sealing handles

Mark Van Loon

Mark Van Loon

Joined
Jun 2, 2002
Messages
41
hi there, i am new to this forum and to knifemaking in general, i was wondering what you guys use to seal your handles?, what in your expierence has turned out the best finishes?, i am primarily using hardwoods, such as snakewood and thuya, along with some cocobolo,and desert ironwood. any tips or pointers your expeirenced vets out there could give me will be greatly appreciated.
 
I generally just use Watco neutral, even on Ironwood. I find it adds luster and depth.
I was reading somewhere else, of a maker who used Minwax sanding sealer on the more open grain stuff, like Cocobolo. Puts it on thick, hits it with a heat gun or hair dryer, dries in about a minute. He then buffs it out, and said he gets excellent results. I am planning on trying that, as soon as I can find Minwax sanding sealer around here.
 
I too love Tung oil. I use a particular brand as my favorate (Waterlox - http://www.waterlox.com/ ) but other brands will do and I have also used Formby's, which is a blend of Tung and other not disclosed oils. The Formby's cures quicker but is not pure Tung oil. Waterlox is but is modified so as to cure. Unmodified Tung oil does not completely cure. A good grade modified Tung (again; Waterlox) should be allowed to cure for about 2 days between coats. Regardless of the brand or type of oil mix with mineral spirits so that the oil(s) can penetrate deep. For the first coats, the sealer coats, mix very thin - say at least 3 or 4 mineral spirits to 1 part oil. Seal this way for about the first 2 sealer coats, then mix a little thicker as additional coats are added to the wood. End when it is apparent the wood obsorbs no more oil.

After sealing, the wood can be wet sanded using the same mineral spirits/oil mixture if you wish to fill the grain. Do not wet sand until the wood has received at least two thinned sealer coats and there is no such thing as adding too many sealer coats (unless the wood just will not obsorb any more).

Always allow the the oil to cure before applying additional coats and wipe all excess oil off the surface of the wood after allowing the oil to penetrate. Do no allow the oil to cure above the wood surface. An exception is wet sanding where all oil can not be wiped off without pulling the wet sanding dust out of the grain, but as little oil film as possible will be left on the surface and sanded smooth after the final coat cures.

Tung oil will not give a high sheen but rather a classic wood finish which allows the wood grain to speak for itself. If a high sheen is desired another oil or even polyurethane or even an epoxy can be used above the Tung oil coats so long as the slow curing Tung oil is allowed to completely cure first. Uncured oil can bleed through the surface coats if not first cured with time.

Never hurry curing time by adding heat above ambient room temperature or by exposing to sun light. Doing so can cause the oil to cure unevenly and if filling grain can cause the grain to open. Patience is the great secret.

RL
 
Danish oil. I let the handle soak overnight,wipe off the excess. It will dry within a day or so. Usually I use canuabawax to give a good shine, but on usingknives it will get dull very quickly, and you can get a nice look without it too. I have a buffingwheel for wood, stag and bone, that is used without any kind of compound. I give the wood a good buffing on it before the oilbath. Just be careful with soft woods like masurbirch - they only get a very light polish to avoid making the surface uneven.
 
Gosh I feel pretty crude - I use some stuff called FixIt from Texas Knfemakers. For Housewife type stuff it works pretty well...

But I think Roger has converted me to tung oil. I always used tung oil for all outdoor wood projects before I made knives, don't know why I never have on a knife handle - but I will now! I think Danish oil is the same thing or very near it.

Thanks guys, see how this works? One guy asks a question I get to learn something. :D

Dave
 
This is great, I've been thinking about what I could use to fill the larger grain voids of cocobolo. I'll have to give the Minwax sanding sealer a try.

I've personally had good luck with Watco neutral Danish oil using multiple coatings. I want to try boiled linseed oil also and see how that works and I'll definitly have to try the Tung oil finish so it's great to know a proven brand to try now (Waterlox).

Thanks all!
 
