UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons SS Dagger Forum Types of wood in handles

Ok so the reason your m33 bokers handle is prone to chipping is due to the properties of ebony. Ebony is a very dense, hard, heavy wood and a great choice to use in lots of things, an ebony guitar is top of the line, only thing out there better is korina. The problem lies in the properties of wood, as it was once a living thing the xylem and phloyem in that wood stull works to transport water, moister, and even nutrients long after its cut down. Also wood absorbs moister from the air and much like train tracks expands and srinks from tempurature changes. The problem is all the little spaces that were carved out for the runes, the tang, eagle, and pommel nut. Its only a thin layer of wood seperating these parts and pressure, disassembly, the weather can all add together and chip that ebony grip. They changed the wood type of tge handle for RZMs I assume? Mahogany, walnut, oak, Im no expert im sure someome om here knows all the types. By using a lighter cheaper wood it actually made the grips less prone to chipping, and cost less to produce, a win win in many ways. Did they stop making ebomy grips altogether at somepoint or did different makers experiment over the rzm period? Im sure theres no golden standard to the rule but unfortunately those ebony grips will continue to chip over the years unless stored in a controlled tempurature and moister environment. Thats my 2 cents, also would like to know what woods are in period grips.

Briefly, There is a difference between ebony the wood and ebony the color. Ebony articles that sometimes are hundreds of years old and now in museums do not spontaneously fall apart. And the grips of many SS daggers are actually made of walnut that has a surface finish that can be worn away as seen with a number of relatively untouched SS daggers. Some late daggers having a softish light colored wood that can be seen when exposed (especially when somebody reworks a grip for another dagger). Getting back to walnut - it was used very extensively for rifle stocks, as well as for bayonet and pistol grips etc. They don’t just fall apart by themselves either from the TR period or much earlier. What causes the chipping of the edges of the dagger grips is stress that cleaves the wood in a direction where the grain is weakest. The stress in most cases coming from somebody who for some reason over tightened the crossguards/pommel nut . Which is not to say that temperature and humidity don’t have any effect, as many untouched SA daggers might have a small depression where the edges of the crossguard are in contact with the wood. The difference being in that the wood with those daggers had the opportunity to gradually normalize over time. As for the woods used on political daggers they seem to fall into three categories: Pre-RZM (mixed with some not permitted under the RZM), RZM specified, later RZM period which is also most likely mixed because I don’t know if some of the later SS dagger types have actually been identified. Additional: Mahogany (which I very seriously doubt) would have to have been imported and was not on the RZM list. A leftover supply of ebony could have come from the former German colonies in Africa, but it’s more likely IMO that a much less expensive and more easily obtainable period substitute (walnut as one example) was used which was a common practice. Best Regards, Fred