I found a little several handle sized piece of exquisite birdseye maple in the scrap bucket. What are ya'lls favorite wheys (I'm from WI) to finish the wood for knife handles? I've never colored the stuff. I'm thinking of mixing it with buffalo horn or ebony for contrast.
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Favorite birdseye maple finish
- Thread starter LaMess
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 1,767
I like to soak it in a mixture of a 50% Minwax brand wood hardener, 50% acetone, and a packet of Rit Dye powder of your preferred color. Scarlet works good. I soak the wood in there for a week and a half in a sealed jar, then pull it out to let it dry for a day. The color goes through all the way and seals the wood pretty well from moisture and makes it buff great. Still retains that sort of hologram look to maple as well.
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 1,767
Mundele: I didn't notice any significant difference in drilling with my drill press. Also, sanding was easy, just use fresh belts so you don't overheat the wood, don't buff too hard either, keep heat low, or you can overheat it and the resin will come off. Didn't try whittling it.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2001
- Messages
- 3,623
Here one I did with plane birdseye maple,1/2 wood hardener,1/2 acetone
and 2 packs of red rite dye, not the best picture,but it should give you an idea.
Bill
and 2 packs of red rite dye, not the best picture,but it should give you an idea.
Bill
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 1,684
I'm not a bladesmith, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve from many, many years as a guitar builder/repairman regarding the staining of birdseye maple: Try a mixture of liquid analine dye that is compatible with denatured alchohol (they do make water-based dyes, too, so be careful). I typically mixed up a desired stain and wiped it on to achieve the desired results. Then, depending on the finish coat, I would either apply a couple of coateds of Birchwood Casey Tru-oil or nitrocellulose lacquer. Soaking a piece of wood sealed up in a glass jar sounds good if you want to shape and sand the piece of wood after staining. I was always in the habit of shaping/sanding a guitar neck first, then staining. Plus, I don't know if I could find a glass bottle long enough for a neck to fit in
Barry H
Barry H