Guy, believe it or not, linseed oil is very bad for wood. Surprising, considering it is the main stock refinishing medium. Go to any wood refinishing company, and you can find warnings about using it on fine wood. Go figure.
IMO, the best way to go is, stabilized wood, you can't beat it. I refuse to spend weeks on a handle finish, time is after all $$.
Unfortunately, stabilizing is not effective on Cocobolo, but there are a TON of other beautiful woods out there.
 
I am in no way suggesting that sealing your own wood in the manner above described is as good or better than using 'stabilized' wood. It is that the original post asked how to seal the wood.

I want to repeat that Tung oil will not give a high gloss finish. It gives a classic 'in the wood' finish. A glossy finish can be applied over the sealer/filler coats if desired.

One other thing about the Waterlox product: I have used their 'Original' version or name. They sell other versions for various purposes. The Original was recommended to me by an old master stock worker.

Roger
 
my favorite wood handle finish is CCL Knife Handle Oil...it comes as a two part kit with good application instructions. the neatest thing about it is you can get a nice satin oil finish (about six coats) in one evening. you only need to let it set about 15 minutes between coats (although i like to let it set for a good 24 hours after i've finished applying all the coats). i believe it's a british product that seems to be popular with european knife makers (especially the nordic knife makers)...i get it from Dennis Holmbacka at Brisa. it's a bit pricey, but a great option for impatient amateurs. here's a link to Brisa's english language site (it's in finland)...check out the "chemicals" section for CCL. normally shipping from finland would be prohibitive, but if you order more than 100USD of stuff, then Dennis ships for free...he's a pleasure to do business with.

http://www.brisa.fi/start3.html

have fun,
e.
 
I've added the link to the CCL Knife Handle Finish to my browser. I'll try it out sometime when I gather enough bucks up to palce the 100 dollar minimum for no shipping cost. Always open to new ideas.

Thanks; RL
 
rlinger,
i added the waterlox to my browser as well...:) the CCL is great stuff, but i've been planning on branching out into something that might produce a bit more matte finish. i've had good luck with tongue oil on gun stocks, but it seems to take a LONG (like several weeks/months) time to really get dry. i'm going to give the waterlox and thinning you recommended a shot, hopefully it'll make the process a bit more efficient. i checked out the waterlox site and they have "original sealer/finish" and "original satin finish"...which do you use? or do you use both, sealer first then regular finish?

thanks for the info,
e.
 
Alarion, it actually dries and starts degrading wood. It is not something that happens immedietly, but it does happen.
That said, I have finished many rifle stocks with it, and I like the way it looks. When I found out what it actually did to wood, I figured it was time to find something else.
Here is a link to a place that might have better info on what linseed oil does to wood.
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/home.exe
And another
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/frame_wood_blanks.html
And lastly
http://www.woodfinishsupply.com/PLaniline.html
Incidently, some of these places sell exotic(tropical) hardwoods by the board, at extremely reasonable prices, compared to most knifemaker supply houses. :eek:
 
I use the 'Original Sealer/Finish'.

The Waterlox will still take weeks/months to completely cure. You can handle it after a day but keep it out of sunlight until cured. I recommend you trying it but it will not cure faster than what you say you have previously experienced. That's the price for going natural.

Roger
 
It just dawned on me, Cocobolo does not really need a sealer, as it is oily as all get out. You can put a coat of Watco on it to deepen the color, but it is not necessary. My problem with it is, I dont like open pored woods,just from a looks standpoint. Not that it's bad. The minwax sanding sealer should take care of that
 
Does anyone here use Deft? I spray on two coats of Deft semi-gloss, then buff it off with tripoli or a compound with similar color to the wood.
 
rlinger,
out of curiousity, why would one want to keep a tung oil finish out of sunlight until cured? i ask this because in the past i have purposely put a gunstock into sunlight to try and make it cure faster. did i cause some unseen damage to the stock or finish (like curing the top layer over a wet core)?

thanks for the know-how,
e.

ps. have you (or anyody else for that matter) ever tried Polymerized Tung Oil? Lee Valley has some on sale that looks interesting...supposedly the "polymerization" makes it cure faster.
 
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