Is this the Highest Level of Polish You Can Get on Stabilized Wood Scales?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dzlvs8, I'm pretty sure the manufacturer recommends wet sanding with truoil at 150 or something like that... I used this method on a gun stock and it worked out great! One thing you might consider is the type of sandpaper you are using. Some trend to leave a black or grey residue when sanding. If that gets caught up in your wet sanding/slurry, you're gonna have color changes...
 
dzlvs8 said:
"You need to sand the wood with the Tru Oil wet at a lower grit (around 320X) to get the open grain to seal up."

First off, this is garbage. My handle still hasn't recovered from this recommendation. It turned my handle grayish black. This method severely colors the wood. I will never do this again. I know I have heard that people do this but it's a BS method. Super glue is a way better method.

Second, Stacy, it's obvious that you haven't read this entire thread. This knife was sanded to 2000 grit and has had 18 coats of tru oil. The finish improved in shine up until about coat 13 or 14. It is shiny but still doesn't have a wet look. Maybe it will after buffing though, IDK. I was told by burl source that this type of wood is hard to get to a wet look. I am trying to get it there just as a learning experience. However, I am with you in regards to power buffing. It's way too high risk, especially after spending so much time working on all the coats of tru oil. I play on hand rubbing the finish with red rouge in a few weeks.
Click to expand...

If its taking 13 or 14 coats of anything to make a handle look good, change methods.
 
NickWheeler said:
Maelstrom- It depends on the wood and how well it seals up, and if it's stabilized or not.



To the OP... I've been doing that successfully for at least 10 years. Why did you try it once, fail, and then decide to declare that my advice was garbage????? If it ruined your handle, you did it wrong.
Click to expand...

Well, Nick, if it makes you feel any better watching this guy makes me recall with some remorse the way I behaved when you and Frank were trying to help me. Some of us just have harder heads than others, I guess.
 
I guess I was the only one who right from the beginning remembered the train wreck from before...
 
javand said:
Sam, while I agree with your idealistic viewpoint here, I'd say the evidence that the polite approach isn't working in this forum, is pretty apparent.

Almost all the people with the experience to give good advice, have "just ignored it" to the point of avoiding Shop Talk like the plague. It's become a noob free for all, with more misinformation than anybody can shake a stick at. Someone has to call BS. Nick is one of the last hold-outs, and he apparently took your advice to heart and edited his posts to be much more diplomatic. Probably the correct course, but I for one don't blame him for getting a little pissed.

Our "don't say anything if you don't have something nice to say" policy around here isn't working anymore, not sure if it ever did. Just sayin.
Click to expand...

I respect your viewpoint, and your right to disagree. No hard feelings there. I’m glad we have many different perspectives here. I would like to say that this part of the forum is labeled as a place to learn. I am absolutely not directing this at Nick, or anyone in particular, but if someone is there to learn, that means there must be someone to teach. And good teaching doesn’t usually involve forcing something on someone.

I am NOT saying that the advice from Nick and others was wrong. I believe it was spot on. My point is that the OP didn’t want to hear it. He had his mind made up to some degree already, and it didn’t seem to be getting changed. He was probably here more to hear what he wanted to hear. At that point, you’re just spinning your wheels. There’s an old saying, “Those convinced against their will, are of the same opinion still.” In my opinion, in a situation like that, let it go. The OP will either change his mind, or keep beating his head against the wall. But you’re just frustrating yourself at that point.

And let me add, I agree completely about not blaming Nick or anyone else for being upset. It irritated me just reading the OP’s posts. He has some very talented and experienced makers and craftsmen giving him good advice, and he’s crapping all over it. But like the old saying above, if he doesn’t believe it, he hasn’t really been taught anything.
And for the “don’t say anything nice to say” policy, I can only speak for myself, but I don’t come to the internet to argue. I’ve had a few situations get the best of me, like I’m sure we all have, lol, but in general, I try to avoid that. If nothing else, I try to remember that potential friends/customers may see those posts in a search, and make a judgment based on it. Thanks for the discourse.

Sam :thumbup:
 
My original replies were worded as if the OP were standing in my shop and I was talking directly to him. It wasn't my best choice for a forum post though. That's why I edited them out and asked Sam to remove the quotes.


But I do want to address the thing that set me off.

I don't claim to be an expert or master of anything. But I have been doing this stuff long enough to have figured out some things that work for me, and some things that don't. I share a lot of it on here, simply because I enjoy it. I don't get paid for it, and you could even say I'm helping my competition to improve.


So when you take your time to share something, the poster tries it once, and then quotes your advice on a public forum and declares to the world that what you shared with them is garbage... It doesn't sit well.


He could have asked me about it in a message, or in this thread, or asked the forum about it, but nope... he failed with his first try and declared my method was garbage.

Of course it really speaks to the ignorance and arrogance of a person for them to say they tried something once, it didn't work, so clearly whatever that method is, is garbage.... But it still got under my skin.



The attitude of the OP :thumbdn: is exactly why many of the very experienced makers that I know will not bother posting here. :(
 
It's true.

There's a big difference between "I tried this, what did I do wrong" and "you're wrong and know nothing"


The OP is on my ignore list, he's the only one.
 
My dad use to say "Listen harder and don't think so loudly". This was usually accompanied by an object lesson like picking your hat up off the ground, with your head still in it, for not taking it off when meeting a lady. A guy tends to remember such lessons. In other posts sufficient chastisement had been administered for most to learn. Have to agree with The Count.
 
dzlvs8 said:
"You need to sand the wood with the Tru Oil wet at a lower grit (around 320X) to get the open grain to seal up."

