I make handmade knives. Many of my creations are made with stabilized pecan handles. The pecan wood I have rivals and fiddleback walnut you might run across...got some nice crotch wood as well. Both are dead ringers for walnut. I'll try and post a few pics.
By all means try and save your pecan, but when you slab it up, make sure you seal the ends completely. Pecan is actually a type of hickory and it'll split like crazy during dry down.
