Wood Scales: An Unnecessarily Deep Dive

29roadie · 2026-05-14T19:09:25+00:00

I’ve recently been thinking about wooden scales and, more specifically, how they are cut and paired. I’m more familiar with the world of guitars and how figured woods are often used there. Many guitars use what’s called a book matched top when the grain will remain visible through the finish. A block of wood is stood on end, cut in half, and then opened like a book. The two halves are immediately glued together in that orientation before construction continues. That process is what lives in my head when I think about wood scales. At first, I didn’t see the need for book matching on knife scales because you can only view one side of the knife at a time anyway. But the more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes that the scales can’t simply be random pieces of wood. Some woods, olive wood especially, can have dramatic contrast and figuring. If the scales weren’t paired intentionally, the knife could end up looking mismatched very easily. That means the scales likely need to stay together throughout the shaping and finishing process. The blanks would also need to maintain their orientation or the grain direction could look odd once assembled. On the surface that might not seem like a big undertaking, but considering Victorinox production volumes, it actually seems fairly involved. So now I’m curious about the actual process. I can think of a few possibilities: Long thin blanks are cut into sections, with each scale simply coming from a nearby section of the same piece of wood. The blanks are more square shaped, and the scales are cut side by side from the same piece. The wood is cut similarly to a book matched guitar top, except the halves are not opened like a book. Even within the same piece of wood, the grain can vary a lot, so I’m sure Victorinox has given this considerable thought. Whatever method they use seems to work quite well. Why does this matter? Mostly aesthetics, but also structure to some extent. I’m mainly focused on appearance here. If you look at something like the Wine Master Wood, especially the olive wood versions, some have extremely distinctive grain patterns with dramatic light and dark contrasts that you can see from across the room. For a knife like that to feel premium, the scales almost have to come from the same piece of wood. I recently started thinking about all of this while purchasing an Evoke Wood Damast Limited Edition 2026. Will both sides look similar, or will the back side feel completely unrelated? I only own a couple of fairly standard Victorinox wood scaled knives, and thankfully the scales on those looked like they belonged together, but that only made me think about this even more. I can imagine the limited edition knives receiving extra attention when it comes to matching and pairing scales. But what about the standard wood models? Then I go back to something like the Olive Wood Wine Master. Does Victorinox treat those the same way as the limited editions, or differently from a standard 91mm wood scaled knife? Has anyone ever actually seen the process? .

Lucius513

29roadie
Don't tempt me. 😄
I thought about taking a picture of all my knives with wooden scales... including the limited edition ones... but is too much hassle.

29roadie

Lucius513 If someone was a truly committed collector in addition to being the user of the month, only then could I possibly understand them doing all that work on a weekend in mid May when they had really nothing else planned.
It's ok, you wont be judged. 🤪🤣😜

Kidding. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤔

29roadie

Elsinox Oh yes, thanks, I never really considered that. Tropical woods don’t experience the same seasonal weather extremes, just shorter events and fluctuations.

I imagine kiln dried wood could almost become more porous or rough afterward. I would guess moisture escaping too quickly could create its own problems like you mentioned, cracking and other stresses in the wood.

I don’t have a huge amount of experience with Victorinox wood models, but I honestly can’t say I’ve ever seen a failure of one. They clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to this process.

Seeing some of the old wooden structures on my trip was really interesting to me as well. The age, condition, and sheer number of them was quite amazing.

This brings up a whole new question for me. When did Victorinox first start using wood scales? I’m going to guess sometime in the mid 1980s, but I’m probably completely wrong. I know a quick trip to SAKWiki could probably answer that for me.

Lucius513

29roadie
😄
Judge away... I never said I was a collector. I've always maintained that I was a hoarder. 😜
Taking the limited edition knives out of their cases then figuring out where each one went afterwards felt a bit too much.

Holzsackmesser

Elsinox Leider kenne ich den Prozess nicht, den Vic verwendet. Aber ich denke die Schalen von Vic sind zusätzlich gedämpft. Also so die niedrigste Stufe zu einem Thermoholz. So (tot) wie die sich anfühlen. Die Hunter pro Wood Schalen sind z.B schon etwas angenehmer als die dee Rangerwood oder Foresterwood. Ich kann mich da auch irren. Das Dämpfen bringt Vorteile mit sich:
Bessere Formstabilität: Innere Spannungen werden abgebaut. Dadurch schwindet und quillt das Holz weniger, es verzieht sich nicht so leicht und die Rissbildung sinkt.Gleichmäßige Farbe: Der natürliche Farbton wird verändert und ausgeglichen. Beispielsweise helles Splintholz nimmt die Farbe des dunkleren Kernholzes an oder Buchenholz erhält einen edlen, rötlichen Ton.Leichtere Bearbeitung: Der Widerstand beim Sägen und Hobeln wird verringert, was Werkzeuge schont. Zudem wird Feuchtigkeit im Holz gleichmäßig verteilt.Schädlingsbekämpfung: Durch die hohen Temperaturen werden im Rohholz vorhandene Schädlinge nachhaltig abgetötet.

Aber es ist nicht mehr diese angenehme, natürliche Haptik von Luft oder sanfter Ofen getrocknetem Holz.

29roadie

Holzsackmesser Very interesting. Thank you for the education. I really know very little about wood.

Holzsackmesser

Messerbaer60 Du sagst es richtig, wie tot. So fühlen sich die Schalen leider (aber zum
Glück für mich) auch an.

Messerbaer60

Holzsackmesser Ja da hast du recht.👍👍

Messerbaer60

Holzsackmesser ich schreibe dich nächste Woche mal über dein Kontaktformular an.

DatiMom

Lucius513 oh ein Augenschmaus 🌸🌸sehr schön

Daniel

Realität und Ansprüche gehen manchmal schon ziemlich auseinander.

Holz ist natürlich ein Naturprodukt und jedes anders.
Der Banderole Aufdruck und Inhalt sind dann aber schon ziemlich unterschiedlich.

Ob es gefällt Geschmackssache……

Andewo

29roadie
Meinen Glückwunsch zu diesem herausragend schönen Exemplar 👍🏼. Da hast Du einen echten Glücksgriff gemacht.

29roadie

Andewo Oh, thank you!

Spok

Habe mein Forester Wood von den unterschiedlich farbigen Holz Schalen befreit! Haselnuss oder Olive ist als Holz zur Auswahl! Der richtige Sägeschnitt ist ausschlaggebend für die spätere Maserung! So weit so gut! Das ist erst mal der Anfang! Fortsetzung folgt!

DatiMom

Spok Prima 👌 da freu ich mich schon drauf 😁🌸

29roadie

Spok Wow, very nice! Do you cut them out on a band saw or coping saw by hand?

Spok

29roadie am bandschleifer und mit der Feile! Später mit dem Dremel! Immer so, dass das Holz nicht heiß wird. Sonst verbrennt die Oberfläche! Dann schön mit Schmirgel Papier glätten bis zum Finishing!!

29roadie

Spok Oh wow, ok thanks. I didn't think you'd sand that much back, interesting. Thanks for the info.

Spok

29roadie da meine Mini Werkstatt wenig Platz hat und ich die manuelle Bearbeitung bevorzuge! Weg feilen ist einfach besser und genauer!

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