First off, this is garbage. My handle still hasn't recovered from this recommendation. It turned my handle grayish black. This method severely colors the wood. I will never do this again. I know I have heard that people do this but it's a BS method. Super glue is a way better method.
Click to expand...

Appallingly disrespectful behavior. And directed at someone who freely shares his hard-earned experience with all of us.

Nick, I have benefited substantially from your guidance over the years. Your geniune sense of humor and beautiful knives always bring a smile to my face. Thank you for that. :)
 
If the OP wants the finish to look like polyurethane, why the hell not use polyurethane?
Tru oil will not, never, ever, give you that finish. Not rubbed, not at 64 coats, nor buffed.
 
12345678910 said:
It's true.

There's a big difference between "I tried this, what did I do wrong" and "you're wrong and know nothing"


The OP is on my ignore list, he's the only one.
Click to expand...


Oh that's too funny, I put him on ignore at about the same time. We must have a similar trigger. The only other person on my list was that bush monkey guy. Remember him? lol... Just like the OP, I'm sure he was just a fine fellow in person, but he was causing me some trouble with my blood pressure here on the forum. Ended up being moot, he was banned pretty quick.
 
So many issues in this thread that need adddressing.

First to the OP I have the idea from your tone that you are in too big a hurry to get a fine glossy finish. Slow down these things take time to get them looking the way you want.

Also, I have tried the wet sanding with oil method and had bad results with some of the dark grit comming off the sandpaper and giving the finish the "muddy" look you describe. You might want to try a different kind of paper to see if it helps eliminate the problem.

I also think the reason that both Tru-oil and Nick recommend starting with lower grit paper is that the individual pieces of grit are too large to get stuck in the pores, thus eliminating the problem that you encountered.

Next, all is not lost with this knife handle. If you can't get the look you want from this method, just sand it all back to bare wood and start over! (please see item one above as this will take alot of time to get it done right) Be sure to use a hard sanding backers or you will end up with raised pins and spine.

Lastly, as you have managed to ruffle the feathers of one of the most accomplished makers on the forum; an appology might be in order.

Good luck with your knife making endeavors.

Jeff
 
Woah, what the heck happened while I was gone. So anyway, I mentioned this problem A LONG while back in the FIRST page of this thread and NO ONE said that I did anything wrong, even though I asked. SO, at that point I can only believe that the slurry method has the potential to ruin knives, thus making it a garbage method. Like I said in THAT post, I heard that LOTS of people use the method but "for some reason" it spelled disaster for me. I had two different colors/types of sand paper, and both just created a nasty gooey mess that discolored the wood. I mentioned this and no one said anything. Since the method is so great, I'd LOVE to know what I could have done wrong so I could use the process again

I was actually quite shocked that with such involvement by people in this thread that when the slurry process was recommended and then failed me, no one answered my question about what went wrong in my process. ...Obviously then, I would assume my process was fine and it was just that some lighter woods do not work with this process. This was and is my assumption until I hear otherwise. No one should expect anything different.

My opinions can only be based on what I know and experience and what info others give. Again, unwarranted respect for a process is not something I subscribe to. If I was told that I did something wrong, maybe I would have a different opinion on the process.

*******So anyway, the real reason I came back to this thread was to post my results, as promised.....
I was impatient and did not want to wait 30 days to buff my knife with rouge. So, on day three I started buffing with ultra light pressure. Eventually, I got up to a decent amount of pressure and still experienced no problems. The knife buffed out great after 3 days of drying the 17 coats. As I said I would, here are pics of the results. Also, my second knife that I am now tru oiling (not a burl) is only requiring about 4 coats to get to the same level of gloss, but I still added seven coats just for fun. That burl soaked up the tru oil like a sponge, even with the crappy slurry applied.

13570303455_319cbc8c11_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Bill DeShivs said:
If the OP wants the finish to look like polyurethane, why the hell not use polyurethane?
Tru oil will not, never, ever, give you that finish. Not rubbed, not at 64 coats, nor buffed.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^Hey look, it looks like polyurethane. If you read the thread, you might have a reason to form an opinion on the situation, but obviously you didn't. I wanted to get the highest level of gloss possible as a learning experience. ...and many people here said that you can get an ultra high gloss from tru oil. FYI - Proof is above...and in many other posts in this thread from peoples experiences.

See, I listed to what people said, I tried their recommendations, and I then learned and formed my own opinions. You didn't do any of that. You just blindly formed your opinion. Which makes your posts useless.
 
Wow, you didn't even bother to apologize to Nick, who is a huge contributor around here. You act like it's other people's fault for your efforts not working. You are going on my ignor list now as well. :thumbdn:
 
^ +1 Nick is where I have gotten a lot of my knowledge. If it were not for him I wouldn't be doing as well as I am with my first few knives. Nothing he says is "garbage."
 
AncientSword said:
Wow, you didn't even bother to apologize to Nick, who is a huge contributor around here. You act like it's other people's fault for your efforts not working. You are going on my ignor list now as well. :thumbdn:
Click to expand...

Are you not reading? I still haven't heard what I might have done wrong. At this point, I still assume that this type of light colored wood becomes discolored when wet sanding with tru oil. I've tried two different types of sand paper, 3M professional wood paper (purple) and 3M professional automotive (gray). Both discolored it the same way. I'm not saying that I am not at fault, but I still have no reason to think so.
Also I should note that your second sentence is delusional. I never blamed him for anything. I just called the process garage. I followed the process I did nothing that I was told to avoid doing. I have not made any mention about a lack of warnings with the instructions. It would help though. I'd still like to know what went wrong.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top