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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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stablilized wood
- Thread starter bill may
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2008
- Messages
- 7,187
Sorry if my answer is long winded. I copied this from my website.
How to finish stabilized wood
In the early days of wood stabilizing there were only a few different types of wood being stabilized. These were light colored, small pore, non-oily woods. Stabilizing companies would say all you needed to do was sand and buff, no finish required. While this process can give a reasonably good finish to the stabilized wood, you can finish it to look a lot better utilizing slightly different processes.
There is not one process that will give the absolute best finish with all stabilized woods so I am going to list a few methods to accomplish a good finish. Then you will have some ideas how to adapt your methods of finishing for the best results when finishing stabilized wood.
The very easiest stabilized woods to finish will be the light colored woods with very small pores and fine grain. A good example would be Maple. The quick and easy way is to shape and sand your handle to a minimum of 1000 grit. You can go finer but if you stop at a lesser grit you are not obtaining the full potential of the wood. Especially with figured woods. Usually the finer you sand the wood the more defined the grain patterns become. Think of it like focusing a picture. The lower grits can look a bit out of focus while the finer grits bring the picture into focus with a crisp, clear image.
This first method is easy and works well on most woods. After you have sanded as fine as you are going to, then blow off any dust with compressed air. Then using an oil blend like Danish oil or Tru-Oil apply a light coat of oil rubbing it in with your fingertip. Wipe off any excess with a soft rag like an old t-shirt and let it dry. Repeat until you like the way the wood looks. The reason to use an oil blend is that it will fill very small pores with a finish that dries hard, giving a smoother more even surface. This method tends to make the colors more vibrant and adds depth to the figure in the wood. After the final coat has dried apply a paste wax over the dry handle followed by hand buffing with a soft cloth.
Medium grained woods such as Koa, Mango, Silky Oak and Sycamore can be finished the same way as the finer grained woods. But they might still have some open pores. If you want to eliminate the open pores you can get a smooth surface using the following methods.
Wet sanding is a method used by high end gun stock makers that also works well on knife handle material. This method works well on medium and coarse grain woods. The idea behind this method is to develop a slurry of the oil blend and sanded wood that will fill the open pores. Letting the surface dry between several wet sanded coats, eventually ends up with a smooth surface and no open pores.
After you have sanded your handle material to at least 400 grit you are ready to start wet sanding. Using an oil blend such as Danish Oil or Tru-Oil, apply a liberal coat to your handle material. While the oil is still wet sand the wood by hand using a wet or dry sandpaper. This will begin to form a slurry as the oil mixes with the wood that is sanded away. After you have sanded all surfaces let the slurry dry in place on the wood.
After it is completely dry sand away the dried slurry until you reach the surface of the wood. This removes the dried finish that is on the surface while leaving the dried slurry in the pores of the wood.
Next using the oil blend repeat the wet sanding step. After it is dry once again sand away the surface finish. Repeat these steps until the surface is smooth and does not show any open pores.
Then finish sanding with finer grits followed by a light coat of the oil blend you are using. After that is dry apply a paste wax and hand buff with a soft cloth. This method creates a smooth surface that will refract the light in a manner that keeps the colors vivid as well as adding depth to the figure in the wood. Hand buffing allows the figure to maintain its chatoyance, flash and movement that gives the impression that something made of light is moving beneath the surface of the wood.
This method involves more work than other methods but the dramatic results are more than worth the extra effort. If it is more important to you to do the best quality work you can instead of doing things as fast as you can, then you should at least try this method.
CA glue can also be used to accomplish a finish similar to that achieved by wet sanding. I would suggest using one of the odorless varieties. After you have finished sanding the wood, blow off any excess dust. Then apply a coat of CA glue to the surfaces of the wood. Allow the glue to dry completely. Then sand away all the glue from the surface. Repeat the glue followed by sanding until you have a smooth surface with no open pores. Finally apply a paste wax and hand buff with a soft cloth.
There can be variations on these methods. After a little experimenting you will probably develop your own method that works out best for you. The final goal is making the wood you use look the absolute best by bringing out the full potential.
