knife handle finishing

Gahagan

Gahagan

Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
130
I am sorry but I have to ask. It has been a long time since I have worked on a knife(15 years) and am getting back into it. My current project has birds eye maple scales (exibition grade) and I would like to know the best way to finish them so that it brings out the textures and the shine will last. Can anyne give me some advice?
 
There are alot of different finishes and all have their merrits. If I had what you have I would sand to 1000 wash lightly with alchol and sand again. I have some buff on hard finish like shellac called Hut that I use, apply, let dry, buff, apply again buff.

If you use oil sand between coats with 000 steel wool.
 
I'v got a ton of bird eye maple (like 1.5'x4'). though I havn't used it but once or twice, I find the colour darkens dramatically when sanded to a supper high finish. other than that I would also love to hear suggestions.
 
My neighbor is an old New England woodworker and he likes a mixture of boiled linseed oil and terpintine rubbed into the wood. The owner of Exotic Lumber in Gaithersburg, MD (Great source for handle material) suggests Tung Oil. I would be happy for any input on this topic also.....

Brad
 
The mix you mentioned is an old school way that works best on hand rubbed furniture. My vote would be for the tung oil. The oil will enhance the chatoyance of the figure and tung oil builds up with each coat so you can get a super smooth finish.

If you go to this thread you can see what Butcher Block did with some buckeye using tung oil. His were some of the best finished buckeye handles I have seen.

Just my 2 cents.
 
if you use enough tung oil it'll give you a rock hard finish that really brings out the figure in maple. I usually do my maple scales with about 30 coats and that gives it a nice finish.

For a higher gloss finish sand the scales to shape, wipe them with mineral spirits, and burnish them with a brass rod. After that cover the handle in a mess of epoxy. Once the epoxy becomes hardened enough that you can touch it and your fingerprint isn't sticky (the untouched part still should be) take the excess off with a very light brass wire wheel on a bench grinder at low rpms. After that let the epoxy set fully, burnish again and buff. You end up with something as smooth as glass with all the grains filled and unbelievable figure. You just have to make sure the wood doesn't get really scratched up by the wire wheel. I use an old worn out one which works fine but you might think of using a nylon one.

I also have a friend who uses paste wax when he does maple projects.
 
Tung oil or linseed oil. You can also use tru-oil for rifle stocks. but it takes a good while to get that up to a good finish.
 
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