New KLVUK advice

I mostly use pure tung oil to finish my handles. Sometimes I will start out mixing it with mineral spirits to thin it out for the first couple coats. The old standard is 1 coat a day for a week, followed by 1 coat a week for a month, followed by 1 coat a month for a year. If you make it that far I don't think it'll ever wear off. The stuff soaks into the wood and polymerizes while it dries, leaving a plastic-y/waxy finish behind that will seal things up nice and tight. On a couple of my heavy use blades I've also put several coats on the blades and it's helped a lot to keep the rust away. It cures to a dry waxy finish even on the metal. No slippery wetness that you'd get with some other oils.
 
I lost count of how many coats of tung oil are on this one. Water beads right off the wood.

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The blade and bolster are well coated too.

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It's a big one! With 15" KLVUK for scale:

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The KLVUK is in the earlier stages of tung oil coating.
 
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Philll if your from Florida, then u know how to keep moisture out of something! Lol! I'm gonna give the tung oil treatment a try, I really liked the way yours turned out. Will post pics when the whole project is done!
 
dta116 said:
Please help, what is a KLVUK? I would like to see one on HI website.

Thanks Dave
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There's one that showed up today on the DOD. Looks good and only 59 bucks as I recall. Can't beat that deal with a stick.
 
Urban redneck said:
Philll if your from Florida, then u know how to keep moisture out of something! Lol! I'm gonna give the tung oil treatment a try, I really liked the way yours turned out. Will post pics when the whole project is done!
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Very cool! Make sure to get the 100% pure stuff if you can find it. A lot of "tung oil finish" you find in stores is actually a mix of all kinds of stuff. I use Hope's brand. I also recommend a good sanding for the handle before you start oiling. Take it up to 600-800 grit or so.

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What Phillll said.
They try to trick you with stuff like "contains real tung oil".
Yes how much real tung oil does it contain?. 1% real tung oil plus 99% cheap garbage!

Yoghurt with real fruits anyone?
 
Enjoying photos in this thread. SingleGrind, Jeandrake, Philllll - thanks for posting.
Mirror polish sure is pretty, but there's something beautiful about a well-earned working finish.
 
Also too, can anyone recommend a sheath maker? I'm leaning toward Kydex but leathers not out of the question either
 
Urban redneck said:
Also too, can anyone recommend a sheath maker? I'm leaning toward Kydex but leathers not out of the question either
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There's a sticky at the top of the HI main subforum page titled Sheathmakers that shows you how to get in contact with Pugs, Wildmanh and others. I think they mostly work in leather, but maybe kydex also.

Kydex tends to scratch the sides of a polished blade, but that wouldn't matter for a KLVUK with the forging scales left on.
 
KLVUK Knife is Keshar Lal original design. His best effort!
Any of you would like to refinish the blade as you would like then feel free to do so.
 
I have tried to take good care
of our customer and if there is any thing more I can help then feel free to contact me by email or phone.
 
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Tung oil is the most moisture, fungus, and caustic acid resistant of all of the oil finishes.
It truly has no peer.
It will not sweat out of the wood when it gets hot, unlike boiled linseed oil.
However, you can stain a wood surface after applying BLO, but you cannont do so after applying tung oil.
 
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