Handle Expanded...

C

c00per

Joined
May 13, 2007
Messages
391
Hi guys,

My girlfriend has had a bark river highlander with curly maple handles for about six months now, awesome knife.
Recently I picked it up and the wood seems to have expanded, the pins seem shrunken below the wood and the scales come out over the tang, its only slight, but nothing seems flush like it used to.
Do I sand it down again, if I do will it shrink back again sometime giving me the opposite problem that seems much harder to fix? Will it shrink on its own accord? Would putting mineral oil on the handle somehow make it shrink again?

Thanks for your help,
Matt
 
Where was the knife before she had it and where is it now? I mean location-wise. And did she recently let it get wet? Is the wood stabilized and if not what kind of finish is on it? Sorry about all of the questions, but anybody giving advice on changing the handles would really need to know all of that stuff. That said, usually wood takes quite a few months to equilibrate to new climates so if that is all that has happened then I would say probably sanding it down would work fine, but then again wood also changes when the weather changes in a lot of climates too so if the weather has just changed where you are then that could possibly have done it and it may revert back next year. I personally don't know what Bark River uses to finish their handles, but you would also have to refinish the knife if you sanded it down. Sorry if I wasn't much help.
 
Oh and putting mineral oil on the handle in my opinion would probably do nothing as far as shrinkage is concerned. In fact if the wood had taken in water oil will cause it to not be released and would only keep the handles swelled.
 
Yeah, I figured the mineral oil wouldnt have that effect, thought I'd throw it out there just incase...
I'm not sure on bark rivers wood being stabalized or what the finish is either, hopefully someone else could shed somelight on that situation.
As far as where its been, its in Berkeley at the moment, shes had it in Berkeley most of the time, with a few months in the dryer sacramento area last summer. The weather has been wetter this past month, which is when she says she first noticed it.
Thanks for your help so far, I'd hate to sand the thing down only for it to shrink again!
If the worst comes to the worst though, it might be a fun project for us to rehandle it!

Thanks again,
Matt
 
Well, if it's been wetter there the last month that would definitely be my guess on the wood swelling. Maple is not really that dense of a wood and more easily changes with the weather than a lot of other woods. Though if knife companies would finish the wood with the same stuff that woodworkers do it would cut back on changes. To get back to the point though I would think that it would probably shrink back when it gets dryer again. What you could do to make sure that this doesn't happen again is go ahead and sand the thing down and then put a clear epoxy finish (maybe 2 coats) on the handle. That would probably keep it from changing. You could also use a polyurethane or polyacrylic finish, but depending on what is already on the handle that may be more work. The only problem I see you running into is if the wood is stained you will either have to match the stain and restain parts that you sand or sand the whole thing and restain.
 
Well, I have some polyurethane and some tung oil kicking around here somewhere, I'll definatly look at the cost of the epoxy finish, I just bought us two more knives so I ought not to spend much more this month:o.
I'll see what she wants to do with it (and see if I cant find out how the handle was originally finished), maybe we wait and see what happens, if it shrinks back again we could finish it then, its not really too bad.
It doesnt appear to be stained at all though, so thats good.

Thanks for your help Ray!
 
The poly would be better to keep moisture out but some would say it gives a plastic appearance. I think if finished correctly poly makes a nice glossy finish though it can slighty yellow with time. Good luck!
 
c00per said:
Hi guys,

My girlfriend has had a bark river highlander with curly maple handles for about six months now, awesome knife.
Recently I picked it up and the wood seems to have expanded, the pins seem shrunken below the wood and the scales come out over the tang, its only slight, but nothing seems flush like it used to.
Do I sand it down again, if I do will it shrink back again sometime giving me the opposite problem that seems much harder to fix? Will it shrink on its own accord? Would putting mineral oil on the handle somehow make it shrink again?

Thanks for your help,
Matt
Click to expand...

Hey Matt

Before you do anything else, call Bark River first thing tomorrow - remember they are on Eastern time! Their number is 906-789-1801. Or you can send Mike Stewart an email/post on the "other forum" where there is a BRKT board that he frequents.

Mike is very customer service oriented, and his knives has a lifetime warrantee. I'm sure he can take care of the curly maple handle, at no cost to you.

Mike uses a lot of forms of maple in his handles. If the wood has swollen, I doubt it's been stablized. But don't worry - he'll take care of it, and make it better than new!

Call him! And tell him "Grampa Steve" told you to! Hopefully he won't hang up on you!!!!
 
Put the knife in the oven at 175-200 degrees for an hour. Let it cool to room temperature in the oven. DO NOT go over 200 degrees.
Bill
 
Oh wow, for some reason the thought of calling customer service on this issue never crossed my mind, I'll shoot them an email in the morning, thanks grandpa.

Thanks Ray and Bill for the other fallback advise!

Matt
 
I wouldn;t sand it down. It sounds like the wood expanded due to humidity. Dry it in the oven, if you like, but I wouldn;t. The oven is not a kiln. Wait for it to dry on its own, then finish it with tung oil, Danish oil, Poly, whatever you choose. You dry hard maple that fast and you risk it cracking. Maybe not now...maybe later.

Whatever finish you decide to use, it won;t stop the wood from expanding and contracting. It will just limit it. We live with the rest...

Good luck.
 
I would never put an epoxy finish on wooden scales on a knife!

Danish oil. Or pure Chinese tung. Build up 5 or 6 coats. Renew it annually.
 
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