K & G Finish on Box Elder Burl

[Taximanny]

Bought some Box Elder Burl from K&G and was wondering what kind of finish they use.
The block on the left is the face of the block. It came very shiny and seemingly hard.
My scale on the left is only sanded to 600 at the moment and it's a lot lighter.
I would really like this burl to pop.

What do you recommend to darken it besides an oil that will eventually work off ?

Thanks
Manny

 

[Justin Schmidt]

Pretty sure burl source did a thread about this and Stacy added it to the stickies

 

[weo]

In my experience, 600g isn't fine enough to get a great finish. I go to 5000g and even then the handle doesn't really "pop" until you polish it with wax.
Here's my last thread with a similar question:http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1425257-Kitchen-knife-help/page2

 

[SBuzek]

It is stabilized so sand to 1200 and light buff on loose wheel with a little wax.

 

[weo]

It seems like everyone else goes to 1200 or 2000, so perhaps it's a bit overkill going to 5000g but I have a bunch of it....

 

[Carterwhopkins]

For the Wa handles I make, I sand to 800-1,000 then buff...wipe down with mineral spirits to get rid of buffing compound and then apply several coats of TruOil finish....the handle will "pop" and be protected from moisture and oil/dirt.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yep, sand to 1000-2000 grit and buff with white rouge. It will shine like polished stone. Box elder burl is one of my favorite handles.

On most handles, once I get to 95-99% done, I flood the handle with thin CA and then take down to bare wood up to the final grit. This seals the pores and minute voids and makes the polishing even brighter. Flooding the entire handle isn't so easily done on a folder, so on those, I only spot fill any voids and pin holes.