claro walnut finish

C

'cacci

Joined
Jul 24, 2008
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I'm finishing a claro walnut handle. So far, I've applied Tung Oil only. Maybe, I should have asked this before I applied the oil, but is there anything else I can do to get a dark lustre and make those pores l
less noticeable.

'cacci
 
You can apply the first couple coats of oil with sandpaper to make a slurry that will fill the pores. A hand rubbed oil finish is hands down my favorite for claro walnut. Don't know what you can do now that you have applied the tung oil, but I'm sure you'll get a few responses.


-Xander
 
'Cassi - Xander has some good tips. Birchwood Casey makes a linseed oil-based gun stock finish that lots of folks use on Walnut. I have and I love it! I'm not sure if it would be applicable now that you've already treated it with Tung though. Hopefully others will chime in......

-Peter
 
I think you can keep right on using the tung oil. I've used it several times on maple guitar necks and it works very well for a moderate sheen and a smooth, warm feel; I don't know any reason it wouldn't work on walnut too.

As mentioned, wet-sanding with it will help fill the pores. Apply a coat, sand it in, wipe off any major excess, let it set up, start over. When you like the color and it doesn't want to absorb any more, burnish it with worn denim.
 
Same thing these other guys are telling you.
You want to use an oil blend that will build up a surface coating.
Tru-oil, Tung oil or danish oil.
Wet sand with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper.
Let slurry dry on handle.
Wet sand again until you get through the slurry to bare wood.
Keep repeating until you like how it looks.

Some of the guitar guys will use shellac.
Several coats and then sand smooth.
The thick shellac will fill in the pores.
 
Shellac does not do well with water contact, it leaves white marks in the finish, which is why coasters were invented to protect furniture... Shellac would be a bad choice for finish on any knife that's going to see use with sweaty hands, or where you would need to wash the knife... a tung oil finish should hold up OK on a hard use knife, assuming it won't see frequent heavy water exposure. And it's fairly easy to "freshen-up" an oil finish when it gets to looking worn
 
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