California buckeye burl is sought after by many, and is a material used for everything from handmade pens to custom-made tables. In the world of knifemaking, it is considered a premium shaft material, known for its dramatic character, its natural color variations and impressive patterns. Patterns and colors vary greatly from subject to subject, and the taste is like the butt.
Buckeye often has a lighter and a darker part, where the darker color comes from a special type of fungus growing in the wood. This effectively highlights the structure of the wood. In addition, in some cases there will be a translucency and depth in the wood. On the way from the ricule to the blank, a stabilization process is carried out, this stops the development of fungi in addition to strengthening the material. Like other woods, Buckeye can also be stabilized with color addition, which gives the material extra character.
Buckeye burl, due to the way the tree grows, often has bark pockets, or voids, inside the material, and it is up to you how this challenge is solved. When a shaft blank has a bar pocket, it is common to run a process where these are filled with a type of colored epoxy so that the blank is void-free.
The price of the material largely reflects the rarity and pattern in each subject, but the work that goes into each individual block or grip plate set counts most. There are many steps from harvesting until you have a block that is ready to take its final shape. The result speaks for itself:
The end product will not be better than the material you start with.
In Norway, there are few (or none) who sell buckeye burl, but Storbua.no does its best to keep the shelves marked "buckeye" stuffed with premium stabilized buckeye. If we don't have it in the online store, we can probably help you. Get in touch at mail@storbua.no
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