Aussie oil

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Happychicken

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Nov 14, 2018
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I finally got some Aussie oil for knife handle finishing as I hear many good things about it. However it is marketed as a friction polish for wood turners and I am confused how people are applying this. Rubbing it on like tung oil and buffing excess? Using a buffer? A small polisher?
I actually looked around a bit and haven’t come up with much.
Any ideas appreciated!
 
Happychicken said:
I finally got some Aussie oil for knife handle finishing as I hear many good things about it. However it is marketed as a friction polish for wood turners and I am confused how people are applying this. Rubbing it on like tung oil and buffing excess? Using a buffer? A small polisher?
I actually looked around a bit and haven’t come up with much.
Any ideas appreciated!
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I wouldn’t recommend Aussie oil for knife handles, it’s a blend of Shellac, oil (most likely linseed oil) and wax. It’s a finish based off old French polishing for furniture and requires multiple coats or friction to really set and build the finish. You’ll likely not get a good looking finish on a knife handle and it would be a surface finish (a soft one at that) that will be prone to either chipping or wear from your hands. Even on turnings friction polishes are considered a good quick finish but one with fairly poor durability when handled. For finishing wood that hasn’t been stabilized I recommend a raw hardening oil, so options would be pure tung oil (nothing that says tung oil finish those are blends and considered a form of varnish) boiled linseed oil, raw linseed oil. Boiled linseed will have heavy metal driers to help it harden or cure if you don’t want to use that for some reason opt for one of the other two options. All of those oils on their own will be fairly thick and I recommend cutting them 50/50 with a solvent like mineral spirits or turpentine or citrus solvent, these will help the oil penetrate the wood fibers and harden inside the fibers instead of forming a film on the surface. You could also add a small bit of Japan drier to any of those natural oils to spend up cute time but you should only add a small amount and in small batches I don’t tend to do this myself. Application is simple, soak the handle in the 50/50 mix for 30-60 minutes then remove from the oil and buff dry with a clean rag (place oil soaked rags in a metal container or spread them out to dry on concrete DO NOT pile them in your shop and leave them) the oil soaked rags will heat up as the oil dries and can start a fire. You can also hand the knife and left the oil drip dry back into the container it was soaking in but you’ll still likely need to wipe the handle down. You can repeat this process as many times as you want to fully saturate the handle, buff with 0000 steel wool between applications and I usually give the handle a day to set between cycles. Usually 2-4 cycles of this and the handle will look really nice and be saturated with oil, once you are done buff with a clean rag or clean buffing wheel and let the oil cure or really setup for 7-10 days. Or use stabilized woods and sand up to 400-600 grit and apply a paste wax and call it a day. I like Howard’s butcher block wax or a homemade mineral oil beeswax mix which is considered a nonhardening wax, some prefer a hardening wax like renaissance wax or similar products.
 
I was just listening to a podcast recently where J. Neilson says he applies a coat of Aussie oil to the handle and buffs it, then lets it dry for 10 minutes or so and repeats until he gets the look he wants. He didn't specify how he was buffing it, whether it was by hand or on a buffing machine or not. Maybe try it a couple different ways and see how it turns out. Coincidentally I just ordered some Aussie oil myself to try out, so I'll report back eventually on what I find after some experimentation.
 
I use it after linseed or tung oil, and think it looks really nice. put some on a cotton or linen rag, apply to the wood, leave it a few minutes, buff with a clean soft rag
As Joshua said, it will wear, but that doesn't concern me too much. It's a tool handle, wear happens

If you are getting linseed/tung, get pure oils and thinners and mix them yourself
 
First I've heard of Aussie oil -

Interesting that nobody has mentioned TruOil as a handle finish. I was thinking that was the most commonly used finish for wood handles? Stabilized wood hardly needs anything as it normally polishes up nicely.
 
First off thanks Joshua for that very well written and thorough reponse!
Also I listened to that same pod cast where J. Neilson was really speaking very highly of Aussie oil. He didn’t mention how he applies it though.
I have been using 3 coats of minwax tung oil. Almost all the woods I use are stabilized. I heard that if you just buff the wood the shine doesn’t last long? Maybe it does?
Wood finishing sucks btw
 
I use 95% stabilized woods. I never apply a finish.
Sand to 400 grit or higher (I often do 1000() and buff on a clean cotton buff with matchless white rouge.
My non-stabilized woods are mostly very hard wood like ebony, blackwood, gidgee, DI, etc. I sand them to 2500 grit and buff with a hard wax like Brix (usually no wax). You can hand buff or power buff.

The only "finish" I ever use is a CA finish, and that is only on special more porous wood handles like silver wire inlay in curly maple or a figured walnut. Nick Wheeler has a great tutorial on doing a really great CA finish.

The trick for a beautiful handle finish, regardless of the finish type you are using, is to have the finish IN the wood, not ON it. This is the same for a CA finish or any type of oil finish. Apply the finish and let it sit for a while ... then wipe it off. Let cure completely and sand back to the surface with very fine paper. Apply-wipe-cure-repeat. It may take as many as six to ten applications to completely fill the wood pores and grain and get a lustrous finish that is not built up on the surface.
If the surface dulls with wear a quick hand buff with a soft cloth usually restores it.

TIP:
The 3M polishing sheets are probably the best way to get a show winning handle finish and keep it looking good. They are color coded and range from 400 grit (green) to 8000 grit (white). They will last a long time and can be used until they are rags.
Sand to 1000 grit with regular AO papers and then to back to 400 with the 3M sheets.
Touch up is just a fast hand buff with the pink/mint/white sheets. I often include a pink sheet and buffing instructions with a fancy wood handled knife.
They are also great for hand finishing or touching up a blade. Especially one with a few tiny spots of rust or oxide. I use a few drops of clove oil (or any good knife oil) on a green or gray sheet and rub briskly. Clean off and buff with finer sheets as needed.
User notes- Put an X on the back of the sheets with a marker when they are new so you can tell which side has the abrasive. This is especially important with the white sheet, as it is nearly impossible to tell once used. Store them in a Ziplock bag to keep stray grinding and sanding grit from the shop off them (the come in a Ziplock bag usually).
 
Any fine white rouge will work. Matchless was a former brand name. I just did a search, and it seems they don't sell it as "Matchless HF-1" anymore.

Look for:
White Polishing Rouge
White Diamond rouge
White rouge

matchless white.png
 
Use a clean buff and charge lightly with compound. Buff light and don't bear down hard or you will burn the wood.
 
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