I think I am going to order one of these (wow $3.99US, seriously?) for round two.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...x-112-x-5.aspx

If you want white oak (Q. alba) keep an eye on the 36" dowels at Lowes-Depot and so forth. Every once in a while a mill somewhere will slip some white oak into a shipment of red oak and water oak (and pin oak and swamp oak) dowels. Usually the grain is suboptimal over the 36" length of the dowel, but if you can work with a round blank you might find one with plenty of straight grain for a knife handle. Just look for the tubules to be closed off by tyloses.