Sweat vs Wood

J

James Falor

Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
618
I received a really nice litle Murray Carter hand-forged necker for Christmas from my father. It has ironwood scales and I am wondering if any of you folks with a lot more experience and knowledge than me--at least in the "care and protection of knives" field can tell me what I can (or if I should) apply something to the scales to protect them from the sweat that they pick-up off my chest when I'm working. Would something like Ren.Wax be a help? I'm just concerned the salt might discolor the wood in some way. Thanks, from me and my sweaty chest--and rock-hard 12-pack, er...6-pack. :D SEMPER FI Jim
 
I have always found beeswax to be excellent but that is a personal opinion. Wood has pores like leather.....have you tried contacting the maker?
 
Ditto what Bill said. Here's a good, all-purpose wax found at Lowes or Home Depot. MinWax paste finishing wax. Get the smallest can you can find.....

Jim, that's ironwood....from the desert. I've worked it. It's hard as a rock. You aren't going to hurt that stuff and, even with waxing, in time it'll develop a patina you'll only wish you could recreate. I make furniture and in my house dings are part of each piece's history... "Kyrsten, remember that time you.........?"

Sounds like a nice knife... :)
 
I appreciate the responses very much. I do look forward to seeing the nice patina come out after time. I do like to USE my knives as opposed to letting them sit in a safe, and I certainly don't mind a few little "character" marks, I just didn't want to do anything that would create some ugly discoloration or anything. It is a sweet little blade. It's got one of the sharpest edges of any knife I have owned--and I've owned quite a few MS knives. I think it's his Hitachi "White" steel with a 416 laminate forged around it. Has a very nice little hamon. I think I'll pick-uo a little Minwax (maybe the wife has some around here already) and give it a little rub. Again, thanks a bunch for the responses. This is such a great site for finding information like this. I think I'll go sit and ponder my Buckeyes complete collapse against the Gators last night. What an arse-whuppin'! Best Regards--Jim SEMPER FI
 
There is a brazilian wood called Ipe that is sometimes referred to as Ironwood too. I have a couple of pieces of it around my yard. I use one piece as an anvil. It's amazingly durable. It would laugh at sweat, rain whatever. In time it will turn grayish looking, but still pretty.

The pieces I have are 2x4 size - you can't drive a nail through it. You can tear up a circular saw blade with it. I wish my house was made of it cause it's the baddest wood on the planet.
 
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