Osage Orange questons

A

artney_iv

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Apr 19, 2013
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I've had a set of Osage Orange scales in my drawer for a while and I've been saving them for something special. I finally came up with a perfect design for them to go into and long story short, my drill press is not… well, very good at all. I ended up with a slight gap where one of the pin holes comes through. It's not much, but as we all know, imperfections are a knife maker's cancer. Anyone have experience with filling this type of wood? I was thinking something like the Winwax filler putty would be a decent option if I can get the right color but chances of finding it in Osage Orange are pretty slim. (By the way, I'm using copper pins and I know they'll spread some when I grind it down/peen them in but just in case they don't spread quite enough)

While I'm on the topic of this wood, what's your preferred methods for sealing it? I'm going to sand it down to around 400 grit. Some kind of Sunflower oil or something? I've seen the superglue sealer method used on various handle materials, but that seems pretty sketchy.

Thanks folks.
 
I like Watco Danish oil - dunk the whole handle , let it soak about 15 seconds, take it out and let it hang for 15 minutes, then buff with a soft cloth.
wait 2 hours, then repeat.
12 hours later it's cured.
as to the copper pin question - you might be amazed at how much copper will deform -- but you want to be careful or you can crack the scale.
OTOH, you can make your own putty by mixing sawdust into epoxy until it's a really thick paste, then troweling it into the gap. (do this before sanding and finishing)
 
I've heard about making your own putty via that method before but completely forgot about it. Thank you!
Also, I should have mentioned that the handles are complex. They've got G10 liners and Micarta bolsters. I don't imagine the Danish Oil would have any negative effects on something like that.
 
nope - one of the selling points for G10 and Micarta is that they are oil and solvent resistant.
 
Copper pins. Does anyone first anneal the pins to minimize problems when peening ? I've had that problem annealing cured it.
 
One more question: (I hope)

I'd venture to say it's happened to most of us but I still feel sick to my stomach. There's a hairline crack from the butt of the knife to the first pin. What's the best way to handle this? sawdust mixed with epoxy? Seal with super glue? both?

Thanks.
 
Me and my dad both work with osage orange and we've always mixed saw dust and superglue together to fill in small cracks or gaps and they blend right in and as for the crack we've always done the same method just using an epoxy and never had it split on us and i use tung oil to seal mine and even used epoxy once or twice
 
So you think I should use epoxy and sawdust as opposed to superglue for a crack then? Would both work with the difference being that the superglue is just thinner and works down into the cracks a little easier? Also, how much sawdust would you suggest? I've never done it.
 
Sorry for the late reply but if its not to bad of a crack i'd fill it with superglue then take the sawdust and rub it in so to say and let it dry
 
Doesn't Osage change color (darken) over time? If that's the case I'd keep that in mind while making your putty. Danish oil has also darkened everything I've used it on so maybe do a piece of scrap and match the putty to that.

Just some thoughts. Others can confirm or deny.
 
Osage in my experience will darken. Although I think it looks really nice once its been warn a little bit. Takes on some nice brown hues with the orange/yellowish color.
 
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