Our Materials

Wooden Steel

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Our Materials


	Exotic hardwoods, machined laminates, natural twisted sticks, stone, acrylic, steel, nickel, and brass are just some of the wide variety of materials used in the creation of Wooden Steel Custom weapons, knives, hiking sticks, and canes.

Custom training swords, staff, and martial arts weapons are crafted from the finest hardwoods, both domestic and exotic. Each weapon is shaped by hand using a combination of machines, for rough in, and hand planes and scrapers, for final shaping and polishing. Guards for Bokken are made of thick leather strips spiral wrapped, stained and sealed to fit each Bokken as it is created. All woods are rated either “for contact” or “not recommended for contact” based on market research and our own testing of the weapons.

Canes and hiking sticks are created from both machined and natural shaft woods. The cane heads are shaped from the same high quality woods used in the creation of our martial arts weapons.

Wooden Steel knives are created using a wide variety knife blanks in several different designs. The styles offered are selected to represent Combat, Hunting, and General Purpose uses. Our knives are roughed in for us and then combined with some of the worlds most beautiful exotic hardwoods as well as an array of man made materials to create a unique, one-of-a-kind knife that is both functional and affordable.

Please remember: If you do not find the material of your choice on our website, give us a call. We will find what you want.

African Paduak

Below you will find pictures and details about a variety of woods used in our custom work. We will add to these from time to time.

White Oak - Makes a durable inexpensive weapon, will take a beating, good for all weapons.

(Quercus alba) is a wood found on the North American continent with a straight grain and a moderate to coarse texture. It is light tan with a yellowish tint and will darken to a deep color over time. All finishes hold well in White Oak. It is extremely durable and easy to work with.

Hickory (Carya ovata)

The heaviest, hardest and strongest American wood in use. It has fine grain and is extremely resilient, quite hard and is only moderately heavy at 51 pounds per cubic foot. Light cream to tan color with reddish brown streaks. Extremely tough and resilient with outstanding impact strength.

Purpleheart (Peltogyne paniculata)

Dull gray brown when freshly cut but soon oxidizing to a violet purple, darkening over time. Medium to hard wood with tight, fairly straight grain with moderate to coarse texture and comes from Central and South America. Makes excellent weapons which can take a real beating as well as being attractive.

When exposed to prolonged sunlight it will darken further until it is brown.

Bloodwood - Heavy wood, makes great weapons except bos, wood has a tendency to warp when turned thin.

(Brosimum rubescens) is a tropical hardwood from South America that has light red or chestnut brown heartwood with greenish golden ribbon figure. Also known as Satine, its texture is rather fine and the grain is straight with a high golden luster. Bloodwood is a heavy wood with a density of 56 to 66 pounds weight per cubic foot. It is only slightly lighter in weight than Cocobolo (which has a density of 69 pounds per cubic foot). It is most commonly found in the country of Suriname.

Cocobolo - Heavy, expensive, spectacular appearance, will take contact, black and orangish red color.

(Dalbergia retusa) comes from Central America and the heartwood is purplish-red and deepens upon exposure. This hard and heavy wood accepts a wide range of finishes. This wood is probably the most popular wood to make martial arts weapons with and is a wood most martial artists are well familiar with.

Gabon Ebony - Heavy, expensive, spectacular appearance, will take contact, deep black color.

(Diospyros dendo) is a wood that has uniform jet-black heartwood as seen in the photo below. The wood is very fine textured and has a metallic luster. Gabon Ebony is strong and hard with good resistance to bending and compression. It turns well and can be finished to a high polish. Typical uses for Gabon Ebony include inlaid work, musical instruments and piano keys. Gabon Ebony comes from Africa, specifically Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire.

Zebrawood -

(Microberlinia brazzavillensis), known as Zebrano in Europe, has heartwood that is a pale golden brown to pinkish brown color. It has pronounced dark brown lines interspersed with light and medium brown bands. The grain is moderately coarse and looks straight but often is interlocking and wavy. It is a West African tropical hardwood and comes principally from Cameroon and Gabon. Its weight is medium to heavy at 46 pounds per cubic foot. It is similar in weight to African Padauk, Hickory and White Oak.

Lignum Vitae -

(Guaiacum officinale) is a heavy and dense wood with irregular and interlocked grain. It has heartwood that is greenish-brown. The wood is especially oily or waxy due to natural gum resins that make up about 30% of its weight. The wood has a fine and uniform texture with a low luster.

It is extremely heavy and is one of the heaviest timbers known to commerce. Of hundreds of wood species tested, lignumvitae consistently ranks first in its resistance to indentation probably making it the strongest wood available. Lignumvitae principally comes from Central America and the West Indies.

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Wooden Steel
202 C East Main Street
Thurmont, MD 21788
United States
Ph: 301-271-3961
e-mail: shawn@woodensteel.com