How do you finish wood handles?

[Burl Source]

I was hoping some of the makers who are really good at finishing wood handles might share some of their techniques for finishing wood handles. There is not one method that works for all woods. Sometimes a method of finishing one wood that gives spectacular results will look just mediocre with another type of wood.
If enough of you post how you finish your wood handles, we should all be able to pick up a tip or two that will help us to get a better finish on our knife handles.

Some of the makers that come to mind are:
Butch Harner with stabilized Buckeye
Russ Andrews with Ringed Gidgee
Nick Wheeler with Ironwood Burl
Nathan Burgess with Ironwood Burl
Phillip Dobson with Maple Burl
Bruce Bump with Walnut
Fred Rowe with just about anything stabilized
Bill Akers with the bizarre stuff
These are just a few that jump to the forefront of my thoughts. There are a lot of others who are really good with these woods so please don't take offense if you are better than those I gave as examples. There will be a lot of you that I don't know about because I haven't seen many photos.

Lots of times it will be just one or 2 simple things that make a world of difference. Example some woods will have a smeared or muddy look when power buffed but will be 3 dimensional and crisp when hand buffed.

This should be a good source of info for all knifemakers if enough of you will share how you do things.

Thanks in advance, Mark

 

[Russ Andrews]

This could become a very informative thread........
...
As for Gidgee. The finishing sequence that I use
is pretty straight forward....just hand sand through at least
1500X then apply a modest coat of tung oil...the undiluted
stuff..rub it in with your fingers....give it a little time to soak
in.....then wipe off the excess (before it gets tacky).

Let it dry....reapply as prefered...then buff with a strip of towell
with buffing compound rubbed in.......If theres a most important
part to this...it's hand finishing (no buffers).

This can really bring out the color, and leave a classic somewhat
subdued finish....that dosent look like plastic..!

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Finishing is an art in itself; wood has many variables and that makes it the hardest to get a smooth consistent finish, handle to handle.
A great deal is contained within the choice of materials. Every block is different. No two are the same.

I use Bre wax on all handles as a finish. Only use stabilized wood. Take a good look before I buy and keep so much on hand it makes my family worry.
The use of files makes for an interesting handle, files don't heat up like a moving belt.
I go light on a loose muslin buffing pad; just a little
I have a set of files that I use for handles only; round on one side and flat on the other I go clear to extra fine.
After the files I move to burnishing; using the edge of 10 oz. leather, soft leather and finish with Levi' material. Bre wax right after burnishing.
Burnishing gets the most out of a piece of nice wood.

This double died box elder is, to me, a nice piece of burl.

Fred



PS Use the edge of the leather to burnish blade surfaces. It will get that small blur out that just won't go away.

 

[silver_pilate]

Well, I didn't make the list , but I've been pleased with my results with ironwood scales on full tangs.

I do my heavy removal with a 36 grit belt against the platen with brief contact passes to avoid overheating. That's the only part I do on the platen. Then I use the slack belt and step up to a 60, 120, 220, and 400 grit belt. The slack belt reduces the chances of overheating, though you have to be careful not to dig the edge of the belt into the wood.

Regardless of if you use rasps, files, etc, I think the key to a great looking desert ironwood is to hand sand. And not just to 400-600 grit, but well beyond that. After the bigger scratches are removed and the wood is consistently 400 grit, I'll switch to a 400 grit paper by hand, working up to 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000. I always enjoy watching a piece of ironwood come to life as you go above 1000 grit. The chatoyance and depth really just starts to pop. Personally, I stop at 2000 grit, coat with Danish oil unitl it stops absorbing, and then buff with a cloth. If I want a bit more shine, I'll BRIEFLY touch it to a sewn buff with white compound. Very light and brief on the buffer.

That has worked well for me for nice ironwood burl, but I have much less experience with other woods. I can tell you that Nick's ironwood handles are amazing, so I'm eager to hear his method.

--nathan

 

[Burl Source]

Well, I didn't make the list , but I've been pleased with my results with ironwood scales on full tangs.
--nathan

The list has been amended. My bad.
Seeing Nathan's EDCs with Ironwood burl was one of the first examples of the potential of ironwood that caught my attention. Every time he posts one of his beauties in the gallery I find myself going back to look at the photos over and over. I never told him but it was his knives that got me to start seeking out ironwood to cut and sell.

Fred was another that should have been in the list but I couldn't think of just one wood he was really good with. The dagger photo he posted is a beauty. Another that comes to mind was his Air Force Bowie.

I think Russ understated his results with Ringed Gidgee so here is a photo to show what he can do.

There are a lot of others I didn't mention who get impressive results.
I will add them as they come to mind.
Bill Akers seems to have the uncanny ability to take the weird stuff and make it look really cool.

 

[bobbywett]

Very informative thread:thumbup:

 

[Burl Source]

Very informative thread:thumbup:

Maybe you could post something like how you made that tiger striped curly maple look so good on that knife on your website.

 

[silver_pilate]

Mark, man, I was just bustin' your chops. There's seriously no way I deserve to be on that list with those guys. I just love ironwood. I've got several pieces from you that I need to get on some blades. I'll send you pics when they're done.

--nathan

 

[Nebulae]

I was working with cherry and the grain is really open, I dont know how to describe it, but I am getting foreign debris embedded in the grain. help?

 

[bobbywett]

Thanks for the nice comment Burl Source. Several coats of Minwax Red Mahogany, then after drying for 72 hours, I rubbed in several coats of Tung oil, lightly scratching with 0000 fine steel wool in between each coat.

 

[Burl Source]

I was working with cherry and the grain is really open, I dont know how to describe it, but I am getting foreign debris embedded in the grain. help?

