All knife blanks except cocobolo and desert ironwood are treated or plasticized. Those two woods are heavy in oil and do not treat. The finished product is not finished. You simply fine sand the wood and buff with White Diamond. There is no warpage or shrinking. If it gets scratched, you simply resand and rebuff.
The best treaters I have found are Knife & Gun Finishing Supplies in Arizona. Their limits on length are 14" so I also use others. First, they put the wood in a vacuum to remove moisture, then they put the wood in a pressure container with an appropriate polymer. It is also heated quite hot. The finished product is plasticized throughout. The cost runs about $10/pound.
It makes fibrous end grain (like ebony and palm wood) much more usable.
Very dense woods gain little weight. Punky or porous woods can gain quite a bit.
