Care of pakkawood handle

Joined
Apr 2, 2011
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I have had a set of Shuns for a few years now and the handles are starting to show some wear. I don't know the best way to go about caring for the pakkawood. I was thinking about just mineral oil and buffing but don't know if there is something better. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
 
I use a little tung oil and let it dry completely and then buff.
 
If the handle is not dinged or scratched I use a liquid brass polish called "Brasso" it will take pakkawood from 600 grit to nearly mirror finish just apply and buff by hand with soft cloth, works for me.
 
You might consider a CA finish, which is easy. CA is cyanoacrylate, or super glue. On my last knife, I did 8 layers of CA sanding to 400 grit after the first 6 and 1000 after the last 2. Then I buffed with tripoli and it really shines! It feels like plastic and is extremely durable. You can apply the superglue using q-tips. It usually take three ends of a q-tip to apply each coat. The biggest advantage of a CA finish is time. It takes a couple minutes for coat to dry, instead of the several hours it takes for the various oils and poly finishes to dry. Total time for my last handle finish was about 1 hour.
 
Welcome to BF. It's always good to see one of the brethren posting over here.;) (my two favorite places) I was going to reply to your thread over there, but the other guys had you on the right track and I don't have any firsthand experience with Pakkawood.

What I do know about it is that it is similar to what is sold as Dymondwood now. I've read where some people use automotive polishing compound or plastic polish as a final finish. I would start out with a mild abrasive as it's my understanding that it polishes up very easily.

For future reference, this topic would have probably fit better and gotten more views over in the Maintenance Tinkering & Embellishment Forum. For some reason this sub-forum hasn't taken off like I thought it would have.:confused:
 
I have had a set of Shuns for a few years now and the handles are starting to show some wear. I don't know the best way to go about caring for the pakkawood. I was thinking about just mineral oil and buffing but don't know if there is something better. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Try a little paste wax. Rub it in, let it dry and then buff it. It's what I use on my high dollar Vera wood and it keeps the wood moist and prevents cracking as well.
 
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