can feel cumbersome shaping across the end grain. Waxy, so rough up surfaces to be glued, medium hard and dense, takes a good polish. It does darken with use so avoid penetrating oils if you have the willpower to resist.

Here's a lolly shop to salivate over. All are bookmatched pairs.

top scales are crotch figured Honduran rosewood, from left in the bottom row we have amboyna burl, thuya burl, curly koa, cocobolo and on the right, cocobolo burl.

WARNING When I used the Honduran Rosewood, my eyes puffed up to the point I had trouble reading and the skin around my neck became irritated for a few days. None of this appeared threatening but it was annoying. As pretty as the wood is, and as wonderful to work as it is, I won't be buying any more.

MASUR BIRCH is traditionally used in Nordic style knives. I like the fine random pattern which feels quite Art Deco to me.

Careful with splintering but otherwise a good well behaved wood. However given the provenance I'd recommend a long period of adjusting to local conditions before you use any you purchase from overseas. The purveyor claimed my examples were seasoned (and they probably were) but they bent through fifteen degrees within hours of hitting the 14% humidity and 40 degrees Centergrade of an Adelaide summer. Consequently they spent the next six months firmly clamped under a thick wooden shim to the end of my work bench. They appear quite stable now and haven't warped for over nine months since their release from jail.

HAIRY OAK has a distinctive bark composed of densely packed longitudinal wiry ribbons of chocolate coloured 'hair'

Unlike the lacework of flame sheoak, this wood displays numerous mid-brown morse-code like dots and dashes against a light caramel background. This example also has birdseye style clustering, which is common. The size and density of the pattern varies greatly according to the direction the wood was milled. You can actually order it cut with either numerous small and tightly packed dots or with long sparse dashes.

I think this wood is an ideal candidate for sleek, modern or deco styles.

The wood is medium hard, stable and benefits from penetrating oil and a hard coat. Watch out for pre-existing splintering along the medulla rays, so give potential scales a detailed once over for fine cracks before using them.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand hairy oak can no longer be harvested and all supplies are from salvage or fallen timber.

Sorry, couldn't resist putting these in. Both are CAMATILLO and neither look anything like the example heading this page.

I've sold one small workshop knife from the pair of scales at rear. This knife can be seen on my photo library page, placed opposite photos of an olive wood box and above photos of a black buffalo horn pocket carry knife.

A selection of stabilised woods. From left we have end cut bocote, bottom row, dyed maple burl, hand made polymer clay and at right, end cut red palm. At top is double dyed box elder burl.

I certainly favour stabilised woods in culinary situations. And they make such an attractive alternative to the black plastic that plagues even the high-end production run kitchen knives. They also take a good polish that is easy to maintain.

I wouldn't use end cut wood of any type unless it was well stabilised.

These are a chemical soup, so make sure you use good dust control and a mask when working products like these.

An international designer colour collection. On top are pequia amarello and Brazilian kingwood. Below from the left are chakte viga, marble wood, Brazilian tulipwood and on the right, pink ivory.

All are medium hard and fairly consistant to work. Pequia amarello needs to be kept clean as a whistle if you are to make the most of the canary yellow. Brazilian kingwood and Brazilian tulipwood give off strong aromas when worked, often likened to apples by the purveyors, however I find it more like a chemical imitation of apples, oddly not quite pleasant.

Pink ivory is said to be a royal wood, rare as diamonds, which is a great marketing ploy. It can be very expensive, ranking alongside snake wood. I like it, who would have ever imagined wood in this colour. This board has sat in my workshop for four years and is still candy pink. I have the first knife I made with it, and that is still candy pink. However, I understand with prolonged exposure to sunlight the colour will dull substantially. The wood is harder than it looks, works quite well and takes a beautiful polish. However there is one thing you must watch out for. It is important to always use brand new belts and sharp power tools as this wood will heat-blacken as soon as you let your guard down and then its back to coarse sanding for you sport. If you do all the late stage work with files and sandpaper you shouldn't have any problems.

