finishing a handle

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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Just got my new laminated mora the other day...it's awesome,,the handle is unfinished birch was thinking about staining it and varnishing it to seal it but am open to ideas....any thoughts?
 
I used to work on sailboats, and love varnish. Especially a really good Spar varnish. It'll be more resistant to water.

That said. I wouldn't use varnish on a knife handle. The reason is that if it gets dinged and you want to refinish the handle, you have to sand off ALL the varnish before recoating.

Use an oil finish. It'll do the protecting from water, it'll look beautiful, and its so easy to touch up. Just recoat, wipe, and go. I use Watco's Danish Oil on all my handles.

JMHO. YMMV.
 
I've been making some SAK handles lately,and a few weeks ago stripped the red paint off of a mora and refinished it,I had some Birchwood casey True oil,a linseed mix laying around and they turned out great.
 
I think Watco's Danish Oil and linseed oils (both as mentioned) are good. Listen, I'll get a lot of arguements over this one, and I do understand it's limitations, but I'm a huge fan of shellac (depending on your intended use of your Mora). Shellac is nowhere near as water-resistant as varnish, in fact it's relatively poor, but with several coats (10-20) followed by a good paste wax, it'll do you well. Plus, refinishing is a snap.

As I said, you can;t argue with Danish and linseed oils, but if you're interested in the shellac treatment, let me know and I'll detail it's application for you.
 
Good on you for being good with Shellac. It has a romance about it IMO. I've always been too intimidated to try it. Plus, nowadays there are so many easier alternatives. Just laziness on my part. Never heard of it used as a knife handle finish. As you mention though, water protection is paramount in knifehandles.
 
Hello. I think this is my 1st post here on the W&S forum. Been lurking awhile and learning. Good stuff here. :)

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that I use plain olive oil on my wood handle kitchen knives. It's non-toxic and works pretty well. I re-apply as needed (when the wood looks a little too dry).
 
I've used Birchwood/Casey's gunstock wax to seal the grain and finish it with B/C Tru-Oil. It works pretty good and is pretty durable. I'm gonna have to try that Danish oil sometime though, sounds like a winner. -Matt-
 
I've used Interlux's Epiglass marine epoxy - but then I build boats for a living...
This stuff is is thinner than most other laminating epoxies and leaves a really faint amber tint. I've had the best luck with a thinned coat to seal prewarmed scales and a full coat to finish. There's a little more to it, but you get the idea.

Epoxy's water and UV resistance are higher than a knife handle calls for, especially since it's just being used as a finish. It can be buffed to a shine after a week or so can also be thickened to use as an adhesive. It can be tinted with acrylic poster paint as well (for inlays). It has its limitations, but it gives you a consistent hard finish you can forget about.

Bear in mind that the '5-minute' epoxies are like WD-40: ok at a lot of things but not great at anything. There are better ways to get epoxy to kick off faster...
 
Oil finishes are easy as pie. Brush it on, wait 15 minutes, wipe it off. Wait an hour, do again, and again.

This works for BLO (boiled linseed oil), Watco's Danish Oil, and even mineral oil.

Mineral oil, btw, is a great handle finish, especially for a kitchen knife (or your wooden spoons). Unlike Olive Oil, it won't go rancid EVER.
 
thanks guys...after that I'll try to make a sheath (purely function I'm no artist) the sheath it came with is nice but I'd like one with a ferro rod holder I'll keep you posted thanks for all the great advice.
 
Fiddleback said:
Oil finishes are easy as pie. Brush it on, wait 15 minutes, wipe it off. Wait an hour, do again, and again.

This works for BLO (boiled linseed oil), Watco's Danish Oil, and even mineral oil.

Mineral oil, btw, is a great handle finish, especially for a kitchen knife (or your wooden spoons). Unlike Olive Oil, it won't go rancid EVER.
Click to expand...
Yup....Boiled linseed oil will last longer than mineral oil, though.:thumbup:
 
Where can one find these oils??...also I'm having a hard time sparking a fire steel with the spine of this new mora..It's carbon steel should spark fairly easy...any thoughts?
 
You can find them online or down at your favorite hardware store. Both Lowes and Home Depot carry mineral oil, linseed oil, and one or the other carries Tung oils and Watco Danish Oils. All but the mineral oils have hardening polymers in them.

If your carbon spine isn't sparking on a ferro rod you may need to file or stone the spine nice and flat, leaving a nice corner between spine and blade. If there's any rounding in that area, that could be your trouble.
 
Listen to Stretch. Any steel will spark a ferro as long as its got a good sharp corner. Rounding is bad.
 
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