How do they get the handle to look like that?

G

Glenn Jones

Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Messages
618
When I look at the Kobras on the H.I. website, extra work has been done on the wooden handles. They look beautiful. What was done to make them look like that? Was the process the same as polishing a wood floor - light sanding followed by some sort of 2 pot mix lacquer done a few times. I'd love to have a try at doing it to some of my khukuries. Does anyone know the specific details like the sandpaper size to use etc.:confused:
 
No problem:) -- the only suggestion I could add (I'm by no means a wood finishing expert) is to take your time. You really need to let the coats dry in between sanding. Hopefully Walosi and the other woodchucks will chime in with some trade secrets.
--Josh
 
Glenn
Here is a pic of a little villager that Steve refinished and that I was so very fortunate to win in the raffle for Ram a while back. The karda and chakma handles have not been finished so you can see the difference.

The knife acutally looks better when you hold it than in the pic. :D

I suggest you contact Steve and bribe him to get his secrets! :D

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If you need contributions towards the bribe, please let me know. I won the 25" siru that was part of the same raffle, and the handle looks just like the villager. I've been drooling over it since.
 
Hi Glenn, Walosi is the resident expert, but one thread where I explain how I refinish the handles is HERE
The Tru-Oil that we use over here is a linseed oil based product made by Birchwood-Casey. It's made for refinishing gun stocks. There should be a similar "Oil Finish" available down under. I'm currently experimenting with Min-Wax Tung Oil Finish. Tung Oil and Boiled Linseed oil are similar type products. Look around where you live and see what types of oil finishs are available locally and we'll try to answer questions on their use.

Have fun!

Steve
 
Thanks everyone for your help - great advice. I became interested in this after buying the Kobra on today's Cantina specials. From the photo, the wood on its handle looks different to the lighter coloured wood on most of the khuks I own. I then checked out the kobras on the H.I. website and saw the great work on the kobras there. I straight away saw the potential in the wood of the one I am buying. Does anyone have any idea of the type of wood on the kobra on today's cantina. From the photo it looks awesome - but I am slightly biased.;)
 
Don't know what kind of wood it is, but it does look good.:) Should finish up nice.

Steve
 
You'll find that a lot of the wood handles have rouge on them, and if you remove it you'll reveal a beautiful surface.
 
Most of the wood handles are Saatisal, which is described as a Nepali Hill Oak.All of theNepal woods grow under extreme seasonal variations, and the result is grain and figure that are rarely seen in wood from other places. One of my prettiest handles is on a villager, and appears to be some sort of rosewood. I have NEVER seen another wood that reacts so dramatically to a hand-rubbed oil finish as Saatisal, and I have worked on some $500+ custom rifle stocks. Most of the good oil finishes will work. I use Tru Oil because it is readily available in my area, and it responds well to the technique. Given a proper oil,the technique is the key to lighting up good wood. The idea is to apply several (sometimes many) very thin (absolute minimum) layers, steel wooling them down after each one has dried (TOTALLY dried and hardened over as much as several days). Each new coat will drive the remainder of the previous one a little deeper into the grain, eventually making the grain translucent, and building a seal at the same time. Depending on your own opinion of the woods' character, you can begin by sanding the surface glass smooth with finer and finer papers, or just smooth it off, leaving some open grain pores. The main thing is patience while the last coat dries. If it is still tacky to the touch, it isn't dry. Each coat needs thorough drying, and curing before the next coat can achieve the desired result. Nerve wracking, at best, the end result is a light show you never thought possible. I still have a Bura GS with solid black stripes. These are solid colors, deep in the wood. After about "damned if I can remember" how many coats, you can turn this handle in natural light, and the solid black stripes DISAPPEAR!!! Turn it just a bit farther, and golden flakes appear where the black stripes were. "Not possible" is the first thing that hits you when something like this comes out of a piece of wood that was just a nice tan and black a few days before. That is what makes Woodchuckery so addictive. That, and the fumes from the additives in the oil:rolleyes:
 
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