WHITE CYPRESS has been used since settlement in Australia for housing, fencing, flooring etc. We have a large living potted example which acts as our family Christmas Tree during the season and spends the rest of the year looking after itself outside. My father's floor boards ( in metro Sydney ) are white cypress.

It is a straight grained, finely banded, caramel coloured wood typically well populated by darker knots, swirls and splodges. The picture at left shows rough cuts, boards and one polished scale.

The timber is renowned for stability, resistance and durability. Slightly harder than oak, it is saturated with preserving volatiles and oils which incidentally give off possibly the most attractive scent of any timber I've worked with. A bit like pine but more sophisticated. If you could harness it you would blow away the male cologne market.

Cheap and easy to get, there is a lot recommending it. An example of a camp utility made with white cypress scales can be found in my photo library page, picture F5

BRAZILIAN BLOODWOOD is one of my favorites and many examples can be seen on the photo library page.

The wood is hard and heavy, dominated by longitudinal, dark strawberry red ribbons against a slightly lighter red base. There's often a vague hint of gold behind the red. These ribbons are chatoyant, swapping places with each other when you move your viewpoint across the grain.

It works easily for such a hard wood, takes a superior polish and is very stable. Allow for minor chipping where the drill bit exits. Check scales for rare hidden splitting along growth rays but otherwise it is quite well behaved. Bloodwood is not hard to source but large examples can be expensive to ship due to their weight.

I've seen bloodwood in deeper shades, to a dark purple-red, which is sometimes called Mayan bloodwood. As far as I can tell its all the same species with variations arising from dispersed local populations or possibly the orientation the logs are milled.

MUIRAPIRANGA is a colour variant of Brazilian bloodwood but generally marketed as if separate. They both have the same scientific name; Brosimum paraense.

The wood is distinctly ribbon striped with red and golden yellow and has a much more pronounced ray-fleck chatoyance than bloodwood, probably the strongest I've seen in any wood. So much so it almost looks fake. As your viewpoint moves across the grain, the striping appears to dance and change colour. Unfortunately you won't see any of this in the photo opposite, its a character I haven't got the skill to capture with a camera. Please contact me if you know how to do this.

This wood is rarer on the market than bloodwood and more expensive .

I haven't used my boards yet but understand it is colour fast. The wood is hard and my test blocks have taken a very good polish without penetrating oil.

This is actually the first block of knife handle wood I purchased. Its fiddlebacked River Redgum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis) source from inland South Australia. The central piece in the photo is around 12cm wide and 30cm long. Yes, that's grain running the length of the block.

River Redgum would have to be the most iconic of Australian trees. Growing to enormous spreading classic shapes often gnarled by age and climatic abuse. They are common in many habitats but most often noticed along inland river courses or scattered like giant statues on pastoral properties.

The wood is hard but can be chippy and splintery to work. A good finish requires penetrating oil and filler. Scales must be well seasoned, preferably decades. This particular block is 80 years old and I know it's pedigree. There is plenty of reclaimed redgum for sale, so you should be able to find a substantially aged specimen that used to be a fence post or railway sleeper.

One of my favourites, I ration it to myself.

This is red narra from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and there abouts. Sometimes referred to as beeswing or curly narra, it is the log timber from the tree that gives the much sought after amboyna burl. Red narra is not the same tree as golden narra.

The three main slabs in this photo have only been sanded to 200grit, with penetrating oil added, just enough to show you the fabulous figure. The main colour is red atop an underlying golden yellow. Each of the boards is 5cm wide.

Its about as hard as good pine, with large pores so requires filler and with chatoyant figure like this, you would be mad not to use penetrating oil. Quite well behaved when worked, however it gives off a dry, dusty smell like a mixture of flying fox colony and pine leaves. Not what you would call pleasant but not as bad as buffalo horn. Luckily, as with most wood smells, it quickly evaporates and the finished product is quite clear.