I have 2 blades ready for guards and handles. The guards will be a book by themselves, so lets just stick with the handles. I have walnut, mahogany, and cherry woods. I dont want to stain anything really, just bring out the grain and darken the wood a little so it doesnt get the faded grey look of unprotected wood. I tried some linseed oil on a mahogany handle, and while it looks better, its a little dull and some of the oil appears to leech out into the knife block where the handle rests. Any sealers/protectors I might use? Also, it would be nice to use the same thing on all 3 woods, but I know just enough to realize that probably wont happen. Thanks.
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Help w/ Finishing Wood Handles
- Thread starter me2
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I like watco's danish oil, but only for certain woods. They have to be pretty hard, with a closed grain or it always wants to get gummy on you. I've used it on rosewood, cocobolo, padauk, and purpleheart knife handles with good results. Have used it on walnut for a gun stock and a few other projects and it was pretty good for that too. Didn't like how it turned out on black cherry though.
I've normally used either tung oil or polymerized tung oil with acceptable results. I read a woodworking article a while ago that was comparing wipe on poly finishes. Interestingly the hands down winner was one of the less expensive products tested - Minwax Wipe on Poly. I'm trying it now and the look is very nice. It will be interesting to see how durable it is.
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I have used that 'wipe on poly' on furniture I have made and for that purpose it works great , looks great. On something I or someone was going to phsyically handle many times over I dont think it would work too hot in the long run.
I too use Tung oil with excellent results , on harder , less porous woods like Cocobolo or what have you I use the following method.
Using my finger or a towel if I have one handy , I wipe on a thick coating and let it sit for maybe 4-5 minutes then i carefully polish it off to almost a clear/stain finish , I do this as many times as it takes for any grain to be filled and to the gloss I want to achieve. Usually it takes 5-6 coats.
I did this one some Ironwood over the weekend and the resulting finish is like glass , but not thick enough to chip off (im hoping
)
I have used it on antler too and man does it turn out looking nice , plus it penetrate softer woods/antler/bone , making them more durable.
I too use Tung oil with excellent results , on harder , less porous woods like Cocobolo or what have you I use the following method.
Using my finger or a towel if I have one handy , I wipe on a thick coating and let it sit for maybe 4-5 minutes then i carefully polish it off to almost a clear/stain finish , I do this as many times as it takes for any grain to be filled and to the gloss I want to achieve. Usually it takes 5-6 coats.
I did this one some Ironwood over the weekend and the resulting finish is like glass , but not thick enough to chip off (im hoping
)I have used it on antler too and man does it turn out looking nice , plus it penetrate softer woods/antler/bone , making them more durable.
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Rob! said:
Hopefully you have better results than I've seen. We've used it quite a bit around here on furniture and other woodworking projects. It won't stand up to even a drop of water. We used it on a few paper towel racks and both of them have finish peeling off in little spots where water drops land on them.
Seems to hold up OK for things that don't get handled much though.
You guys were right. I put the last of five coats of the wipe on poly, on a sample block last night and buffed it lightly this morning. Geeze it looked nice.
This afternoon I ran it through the dishwasher. Trashed it! :thumbdn: Back to polymerized tung oil.
This afternoon I ran it through the dishwasher. Trashed it! :thumbdn: Back to polymerized tung oil.
I have posted on this in the past. Having hand finished a ton of gunstocks and knife handles, I feel like I could contribute to this thread. I have used all the mentioned finishes and a few more in the years past and while all have their pluses and minuses, my hands down favorite is Watco Teak Oil. On my gunstocks, my prime concern is water resistance. A close second is allowing the natural beauty of the wood to shine through. I have had problems in the past with the Watco Danish Oil drying completely. Tung Oil, while great for moisture resistance, can be really dull unless it is polymerized.
Teak Oil is a much clearer finish in my opinion, and gives 99% of the moisture resistance of Tung Oil. I go a step further to enhance the teak oil finish by first applying a couple of coats of Thompson's Water Seal. Then, the finish is more water resistant than straight tung oil (just my opinion). I then sand in the teak oil with 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sand paper. Each grit is sanded in twice before moving on to the next grit. I wet the sandpaper with teak oil, sand it in, let dry for about 45 minutes and rub the excess off with either an old t-shirt or paper towel. The paper towel works better for me. The next day, sand in coat #2 with that grit the same way. Next day...on to the next grit. By the time you get to 600 grit, the finish will be completly sanded in and should have a pretty eggshell lustre. If the pores are not completly filled in, hit it a few more times with 600 grit. The finish is easy to repair and very moisture resistant...don't forget the Thompson's Water Seal...that's the trick.
