Handle sanding problem..

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
When I was sanding the handle of the little kitchen knife that I made, with cherry handles, I ran into a problem. Everytime I had to sand the adjacent metal areas, (i.e. the brass pins and the edges of the tang) I ended up with metal residue worked into the pores of the surrounding wood therby discoloring it.
Is this always a problem or was it just
aggravated because I was using a relatively light colored wood. Careful sanding of just the wood around those areas would remove the discoloration but I never got the edges of the tang to the same finish as the back of the blade because of this problem.
Any suggestions? I really like the cherry and I have a lot of nicely figured scrap that I'd like to use while learning knifemaking. Thanks-Guy Thomas
 
I had a similar problem, not while sanding but while buffing and it was mainly where brass guard met light maple burl. The brass would buff off black and stain the maple. My solution was little dremmel buffing wheels - used parallel to the joint - one on metal - and one reserved for only the wood.



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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives
 
When I am working with light coloured wood I prefit and fully finish the scales, then I remove the scales and polish the surrounding metal to full mirror. The scales are then epoxied and pinned in place. When the epoxy is cured the excess can be removed in the rubbery stage, the pins carefully filed down and sanded. There will be some refinishing necessary around the pins but it is minimal and staining from surrounding metal finishing is eliminated.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com


 
Silent, if you get that wood stabilized, your problem will mostly go away and the wood will look even better. Stabilizing pretty much eliminates the pores.



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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
I had the same problem with buffing. I finally just covered the metal with tape and buffed the handle. I then removed the tape and applied tape to the handle and buffed the metal. A little bit of fuss, but it sure beats the mess
smile.gif

Good Luck


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Proud Member
Buck Collector's Club
American Knife and Tool Institute
Oregon Knife Collectors Association
UsedKnife.Com
 
Good info here...but as usual making a knife just seems to pose more questions than you actually answer. I can see this problem has been faced by many, and solved in as many different ways!
I like the stabilization idea, but I've only just started working with danish oil finishes and really like the results. Still the expense would probably be worth it. Some of this scrap tossed out from a cabinet shop is actually very nice. Some of the maple has birdseyes and tiger stripes and some of the cherry is highly figured and a deep color.
Oh well, I'll just have to excersise the ol' noggin some more! Thanks again!-Guy Thomas
 
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