Steel residue staining my wood handles

R

R.C.Reichert

Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
1,006
Hi guys!

I find that I am having a slight problem with finishing my wood handles on full tang knives. It seems that when I go to sand the scratches out of the steel that runs along the tang, the metal leaves a residue that gets into the pores of the wood and stains it gray looking.:grumpy: It there a way to avoid this or some trick to get (wash) it out, or is it just a matter of sanding it out of the wood grain? The wood I am using (not stabilized) is roasted curly maple, really nice stuff. How do you deal with this problem when using really light colored woods?

Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
You know I'm no expert, but I've found that being overly generous with the sandpaper helps. Taking one pass or two, then shifting to a fresh spot on the paper, so that you're not making sanding passes on the wood with "dirty" paper has helped me some. I save those barely used pieces of sandpaper for later. Maybe there's a better way that someone more experienced has come up with that they'll share?
 
I usually wipe it out with some acetone and a rag.... using a backer on your sandpaper helps prevent the dirty paper from rolling over onto the nice, clean wood and will help keep your tang from "standing proud" from the wood.
 
I've had this happen too... Is the paper silicon carbide or aluminum oxide? The SC paper grit is black and tends to leave itself in the wood... especially at finer grits. AO paper doesn't seem to leave as much behind... or if it does, it's not as noticeable.

-Mark
 
I use Tri-M-ite freecut sand paper 240-400 grit to shape and sand the handle and tang. It is relatively expensive but it doesnt leave any residue...
 
Thanks for the pointers guys! Yeah, the sand paper I was using was silicon carbide. I switched to aluminum oxide and it helps quite a bit. Took into account the other suggestions and they also helped out. Much appreciated!:D
 
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