Stabilized wood veres Mini Wax Waterproff outdoor boat Polyurethane

Jwgriesser · Nov 30, 2015

I have been using three coats of Mini Wax Outdoor boat polyurethane instead of stabilized wood for my scales. My knifes are not used outdoors. I then put a coat of bees wax on them. I start out with wood less than 10 per cent moisture content.

What do you think about this? Any recommendations.

Thanks for any views or your experience.

Jay

Jrmysell · Nov 30, 2015

The stabilizing process is more for woods that are unstable, as in almost all spalted and burl woods. Some species need to be stabilized, some don't. There are threads on here with breakdowns of them.

Matt Rochester · Nov 30, 2015

You don't see poly used on handles much because it will wear off in spots. The main goal for a finished handle is to get a finish that is absorbed in the wood. Stabilized wood has this al the way through it. So even if the handle gets nicked or worn in an area it still has protection. When it starts to dull you can just hit it on the buffer and it looks like new. There really is no comparison between the two.

If you are looking for a finish other than stabilized wood try tru-oil, Danish, teak, or tung oil just to name a few. These will absorb in the wood and offer a longer term finish in my opinion.

Larry D. Davis · Nov 30, 2015

It always come down to one thing: If it's "good enough" for you then it's "good enough". Beware of bad and mis leading information on these so called wood lists as they are opinions, conjecture, repeated internet misconceptions and rarely posted by well experienced folk. New, inexperienced folk looking for valid wood info are often mis lead by these lists.

Yugami · Nov 30, 2015

Stabilization provides the highest level of protection against moisture incursion and rough handling (pounding) If you don't have to worry about that (indoor use, kitchen knives etc) then I wouldn't worry about it. I have my own stabilizing setup and I've used stabilized woods on a couple knives so far because its just overkill to worry about it on everything.

Larry D. Davis · Nov 30, 2015

Matt R said:
You don't see poly used on handles much because it will wear off in spots. The main goal for a finished handle is to get a finish that is absorbed in the wood. Stabilized wood has this al the way through it. So even if the handle gets nicked or worn in an area it still has protection. When it starts to dull you can just hit it on the buffer and it looks like new. There really is no comparison between the two.

If you are looking for a finish other than stabilized wood try tru-oil, Danish, teak, or tung oil just to name a few. These will absorb in the wood and offer a longer term finish in my opinion.

That is spot on advice!!

Angus McGunnigle · Nov 30, 2015

I have used Formbys tung oil on scales and it has worked well. The wood I am using is Brazilian walnut. It got the wood for a pool deck project years ago and It has been in my garage for 10+ years. Once handle is done being sanded to satisfaction, I rub a generous amount into the handle scales and let dry for a day. Then rub gentle with ultra fine steel wool, make sure it is clean, then rub another coat of the oil on. 6 coats of this stuff and seems to work well.

Greenberg Woods · Dec 1, 2015

There really is no comparison between stabilized wood and wood with a varnish. Stabilized wood is like micarta, the plastic and the wood matrix strength eachother and are stronger than than either one alone. Varnishing wood is like coating a pile of fabric with super glue. Yes, it now has a waterproof coatimg, but it isn't any stronger. The material is free to move, it won't stop season movement from possibly stressing the wood, and it will wear away.

Do all woods need stabilizing? No. Lots of beautiful exotic woods are so strong and oily they don't even take stabalized well. Even many woods that are commonly stabilized don't strictly speaking need it. Oak, walnut and maple all make usable handles.

But this isn't a question of sheer usability. A 20 dollar knife from Walmart is usable. Making a knife is about going above and beyond that. The way I see it, if you are going to mare a knife why not spend the extra 10 or so dollars and by a cheap stabilized wood or a solid exotic and know in your heart of hearts that you made something that will quite possibly outlive you.