Has anyone ever heard of this practice?

I have two old double bit handles with holes filled with a waxy substance. Never noticed them until this thread. Both have a very nice dark finish. Can someone post pictures for me?
 
Its an old carpenters trick(maybe others). It is not for treating the wood, rather for preventing blisters. If I remember correctly it was not BLO that was used but a lighter oil.
 
Yes, now that you mention it, dad mentioned something about blisters. And he recalled it being blo, but he may have been mistaken. He used BLO on the double bit he treated when I was young.
 
littlehoot said:
Yes, now that you mention it, dad mentioned something about blisters. And he recalled it being blo, but he may have been mistaken. He used BLO on the double bit he treated when I was young.
Click to expand...

Maybe they just used what they had. I would bet it worked either way.
 
RixAxe said:
Hickory doesn't absorb water very well let alone oil.

I still say this is an ol' "husbands tale".

The best way to preserve wood is to seal it on the outside, not the inside with oil. IF you successfully somehow got oil all though all the fibers of the handle you would still to seal it on the outside.
Click to expand...


This is right. Good fresh hickory will barely soak up any BLO.

Weathered hickory, OTOH, will soak up a ton of BLO and will regain much of its strength and flexibility in the process. Not as good as new, but much improved. Cutting BLO with mineral spirits will help it soak in to new hickory.

Also, the end grain of new hickory will soak up a lot more BLO than the middle of the shaft. Coat the top and bottom of a new haft liberally several times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top