Best finish for Bubinga (east african rosewood)?

K

kevinc

Joined
Nov 3, 2007
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55
Hi Guys

I don't have a buffer and am finishing up a knife with Bubinga scales. I've never worked with this wood before and need some advice on the best finish for this wood. Thanks in advance.
 
Sand it to a very fine grit and hand buff with a cotton cloth. If you want a shiny finish, use a rubbed in oil finish like Tru-oil. I personally don't like varnishes and oil finishes on most knife handles, but opinions vary.
 
Sand to 1500-2000 grit and wax and hand buff.

Stan
 
Thanks Stacy and Stan. I have enough Bubinga for several knives so I'll try both ideas and see how I go.

Kevin
 
Also, Bubinga varies greatly on how tight the grain is. Some will shine nicely at 2000 grit, and some will still be "grainy".
 
A couple years ago I gave away a bunch of Bubinga for people to try out.
While Bubinga stabilizes very well, it is plenty tough to use as natural, not stabilized wood.
One of the guys used Danish oil to finish and it looked great.
The color became more vibrant and the figure showed a really nice flash.
I would be very careful about power buffing because it is a coarse grained wood and you could easily load up the pores with buffing compound.
 
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