Cherry, Walnut, Mahogany, all have big open pores. If one of these guys who is really good with walnut make a post, you should be able to adapt their methods to the cherry. My woodworking experience comes from a cabinet or furniture maker perspective so advice from a knife maker would serve you better.

 

[Shaughnessy]

Hey Fred,
When will that purple one be done? I'm curious to see what road you take with that....... -Larry

Finishing is an art in itself; wood has many variables and that makes it the hardest to get a smooth consistent finish, handle to handle.
A great deal is contained within the choice of materials. Every block is different. No two are the same.

I use Bre wax on all handles as a finish. Only use stabilized wood. Take a good look before I buy and keep so much on hand it makes my family worry.
The use of files makes for an interesting handle, files don't heat up like a moving belt.
I go light on a loose muslin buffing pad; just a little
I have a set of files that I use for handles only; round on one side and flat on the other I go clear to extra fine.
After the files I move to burnishing; using the edge of 10 oz. leather, soft leather and finish with Levi' material. Bre wax right after burnishing.
Burnishing gets the most out of a piece of nice wood.

This double died box elder is, to me, a nice piece of burl.

Fred



PS Use the edge of the leather to burnish blade surfaces. It will get that small blur out that just won't go away.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Hey Fred,
When will that purple one be done? I'm curious to see what road you take with that....... -Larry

I love the double dyed blocks. They are really bold and I think go well with the strong damascus patterns.
If it is comparable to the black and gold one I will be thrilled.

If I don't get busy there won't be any knives on my table at Cambridge.

Fred

 

[bacustomknives]

HEY GUYS,
IM LIKE MOST OF THE REST OF THE GUYS,I LOVE WOOD IVE FINNISHED IT IN MANY DIFFRENT WAYS, MY BIGGEST THING IS GETTING IT SANDED TO PERFECTION TO THE HIGHEST GRIT POSSIBLE, I FIRST USE THE BELT SANDER TO 800 GRIT THEN I GO BACK TO 400 GRIT AND START BY HAND,400/600/800/1200/1500/SOMETIMES 2000 GRIT ON STABILIZED OR HARDWOODS,THEN I PICKED UP A NEW BUFFING SYSTEM CALLED THE BEALL BUFF SYSTEM,HAS THREE STEPS 3 DIFFRENT WHEELS,3 DIFFRENT ROUGES , THE LAST STEP YOU FINNISH WITH WAX,IT TURNS THE WOOD TO LIKE GLASS GLIMMER AND FEEL, IT BRINGS OUT THE BLING IN ANYTHING!!

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES

 

[bacustomknives]

i was working with cherry and the grain is really open, i dont know how to describe it, but i am getting foreign debris embedded in the grain. Help?

coat the wood several times with thin ca glue before buffing, belt sand hand sand,repeat those steps till it fills the pores and will make a nice sheen on the wood,then soft buff!

 

[trip]

Wow Backwoods. You win. That is really humbling.

 

[Bruce Bump]

I used to make pistol grips from black walnut and used "Tru Oil" from Birchwood Casey. It is way too thick as it comes in the bottle and needs to be thinned by 1/3 rd with mineral spirits. The most important step isnt even included in the instructions and that is to sand the wood to around 320 and wipe the Tru Oil on and sand it with fresh 320 while its wet. This makes a slurry and fills all the open pores. Next let it dry for a couple weeks until you cant smell the tru oil anymore. I know thats a long time but the custom rifle makers do it this way and they make a couple thousand dollars for a good custom walnut stock with this finnish. After its dry simply apply one coat per day and sand it in with finer and finer grits until you reach 2000 grit. The idea is to put it on and rub it off. Its impossible to rub it all off so it builds up with very thin coats. Its normal to spend a month on this finnish. Top it off with a coat of good furniture patse wax. I use Minwax brand.

 

[Burl Source]

I was working with cherry and the grain is really open, I dont know how to describe it, but I am getting foreign debris embedded in the grain. help?

Some people like the open pore look with some woods. If you finish the wood leaving the open pores, do not power buff because the compound will build up in the open pores.

With furniture or cabinets the way you deal with open pores is with the use of a sanding sealer. You can usually find it in the wood finish supplies section of most hardware stores.

You brush it on, let it dry then sand to bare wood. Repeat until the pores are all filled. then you finish the wood as normal.

A couple cheater ways ( for those without the time and patience to do it the correct way) are;

Paint on a heavy coat of poly or varnish, let dry, then sand to bare wood. Repeat until all pores are filled. Then finish as usual.

Or better, sand to 320 then apply an oil that will build up like Tung oil and wet sand with wet/dry paper. Leave the wet slurry of oil and sanded wood on the handle and let it dry. Next sand lightly until you just get to bare wood. Then with the oil and wet/dry paper sand and make a slurry again and let it dry. Keep repeating these steps until the pores are all filled. Then fine sand and apply a light oil finish.

You will get the very best oil finish with open pore woods if you do it Bruce's way. That is the traditional gunstock method. But it takes time.

 

[safta]

I use a lot of walnut. I do it pretty much the same way as Bruce, but I start with Birchwood Casey's "Sealer & Filler". I put it on and sand off until all pores are filled then move on to "Tru Oil" and finish off with paste wax. It still takes a long time, but it does knock a few days off using only "Tru Oil".

 

[childzplay]

I'd like to cast my vote for a sticky! Just when I'm in awe of Backwoods, Bruce shows up. Two questions, the first is what is the handle material on the third picture from Backwoods? It looks like a flame. Second is how did Mr. Bump get that texture on his handle? Amazing! Nathan, I'm glad you showed too. I'm a big fan!