Renaissance Wax on micarta?

einsteinjon

einsteinjon

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I was trying to darken the natural micarta on my Inkosi tonight using Renaissance Wax as I like the dark brown look better than the dry light pasty look. After applying about 10 coats though it is still just either evaporating or absorbing in so the rich dark color goes back to light and pasty a couple minutes later.

Anyone ever try this with Ren Wax and succeed? Or something else that works that is preferably food safe or at least non toxic?

Thanks all!
 
Does that take a lot of coats? I actually tried mineral oil a few weeks ago (3 or 4 coats only) and it did the same as the Ren Wax.
 
2nd the mineral oil... a little goes a long way. But if you put too much on or want to get it back to a natural grippy finish you can scrub it with a little Dawn dish detergent and a tooth brush. Comes back like new.
 
Used motor oil works well:-).........or some BLO (boiled linseed oil. But mineral oil would be the food safe option. The best way i have darkened any of the micarta inlays is through lots and lots of use. The more dirt and grime the better.
 
I agree with mineral oil. Or use it. I don't have natural micarta but this one was about a week old when I took the photo and all I did was use/fondle (;) ) it.

IMG_20170528_112139~01.jpg
 
Ok, I guess I'll try mineral oil again. How many coats does it take for you all?

I am doing this rather than just using it because I have been using it for about 6 months, and the oil from my hand seems to darken it in uneven splotches.
 
einsteinjon said:
I am doing this rather than just using it because I have been using it for about 6 months, and the oil from my hand seems to darken it in uneven splotches.
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If that's the case then I don't think any amount will get it as dark as you want. I think there is a finite amount of oil that it will absorb and its not a lot. My old micarta 21 darkened unevenly no matter what but my 25 darkens very evenly. I think each piece is what it is.
 
Dang...OK thanks for the info. My black micarta 21 darkens easily with just my hand oil so I was hoping for the same with the natural. Oh well....
 
I have both a large 21 Micarta Insingo and a small 21 Micarta. Both micartas have darkened nicely with EDC use. I have also read of some people using a high-quality black or brown shoe polish to darken the micarta scales.

The cool thing about the micarta, as already mentioned, is that a cleaning with soap, water, and a brush will reset the micarta back to (almost) new. :)
 
Thanks again all. I'm gonna try mineral oil again. If that doesn't work, I was thinking of trying obenauf's heavy duty. If that doesn't work either...I MIGHT try lightly sanding it and trying it again...or I may just give up. :p
 
If anyone is curious about this...I tried minreal oil again and it just wouldn't stay. So I tried Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP and it seems to have worked! (2 coats but I think 1 would have been ok). Knife sat overnight and it is still nice and dark whereas the mineral oil and Ren Wax were disappearing within a few minutes.
 
So...it seems I posted prematurely. :( While the Obenauf's didn't disappear after a couple minutes, it did disappear after about 36 hours...

I noticed that the black micarta on my sebenza is rougher, and natural is a lot smoother. So I am thinking this has to do with how much of the micarta fibers are exposed at the surface vs. just the micarta resin, and the fibers probably hold the oil whereas the resin doesn't. Will probably try giving it a light sanding to expose more fiber, but I'm not sure yet.

By the way, if you're wondering why I'm obsessed with this, it's mainly because the blue dye from my jeans keeps rubbing off on the natural micarta and it just looks bad. Trying to darken it to prevent seeing that. I could just get new jeans but that would be no fun...:D
 
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