Ideal way to finish Buckeye Burl

J

Joneserlax

Joined
Apr 18, 2014
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25
So i have a question to anyone who has any experience using and finishing buckeye wood and especially buckeye burl. While i believe buckeye is still classified as a hardwood, it is of extremely low density. Because it is so soft, it is actually extremely easy to carve, shape, and sand imo. However, is is very difficult to get a smooth finish on when going up to finer grit sandpaper, as it remains soft and somehow.. fuzzy. A solution to this, i have found, it simply to use sanding sealer like you would any especially soft un-stabilized wood. This way is get a more hard glossy look. However, i still have a strange problem ive only seen with buckeye burl. Because of the marbled look of various dark and light colors like blackish green and light yellow, and because of the soft consistency, i seem to blur out the beautiful definition when sanding. Basically, instead of with some hardwoods where i sand it until smooth, taking of the very top layer and blowing it off, the sawdust and grit is being forces into the pores of the wood it seems. Its almost like smearing the dark blackish sawdust around and messing up the yellow until much of it is grey. Ive never really seen this to the extent i am with buckeye and not sure how to fix this. Thank you for an advice
 
I had a similar problem when I was working on some two-toned rosewood burl scales. The dark red sawdust from the heart wood was staining the creamy white sapwood as I was sanding it. I ended up sanding very precisely and using a lot of compressed air to clear the pores as I worked.

And I concur with Tkrocky - I would only work with stabilized buckeye. It performs much better when it is a bit harder and denser.

TedP
 
One of my favorite woods. I process about 50 pounds a year. It has to be stabilized to use on a knife. Any good professional stabilizer can do it. Home stabilizing is not a god choice for buckeye. WSSI and Ken at K&G are both good at buckeye.
When finishing the handle, you can do a CA fill of the wood pores in the final steps for a superb finish. At a minimum, I flood the handle at least twice in the final sanding to seal the pores and eyes. Some big voids I fill with the sanding dust and CA, then sand down.

Super glue, or CA as it is known in woodworking circles, on handles is not a coating...... it is a seal. Use thin CA for handle finishing.
You put on a layer, and sand it down to the surface. Put on another, and repeat. Slowly you build up a surface that is completely smooth and will take a nice buff. The sanding of the handle needs to be done to about 800 grit prior to the CA coats, then use 400 followed by 800 grit to sand down each coat. As you progress, the surface will get smoother and smoother ( you are filling the pores and soaking into the wood surface ). Once it is glass smooth, some people allow a little build up, but that looks bad to me. I like the handle to look like smooth, shiny wood, not plastic.

While doing the finishing, any small voids/eyes will be filled in with the CA and wood dust....and become solid.

This is a great tutorial. Post #39 has the CA finish part, but everyone should read the whole thread from page 1.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...couple-tips-on-hidden-tang-construction/page2
 
Thank you guys. I was against getting it stabilized at first for some reason.. maybe i just like the idea of working the natural wood, but i dont know how well that is working out haha. Question for Bladsmth as youve helped me before in the past; Do you finish/ seal your buckeye even when it is already stabilized? Or do you think ca glue or even sanding sealer can come close to taking the place of stabilization? Im just hesitant to send out my burl to someone else.. Maybe ill have to get past that though.
 
I am the same way, I worked with wood a lot before knives and stabilized wood definitely doesn't take a stain the same way, but if you do some of the finishes mentioned above you can get some super nice results!
 
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