Couple African Blackwood questions

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
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I did a search and need a little more info: just got a special order on a knife with Blackwood, which I've never used before. I saw that it works nicely and is dense and oily. The knife will be put to kitchen use by someone who knows how to handle knives, so it won't be left soaking in the sink or in the dishwasher, etc. What is the best way to finish it? I'm not into the whole buffed wood thing. I generally take woods into the 400 and up grits, depending on what it is, then use tung oil, steel wool and maybe a couple coats of hand rubbed TreWax. Questions:

1) Do I need to oil blackwood at all? If yes, is pure tung oil appropriate?
2) Do I need to use a sealer on blackwood? If yes, which one?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, also, it's not the easiest thing to find right now, so if someone has some spare that they'd like to trade or sell drop me an email. I'd prefer darker, no light streaks if possible. I need about a 1"x9" piece, maybe a little bigger for screwups! ;) Anything from 1/8"-1/4" thick would be cool with me. Thanks!
 
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Ah, that was helpful! :p
I found some blackwood from my friends at Bell Forest products, so I don't need it anymore, however, the questions still stand...
 
I have a nice little damascus hunter with a blackwood handle made by my forging teacher. It is almost 20 years old. Never used, just stored and occasionally ogled. Recently, I discovered a crack in the handle after all these years.

While I agree it doesn't need it in the beginning, apparently it dries with time. Letting it absorb some oil may not be a bad idea for the longterm.
 
personally, I would hand sand it to 400 grit, hit it with some wax, buff it by hand (shoe-shine style for a satin finish) and then rub it down with a cloth lightly dipped in mineral oil.


0.02
 
In fact Af. Blackwood is so oily, it won't soak any oil anyhow. But yes, if "used" the wood will lose some of its oils and behaves like any other wood, just that is far more stable in the first place. I use lanolin on handle material like sheepshorn and stag, and it suits blackwood just fine too.

Some time back, I made a really crappy looking kitchen knife, but put african blackwood on the handles - still going strong despite what would constitute abuse of the handle - never cleaned, never oiled. Its 4 years old... Jason.
 
I have a Ray Beers filet knife with BW handle that has seen a lot of the acidic debris from salmon and then soap and water. It is also about 20 years old and essentially pristine. I think BW is great for handles, and have put it on quite a few knives over the years. I vastly prefer it over ebony.

I was most flabbergasted to find the crack in that handle.
 
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