Should you try it, best of luck!
Teak Oil is a much clearer finish in my opinion, and gives 99% of the moisture resistance of Tung Oil. I go a step further to enhance the teak oil finish by first applying a couple of coats of Thompson's Water Seal. Then, the finish is more water resistant than straight tung oil (just my opinion). I then sand in the teak oil with 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sand paper. Each grit is sanded in twice before moving on to the next grit. I wet the sandpaper with teak oil, sand it in, let dry for about 45 minutes and rub the excess off with either an old t-shirt or paper towel. The paper towel works better for me. The next day, sand in coat #2 with that grit the same way. Next day...on to the next grit. By the time you get to 600 grit, the finish will be completly sanded in and should have a pretty eggshell lustre. If the pores are not completly filled in, hit it a few more times with 600 grit. The finish is easy to repair and very moisture resistant...don't forget the Thompson's Water Seal...that's the trick.
Should you try it, best of luck!
I knew I should have bought the tung oil. Oh well. Is polymerized tung oil hard to find? I dont remember seeing it at the store (Home Depot). Also, is the linseed oil handle ruined? It's on a kitchen knife I use at home. If it's ruined, its ok, since I was thinking of redoing the handle anyway, so its a little wider. Also, should wood handles be polished and buffed? I want to leave a little traction, so I usually finish to just a 220 grit finish. I guess I could just take some sample pieces and see which ones I like best. Shakudo, I havent actually sold any knives that I've made, although hopefully that will change soon. Thanks for the encouragement.
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I just use Minwax tung oil , cant recall whether or not its polymerized. You can take off that linseed oil finish and most others as well using an old towel and denatured alcohol , keep turning the towel as you rub it off. Sand it a little and your back in business.
What I do not like in my experience with linseed is it can get gummy in certain conditions , just my opinion.
Sand both surfaces with some fat grit like your 220 , wipe of both surfaces with some denatured alcohol and let it air dry a bit before applying epoxy.
Be careful on sanding the scales as you dont want to ruin your nice flat surface , just sand it enough to give it some "grip".
What I do not like in my experience with linseed is it can get gummy in certain conditions , just my opinion.
Sand both surfaces with some fat grit like your 220 , wipe of both surfaces with some denatured alcohol and let it air dry a bit before applying epoxy.
Be careful on sanding the scales as you dont want to ruin your nice flat surface , just sand it enough to give it some "grip".
In simple terms, the polymerized tung oil, or polymerized teak oil, means that it has some plastic resins mixed in with the pure oil. This provides greater moisture resistance, and can help in filling pores quicker. It is the stuff that makes up the polyurathane finishes. Most of the oils you see at the stores will be of the polymerized variety. A dead giveaway is if you can buy the tung oil in a gloss or semi-gloss formulation....then you know it is polymerized. Examples include Mimwax tung oils, Watco, Formbys, etc..
Also, most of the oils (tung, teak, etc) have some sort of "dryer" already mixed in...even the ones that say "pure tung oil". If it did not have the dryer in them drying would be an extremely slooooow process. In some of the wood finishing catalogs you can buy pure tung oil without the dryers mixed in, as some folks have their own ideas regarding what types of dryers and in what amounts suits their situation the best. The instructions will all say something to the effect: "be sure to add xyz brand dryer to assist this product in drying...blah blah blah".
Me2: OK to add tung or teak over the Linseed Oil "base" you have established. FYI: Linseed Oil has about the lowest moisture resistance of the oil finishes...and it can get really gummy and dark as well. Just put your choice of oil over it and you will be OK...but my advice would be to stay away from Linseed Oil in the future...even the boiled variety, as boiling it does not really enhance it much...just a marketing ploy.
Take care,
Hank
Also, most of the oils (tung, teak, etc) have some sort of "dryer" already mixed in...even the ones that say "pure tung oil". If it did not have the dryer in them drying would be an extremely slooooow process. In some of the wood finishing catalogs you can buy pure tung oil without the dryers mixed in, as some folks have their own ideas regarding what types of dryers and in what amounts suits their situation the best. The instructions will all say something to the effect: "be sure to add xyz brand dryer to assist this product in drying...blah blah blah".
Me2: OK to add tung or teak over the Linseed Oil "base" you have established. FYI: Linseed Oil has about the lowest moisture resistance of the oil finishes...and it can get really gummy and dark as well. Just put your choice of oil over it and you will be OK...but my advice would be to stay away from Linseed Oil in the future...even the boiled variety, as boiling it does not really enhance it much...just a marketing ploy.
Take care,
Hank