Finishing wooden handles for leather sheaths

[ButterButter]

Hey gang,

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I'm relatively new to knife-making and recently starting making leather sheaths to accompany the puukkos I build. The blades are generally ~3" hidden tangs handled with walnut. I recently finished a sheath that was wet-formed to a knife, not too loose, not too tight. I finish all my handles with Tried & True Varnish Oil which is boiled linseed oil with some added resin. I'm pretty religious about how I apply it: thin coats, giving it roughly 2 hours to soak in, wiping vigorously with cloth until "dry", then letting cure for a few days before adding another coat. Handles are nice and dry and appear cured before the next coat goes on. I burnish with fine steel wool between coats and usually do 3 coats.

So the problem: I took a knife that was finished and "cured" and popped it into its sheath to test it out the other day. The sheath had been oiled and conditioned and was ready to go (although the inside of the sheath had only been burnished with a single coat of oil). After about an hour, I removed the knife and found that many points along the wooden handle had dried out, effectively removing the handle's finish. I felt the inside of the sheath and it felt pretty dry.

The question: Is this more a problem with my finish of the handle or the sheath? Or is it both? If the sheath is oiled/conditioned thoroughly, would it still steal a finish of a non-polymerizing oil, like mineral oil, from a knife handle? Do I need to wait much longer for the handle to cure with BLO, and if anyone uses BLO, what's your process for finishing wooden handles that go into leather sheaths?

I don't plan on storing the knives in leather sheaths, but over the course of a days use, I would rather not have to re-oil the handle every day after use.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FredyCro]

I tried various finishes and home brews and found out that there is a reason why many knife makers swear by Tru Oil.

It does cost a lot but you apply only couple of drops at a time. You could soak the wood in BLO cut with terpentin or spirits and then finish with couple of coats of Tru Oil.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

I tried various finishes and home brews and found out that there is a reason why many knife makers swear by Tru Oil.

It does cost a lot but you apply only couple of drops at a time. You could soak the wood in BLO cut with terpentin or spirits and then finish with couple of coats of Tru Oil.

I finished the top of a flame maple guitar top with Tru Oil and it is rock solid.

 

[Horsewright]

I build about a giljillion knives all with leather sheaths. Many are wooden handles with finish applied. I have never had this happen. Several things maybe.

1) DON'T oil the inside of your sheath. Paul Long agrees with this btw, not just me saying that. We've mentioned that many times over in sheaths and such. Leave the inside of your sheath just plain leather.

2) Are you using good leather that has been completely tanned? Much cheaper imported leather can be hit or miss. I often get knives in sheaths into my shop to make one of my sheaths for it. I'm confounded by some of the leather that I see. I literally do not know where to go to buy such bad leather. Wicket and Craig and Herman Oak are two extremely high quality tanneries here in the US and make some of the best veg tan leather on the planet.

3) It doesn't sound like your finish was cured. I started with Danish oil many years ago and experimented with many others over the years. I have come back to Danish oil and don't use anything else. I even use it on stabilized woods:

Walnut will get 9/10 coats:

Anyhoo there's some thoughts there.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

I build about a giljillion knives all with leather sheaths. Many are wooden handles with finish applied. I have never had this happen. Several things maybe.

1) DON'T oil the inside of your sheath. Paul Long agrees with this btw, not just me saying that. We've mentioned that many times over in sheaths and such. Leave the inside of your sheath just plain leather.

2) Are you using good leather that has been completely tanned? Much cheaper imported leather can be hit or miss. I often get knives in sheaths into my shop to make one of my sheaths for it. I'm confounded by some of the leather that I see. I literally do not know where to go to buy such bad leather. Wicket and Craig and Herman Oak are two extremely high quality tanneries here in the US and make some of the best veg tan leather on the planet.

3) It doesn't sound like your finish was cured. I started with Danish oil many years ago and experimented with many others over the years. I have come back to Danish oil and don't use anything else. I even use it on stabilized woods:

Walnut will get 9/10 coats:

Anyhoo there's some thoughts there.

Holy smokes, those knives and sheaths are spectacular!

 

[Horsewright]

Holy smokes, those knives and sheaths are spectacular!

Thanks, ya might enjoy our Instagram page. Link in my signature line.

 

[Dimitar Popov]

Hello, I have the same problem. When I make puukko with wood that absorbs oil (like walnut ). I use pure tung oil and during the summer it's ok because it polymerizes very fast . But during the cold months without much sunlight it takes alot. Sometimes 2 3 weeks. I don't like to put anything on the inside of my sheaths. So if the oil is not hardened , the leather sucks it out. So my solutions are - just wait till it dries (keep in warm room if possible), use waxy woods like african blackwood , so you can just buff it with carnauba wax or leave as it is, use stabilized wood . Also I have one customer that really have no patience to wait till the oil is dry, so he just takes his knife and dries it by himself . I am a bit curious if sealing the inside of the leather with fiebing's resolene or some simmilar acrilic finish would be a good idea or it will leave marks on the handle.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

When I make puukko with wood that absorbs oil (like walnut ).

I'm wondering. When I built a guitar out of mahogany, I used wood filler to fill the pores of the wood so it wouldn't absorb so much tung oil when the finish was applied. Is this something knife makers do as well? It makes a cool pattern, too.

 

[Ron Raducanu]

Thanks, ya might enjoy our Instagram page. Link in my signature line.

I really love those resin scales you use. Do you make them, or buy them? I was thinking of trying my hand at casting my own, but don't have a pressure pot. I may give it a go anyway.

 

[Dimitar Popov]

I'm wondering. When I built a guitar out of mahogany, I used wood filler to fill the pores of the wood so it wouldn't absorb so much tung oil when the finish was applied. Is this something knife makers do as well? It makes a cool pattern, too.

I don't use filler on my handles. I usually make them out of material that doesn't have large pores. But I have two personal puukkos - one with elm wood and the other - oak , they both have pretty large pores and I used multiple coats with tung oil and it looks like this sealed the pores nicely.

 

[Horsewright]

I don't use filler on my handles. I usually make them out of material that doesn't have large pores. But I have two personal puukkos - one with elm wood and the other - oak , they both have pretty large pores and I used multiple coats with tung oil and it looks like this sealed the pores nicely.

I wet sand any woods (walnut) that has large pores and fill them that way. Which scales ya talking about?

 

[Ron Raducanu]

Which scales ya talking about?

Specifically the aqua blue ones. Those are really nice!

 

[Horsewright]

Ya mean the ones with pine cones in em? Yeah don’t use those.

 

[J-T-K]

Did you use veg tan leather and how did you finish it? I've never had this issue with puukko and tuppi. I don't oil the inside of the tuppi and I wait for the head of the puukko to be dry before making the tuppi. All finishes work with the wood, (real) BLO is the most traditional, Tung works well but laborious, Danish oil hardens more. BLO followed by beeswax probably most traditional. Btw, I use an oil and beeswax mix for the tuppi rather than oiling the leather, but I do so after its finished.

 

[J-T-K]

Also, the way you apply the oil... are those manufacturers instructions? Most oils either let soak overnight in a jar or apply liberally and wipe excess 10-30m later.

Regarding tightness, the tuppi should grab the puukko pretty tight. You should be able to shake it upside down without the puukko falling off, yet make it easy enough to pull out. It might make a tap or click sound going in.

 

[Dimitar Popov]

Yes if you wait till the oil hardens everything is fine. The problem is that it hardens slow and sometimes I think it's done , but it's not and when I put it in the sheath dry spots appear