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Natural Wood Handle Finish?

B

Bushbow

Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
29
Another question? What finish do you guys recomend for a natural wood handle? It is a cherry burl wood handle that was cut about 5-7 years ago and I made slabs out of it recently. This is a kitchen knife that will see water but I will take care to not let it sit in water for any amount of time.

Thanks - Bob Urban
 
Normally I'd recommend Watco's Danish Oil, but I haven't had good luck with it on the black cherry I've used. Guess the wood isn't hard enough, it just gives you a gummy finish with no shine.
I have had good luck with Behlen's Salad Bowl finish for kitchen stuff, as well as Arm R Seal . Both can be found at woodworking type stores, maybe somehwere like Lowes, but I haven't looked there. They are more of a varnish type finish. The Arm R Seal does have tung oil in it, but they make for more of a glossy/plastic skin on the wood like laquer instead of a flat shine like a good oil finished gunstock.
 
I refinish a ton of gun stocks with varioius oil and surface finishes....I usually use Watco's Teak Oil finish. It is about as water resistant as Tung oil, but give a better glow to the wood, more of a nice semi-gloss finish, as opposed to the matte finish of the tung oil. The secret to making it water proof is to soak the wood in Thompson's Water Seal before the first coat of teak oil is applied. Wipe off the excess after 15 minutes and let dry overnight...then use your teak oil. I like to sand in the teak oil with 320 grit, twice, 400 grit, 600 and on down to 800 or finer, depending upon how much of a sheen you want to achive. Naturally, with the oil, you are NOT going to get a gloss, no matter what, but you can get it on up to a nice glow, so to speak. What you are trying to do is literally sand the dust/teak oil mixture into the pores. Let each coat dry about 30-45 minutes and wipe across the grain, pulling the excess finish into the pores of the wood. By the time you get to, say, 600 grit, you will have the pores just about filled up...and will be "polishing" from that point on.

I agree with Matt Shade: I do NOT like the Danish Oil Finish for the very reason he stated...it sometimes gets gummy and does not appear to dry well....Go with Teak Oil, and use the Thompsons Water Seal for the first coat.
 
I'm with Godogs, teak oil is the best. I'll have to try the Thompson's seal.

I usually oil sand the teak oil to 1500 grit, starting at 600. It works best for me if I let it dry for several hours between applications.
 
I've played around with several finishes for maple, and the two I like best so far is (for tomahawks) is to boil the head of the haft in tung oil to drive out the moister and suck up the oil, haven't had a head get loose yet treated like that. And (for knives and such) minwax polyurithane thined with minneral spirits. finish the knife handle to about 99% finished, and make sure it's fully dried, and soak in thined poly for a couple of days in a zip-lock bag. I made a kitchen knife with curly maple scales a couple of years ago and it's held up great with that treatment. Only thing is the scales will still move with humidity changes, that's why I like stabilized wood or something oily like rosewood or ironwood.
 
I tend to avoid woods that I have to put on a finish oil or sealant. Occassionally I work with a porous wood that requires a finish sealant or coating. I put on a nitrile glove and rub super glue into the surface of the handle and then buff the glue of the suface. The strength of the wood protects the low spots leaving the super glue in the pores. Keep moving and rubbing or the glue will attach the glove to the handle...ED
 
Ed, what kind of gloves are these and where do you get them? I've been using either cotton balls or just dripping the glue on.
 
Nitrile gloves are the blue rubber gloves you can buy at Harbor Freight,or the lumber yard.They come in a box of 100.
If it were me I would send the cherry burl to Mike at WSSI to have it stabilized.Then you wouldn't need any finish.
 
Teak oil but I use Ballistol as a first coat and lately I've been using the following :

Day 1 Ballistol
2. Teak oil
3. Teak Oil sanded in
4,5.6 Teak oil sanded ending with 1200 grit

7. 3 coats of 50/50 Beeswax and Ballistol.

If you go back and search you'll find a lot of discussion on all these.
 
Here's some info on wood finishes and in particular linseed oil - http://www.ilovewood.com/alburnam22.htm

Now personally I haven't used regular store bought linseed oil in years - I use either my own home made "boiled" linseed oil, using artist grade linseed oil as a base and "cooked" much like this http://www.muzzleblasts.com/vol5no2/articles/mbo52-1.html - only without suing the lead dryer, or the linseed oil based Danish Oil from http://www.triedandtruewoodfinish.com/
When applying I either cut 50/50 with artist grade real turpentine for several coats, then several coats of full strength oil and then four or five coats, either my own home brewed oil varnish (again similar to EK's recipe) or Tried and True's oil varnish.
I know some folks say linseed oil finishes aren't that great at moisture resistance, but I've carred knives and guns finished in the way described in all kinds of weather, including the VERY wet Pacific North West, for over 40 years and when done right they were as weather resistant as anything else I've ever used including the most modern up to date "plastic" finishes.

BTW - in a "former" life I built furniture and muzzleloading guns and I tried just about everything available - as a second choice I'd choose Tung oil, but I try to be as historically correct as possible so therefore the linseed oil based products - besides I still find linseed to give me the best "look" - but each to their own....
 
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