Is hickory good for a knife handle

Hickory is very hard and shock-resistant. Good for knife scales. But not rot-resistant if it’s going into a tackle box or some place wet.

All three of your choices are ring-porous though, so you may want to grain-fill.

Wood Database is your friend for questions like this.

-- Dave - Santa Fe

Hickory is good enough for hammers. But i’d personally probably do white oak and then ebonize it. White oak ebonizes well and resists water. I would ebonize, clear grain fill, then finish.

Thank you Dave and SMP for the info. This gives me enough to go on Thanks. He has separate knives for fishing use. This is one of the knives he packs when hunting.

If you’re going to grain fill, you might want to try various colors on a scrap. You can get totally different looks that way. And show us what you come up with!

Good luck!

-- Dave - Santa Fe