Cocobolo Finish

Robber58

Robber58

Joined
Oct 9, 2008
Messages
478
Guys,
I have an order for three different custom knives and the customer wants all three to have Cocobolo handles from the same piece of wood. I have found a piece big enough to do the job but I have never used it before and I am wondering about proper finishing. I use a lot of ironwood and some stabilized wood and have never put any extra finish on and have had good results with durability. This stuff seems very porous, although very hard and heavy. The porosity worries me a bit and I and wonder if it is necessary to seal it and finish with something like Linspeed.
I will appreciate any help.
Randy
 
Cocobolo won't take any finishes, it's far too dense and oily. Put a very fine finish on it, then wax it well.....that's about the best you can do. Linspeed will never completely dry if applied to it, and most other finishes will just bead up.
 
Thanks Ed. I had feeling that would be the answer but I really needed to hear from somebody who has actually used it before.
Randy
 
Sand it to the finest grit you have and buff it with matchless white. A final buff on a slow speed cotton wheel and using carnuba or Briwax will add a bit of depth, but it is hardly needed.
 
You probably already know this, but the dust from Cocobolo is one of the worst skin sensitizers we work with. Treat the dust like you would poison ivy and you won't develop the problems.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
You probably already know this, but the dust from Cocobolo is one of the worst skin sensitizers we work with. Treat the dust like you would poison ivy and you won't develop the problems.
Click to expand...

+1 for what Nathan said! Worse than poison ivy; takes a much longer time to go away.
 
Nathan and Troop,
I did not know about the dust being that kind of an issue. I did suspect it was not friendly when I was resawing and grinding a bit to get my blanks and I started to get itchy on my hands. Thanks for the heads up. I will ensure I wear appropriate clothing and protection from now on. I have to do similar things for ironwood since I seem to have developed an allergy to it.
Randy
 
So Tru Oil won't work on cocobolo or any of the other 'oil' finishes (Tung, Danish, etc)?

Sanded to 2000 grit, will it wear well...ie: not mar up really easy...without a finish of some kind?

I started cutting and sanding some scales today for an order. Never had any itchy problems on my skin, however, my nose burned a little much like it did when sanding the Desert Ironwood.
 
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