Care for Blackwood inlays

roughneckrob

roughneckrob

Joined
Jul 3, 2009
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Hey guys, anyone have any advise for care of African Blackwood inlays? My small seb's inlays are begging to lose thier shine and I want it back:D
 
Of course you could always send it back to CRK.
Have you tried any of the wax products, or are they showing a lot of wear, in which case to bring the shine back they would really need to be refinished. I just sanded Ebony down to 4000 grit and it came out much smoother/shinier than the Ebony inlays on my Large 21. I think if you were careful and used a sanding block you could refinish the tops of your inlays. I say the tops of them because you would scratch the Ti if you attempted to sand down the sides. Usually it is the top of the inlay that shows the wear anyway.
 
Not to hijack this thread, but I have the same question in regards to cream ivory inlays. Is there any specific care for/protection suggestions?
 
Mine was used as my constant edc for several years and the only thing my blackwood handles needed to bring the sheen back was a little rub down with mineral oil. I tried wax once but it seemed to hide the grain (pores) a little and I didn't like it.
 
I wouldn't sand them. I think that's asking for trouble. Mineral oil might be ok but I would just let them be. I like the way the inlays age.
 
Scott Dog said:
I would just let them be. I like the way the inlays age.
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I agree with this and is what I do for my African Blackwood inlay large Sebenza. I actually think the inlays look much better after some age and use.

The blackwood is so dark that it was hard to see any grain before, but after use and wear I can now see the grain much better. The inlays have also become less slippery, aiding in the grip.
 
Like Peppercorn I sanded the blackwood inlays on my Mnandi with 400 grit and an oil finish to fill the few remaining pores then polished them back up to about 1800 grit.

Because they're stabilized I just burnish them on a cloth to bring back that hand-rubbed luster.

If yours are so worn or dinged they won't burnish you might have to refinish them. Start with probably 400 grit and work up to perhaps 1600 or 1800.

I disassemble the knife, lay a small piece (~ 4" x 4") of wet-dry paper in the appropriate grit on a flat surface and work the piece carefully (wet) until satisfied then move up to the next grit. This takes perhaps 10-20 minutes, max.
 
If it's a user i would not worry about it.

I carry a cocobolo sebbie and the would has changed colour over time from the oil in my skin and just general handling. The wood looks very dark now.

Gives it character :D
 
I have a bark ivory mnandi and it ages well! Better with no care at all. The grain comes out and gives the knife charachter.
 
peppercorn said:
Of course you could always send it back to CRK.
Have you tried any of the wax products, or are they showing a lot of wear, in which case to bring the shine back they would really need to be refinished. I just sanded Ebony down to 4000 grit and it came out much smoother/shinier than the Ebony inlays on my Large 21. I think if you were careful and used a sanding block you could refinish the tops of your inlays. I say the tops of them because you would scratch the Ti if you attempted to sand down the sides. Usually it is the top of the inlay that shows the wear anyway.
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Maybe you could tape up the titanium around the inlays. Then you would have to sand off the tape before you scratched the handle. It wouldn't be all that hard.

With that said, I know that you are VERY talented with this type of work and I would also suggest a cautious approach to the OP if he is not as experienced as you are Pepper.

Other than that I have finished A LOT of different things I have made out of wood...carvings, walking sticks, knife handles....It is not hard.:) And steel wool never hurt either.

Oh, and Linseed oil works great for wood, I have a bottle thats about 40 years old and has never let me down.
 
Folks, this is stabilized wood, not (no longer) natural wood. It's impregnated with acrylic or similar material. If you really want to refinish it, I'd treat it more like a metal project than a woodworking project. I would try 600 grit paper and have some 1000, 1200 and 2000 grit paper on hand. Different pieces of stabilized wood absorb the acrylic differently, so you may need 400 but I would start higher. Also, be prepared for your finish not to absorb into the wood, or not to do so evenly (more likely).
 
JNewell said:
Folks, this is stabilized wood, not (no longer) natural wood. It's impregnated with acrylic or similar material. If you really want to refinish it, I'd treat it more like a metal project than a woodworking project. I would try 600 grit paper and have some 1000, 1200 and 2000 grit paper on hand. Different pieces of stabilized wood absorb the acrylic differently, so you may need 400 but I would start higher. Also, be prepared for your finish not to absorb into the wood, or not to do so evenly (more likely).
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good point:) not sure why i thought crk used natural finished wood.
 
JNewell said:
Folks, this is stabilized wood, not (no longer) natural wood. It's impregnated with acrylic or similar material. If you really want to refinish it, I'd treat it more like a metal project than a woodworking project. I would try 600 grit paper and have some 1000, 1200 and 2000 grit paper on hand. Different pieces of stabilized wood absorb the acrylic differently, so you may need 400 but I would start higher. Also, be prepared for your finish not to absorb into the wood, or not to do so evenly (more likely).
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It is very possible that I'm mistaken but I thought that a few of the woods were not stabilized. Lignum Vitae and african blackwood being two of them. If you know for sure otherwise I would welcome the correction.
 
TLR said:
It is very possible that I'm mistaken but I thought that a few of the woods were not stabilized. Lignum Vitae and african blackwood being two of them. If you know for sure otherwise I would welcome the correction.
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I thought I'd read that they were, but you're raising a good question. On the other hand, I've worked with a lot of tropical hardwoods and many of them are so dense and oily that they probably would be better treated the same way as stabilized wood.
 
JNewell said:
I thought I'd read that they were, but you're raising a good question. On the other hand, I've worked with a lot of tropical hardwoods and many of them are so dense and oily that they probably would be better treated the same way as stabilized wood.
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This is why I have never stabilized ebony, it is very oily and very dense. In fact, the piece that I recently polished to 4000 has stumped many, as they were sure it was finished with something.

It would be interesting to know if these particular woods, as used by CRK, are stabilized or not.
 
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A product I've used on both tropical hardwoods and stabilized woods that might fit the OP's bill is Behlen's Deluxing Compound. It's a fine rubbing compound combined with waxes that leaves a very nice finish.
 
peppercorn said:
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This is why I have never stabilized ebony, it is very oily and very dense. In fact, the piece that I recently polished to 4000 has stumped many, as they were sure it was finished with something.

It would be interesting to know if these particular woods, as used by CRK, are stabilized or not.
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All of the ebony that I have worked with (gaboon and macassar) has been very dry with no discernable oil. That being said, it is rare to see stabilized ebony because it doesn't need it. And it polishes up beautifully to a wonderful shine.

Other wood, like cocobolo and desert ironwood, are so oily that they do not take a finish very well (finishes and glues do not adhere very well) and they do not need to be stabilized. I have cut cocobolo on a bandsaw and the sawdust just stayed as wet clumps. African blackwood is a member of the rosewood (dalbergia) family and should have decent oil content. I don't think it needs to be stabilized, and I would be surprised if CR uses stabilized blackwood.
 
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