Best finish for cocobolo?

D

DukeHarley

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Apr 11, 2014
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Getting to that point here in the next week and just wondered what makes the best finish on oily wood like cocobolo? It's for a hunting knife so it may see some weather and be left in a pack in the cold for long periods if time along with being taken in and out a lot with varying temps.

Jay
 
I usually sand to ~1000 grit and then put some boiled linseed oil on, leave it on for 20 minutes then wipe it off. It might not need the oil but I feel better about it and then it smells nice
 
Cocobolo is not a good choice for a hard use grip material.........you can get some very severe skin reactions. wipe your eyes once int he middle of nowhere while dressing

your game and hunt is over. Idk ....is there any other handle material you like. I say this because I work with cocobolo and I also hunt.
 
beaster456 said:
I usually sand to ~1000 grit and then put some boiled linseed oil on, leave it on for 20 minutes then wipe it off. It might not need the oil but I feel better about it and then it smells nice
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+1 , I find that the grain really pops after you give it a light buff with the linseed oil at 2000 grit, although this may be a little overkill. While I haven't used it as a handle material, I've used it on some small sayas for some blades I made a while back. It has held up really well to moisture and dents and is fairly low maintenance. In terms of allergic reactions, that varies from person to person - I myself haven't had any issues with it, like any other handle material use a dust mask.
 
Linseed oil works great on cocobolo. I used to carry a cocobolo baton in patrol and it was the perfect hard wood to get the job done.

FFK, I'm confused by your statement. Cocobolo are pretty standard issue for batons and many knives scales or handles.
 
I love Cocobolo.

As said....sand it as fine as you want then hand polish it.
 
FFK said:
Cocobolo is not a good choice for a hard use grip material.........you can get some very severe skin reactions. wipe your eyes once int he middle of nowhere while dressing

your game and hunt is over. Idk ....is there any other handle material you like. I say this because I work with cocobolo and I also hunt.
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He never said it was for hard use, a camping/ hunting trip should be fine, also cococolo is a very dense oily wood and should be rather stable. and not all people have any sort of allergies to it.
 
Ok......my bad.....use it then. Seal it very well though those oils don't agree with everyone.
 
Cocobolo wood has been a standard for kurkuri. from wikipedia " Cocobolo is oily in look and feel. This oil lends a strong, unmistakable floral odor even to well seasoned wood and occasionally stains the hands with prolonged exposure. Standing up well to repeated handling and exposure to water, a common use is in gun grips and knife handles."
 
I have ground more than a 100 knives with cocobolo and never had any reaction to it. Desert Ironwood makes me sneeze and cough though. I have never used a finish on cocobolo and I think it is an excellent material for hunting knives. Smith and Wesson used make their revolver grips out of it. I think it was used in world war 2 for submarine shaft bushings because it could stand salt water and not rust. It looks good too. Make a knife with it and use it for a year hunting and fishing. You will like the wood.
 
FFK,
If your cocobolo handle is rubbing off on your hands something is wrong. Once sanded and buffed it is quite stable. No finish or "sealing" is wanted or needed.
Unless someone has a highly allergy condition, the concern is the dust when sanding the wood, not holding it after finished. Some makers experience mild sensitivity in sanding many dense woods including persimmon, snakewood, rosewood, and ebony. This is usually confined to itchy wrists and forearms that are covered with the dust. Obviously, breathing any dust and/or getting it all over your face or in your eyes is bad. Proper dust extraction usually solves the problem.

Antlerhog,
I just sand cocobolo to 400-600 grit and give it a good buff on most user knives.
 
appell25.jpg


This is cocobolo handsanded to 2500.
(no oil, wax or buffer)
And I just make it a habbit to wear a resperator when sanding any kind of wood. I don't want the dust in my lungs
 
Cocobolo does darken over time, BTW
I use that knife in my kitchen and the lighter parts have darkened to almost the same as the dark parts.
Don't know if that can be prefented.
 
Cool guys! Appreciate the replies. Ill probably just sand it up and give a quick buff and see what I have. Would I want any type of compound while buffing or am I just using it to shine it up a bit?

Jay
 
RecalcitrantAmerican said:
I used to carry a cocobolo baton in patrol and it was the perfect hard wood to get the job done.

I have a couple of Lie Nielsen Cocobolo chisels, which are of a very high quality. My E.A. Berg (Swedish made), & Two Cherries (German made) chisel's are also extremely nice & work very well, but they just can't compete against the beauty of the L.N. Cocobolo handles. I'm not sure what type of finish they put on them them with, however, whatever it is, it protects the finish quite nicely!
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I became very sensitized to Cocobolo and had to stop using it for handles on my knives. years ago.
It's the dust that's the problem on your skin and of course in your lungs. Always wear a respirator when working any wood or steel etc..

All of that said, I have never had a problem using a knife with a Cocobolo handle.
 
Not all oils set hard, but Linseed oil does. So if anybody actually had an issue with cocobolo, giving it a coat of Linseed oil & letting it cure should solve the problem.
 
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