Christmas Deals for 12/2 -- Pix, Knives, Fluete, Madal and Great Buys

ntt said:
Btw Ted, how do u polish your handle ?
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I'm not Ted but I have polished a neem wood handle. The khukuri came with a beautiful polished blade and carved handle.

The neem wood was smooth but not polished. It was my first experience with neem wood and at first I was disappointed. It was a dull gray color. Neem wood has a very tight grain and when it's not polished you can hardly see any grain at all. Your Chitlangi handle is already pretty good in that respect. Rajkumar has probably done some of the work for you.

I decided to polish the wood. Since it was already smooth I began with 320 grit sandpaper, often labeled "ultra fine." That's a laugh, since I often start with 400 grit. Worked my way up in steps to 2000 grit sandpaper, which you can find in a good hardware store or online. By the time I got up to 2000 grit there was a very nice grain and a brownish hue had emerged, and the handle was really shining. I could have stopped there but my OCD kicked in and I went to polishing powders, ending with rottenstone which was about 8000 grit. The finished handle looked and felt like polished brass, with the fine details of the grain showing and all kinds of glowing color that seemed to come from under the surface. I became an instant fan of neem wood. For protection and a slight improvement of that already great appearance, I rubbed in a few very thin coats of a lathe polish, which is similar to tung oil compounds but dries faster.

An interesting point is that the highly polished handle was still quite grippy, not slippery at all as one might expect. I don't have a real explanation for that. Maybe the extreme smoothness allows a more uniform contact with the skin of the hand. Probably wouldn't work if it got wet, but after I put that much time into polishing a handle the knife isn't going to be a user anyway. More like a museum piece that a person can handle and own for a modest payment to Yangdu and some hours of polishing.

I don't mind the work involved in this kind of polishing because it's small scale and can be done while watching tv or chatting with friends. Rather relaxing, actually. I don't have a buffing wheel so I do it all by hand.

-- Dave
 
Thanks for sharing Dave. U have got me hooked on neem wood also. I am also one that would appreciate the beauty of natural wood grain. Got to aim for one.
 
Appears that Bowie has many followers. Once I got mine, will c what I can do with them.
 
How do I polish my handle? Boy, that's a loaded question. Good thing all you guys are nice on here. I lightly sanded it, then hit it with a little lemon oil. Turned out beautiful. Thanks!
 
neem wood looks cool. will try to order one on a 12" AK next month when i get more mulla.lol.
 
philllll said:
The neem wood is not the usual fare, you are lucky to have 2! I like the grain pattern a lot. I have a similar size chit with horn handle and it is a great piece. Yours looks like it has one deep fuller, which would also make it unique since they usually have 2 smaller ones!
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Look familiar Tedward? Its a Single Fuller Chitlangi! Very special blade! Wait till you get it in your hands. They are incredible. That is one of my favorite!!
Here's mine.
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