How to finish stabilized wood
In the early days of wood stabilizing there were only a few different types of wood being stabilized. These were light colored, small pore, non-oily woods. Stabilizing companies would say all you needed to do was sand and buff, no finish required. While this process can give a reasonably good finish to the stabilized wood, you can finish it to look a lot better utilizing slightly different processes.
There is not one process that will give the absolute best finish with all stabilized woods so I am going to list a few methods to accomplish a good finish. Then you will have some ideas how to adapt your methods of finishing for the best results when finishing stabilized wood.
The very easiest stabilized woods to finish will be the light colored woods with very small pores and fine grain. A good example would be Maple. The quick and easy way is to shape and sand your handle to a minimum of 1000 grit. You can go finer but if you stop at a lesser grit you are not obtaining the full potential of the wood. Especially with figured woods. Usually the finer you sand the wood the more defined the grain patterns become. Think of it like focusing a picture. The lower grits can look a bit out of focus while the finer grits bring the picture into focus with a crisp, clear image.
This first method is easy and works well on most woods. After you have sanded as fine as you are going to, then blow off any dust with compressed air. Then using an oil blend like Danish oil or Tru-Oil apply a light coat of oil rubbing it in with your fingertip. Wipe off any excess with a soft rag like an old t-shirt and let it dry. Repeat until you like the way the wood looks. The reason to use an oil blend is that it will fill very small pores with a finish that dries hard, giving a smoother more even surface. This method tends to make the colors more vibrant and adds depth to the figure in the wood. After the final coat has dried apply a paste wax over the dry handle followed by hand buffing with a soft cloth.
Medium grained woods such as Koa, Mango, Silky Oak and Sycamore can be finished the same way as the finer grained woods. But they might still have some open pores. If you want to eliminate the open pores you can get a smooth surface using the following methods.
Wet sanding is a method used by high end gun stock makers that also works well on knife handle material. This method works well on medium and coarse grain woods. The idea behind this method is to develop a slurry of the oil blend and sanded wood that will fill the open pores. Letting the surface dry between several wet sanded coats, eventually ends up with a smooth surface and no open pores.
After you have sanded your handle material to at least 400 grit you are ready to start wet sanding. Using an oil blend such as Danish Oil or Tru-Oil, apply a liberal coat to your handle material. While the oil is still wet sand the wood by hand using a wet or dry sandpaper. This will begin to form a slurry as the oil mixes with the wood that is sanded away. After you have sanded all surfaces let the slurry dry in place on the wood.
After it is completely dry sand away the dried slurry until you reach the surface of the wood. This removes the dried finish that is on the surface while leaving the dried slurry in the pores of the wood.
Next using the oil blend repeat the wet sanding step. After it is dry once again sand away the surface finish. Repeat these steps until the surface is smooth and does not show any open pores.
Then finish sanding with finer grits followed by a light coat of the oil blend you are using. After that is dry apply a paste wax and hand buff with a soft cloth. This method creates a smooth surface that will refract the light in a manner that keeps the colors vivid as well as adding depth to the figure in the wood. Hand buffing allows the figure to maintain its chatoyance, flash and movement that gives the impression that something made of light is moving beneath the surface of the wood.
This method involves more work than other methods but the dramatic results are more than worth the extra effort. If it is more important to you to do the best quality work you can instead of doing things as fast as you can, then you should at least try this method.
CA glue can also be used to accomplish a finish similar to that achieved by wet sanding. I would suggest using one of the odorless varieties. After you have finished sanding the wood, blow off any excess dust. Then apply a coat of CA glue to the surfaces of the wood. Allow the glue to dry completely. Then sand away all the glue from the surface. Repeat the glue followed by sanding until you have a smooth surface with no open pores. Finally apply a paste wax and hand buff with a soft cloth.
There can be variations on these methods. After a little experimenting you will probably develop your own method that works out best for you. The final goal is making the wood you use look the absolute best by bringing out the full potential.