Thought you might like to see karam wood 'finished'

TruOil really leaves a great look. There's almost nothing that you can do to screw it up, as long as you're patient. Just takes a LOT of coats, and a lot of drying time. It's also not quite as hard as I would like.

Somewhere round about coat #9 (as usual) I said to myself "Surely it's OK if I put a LITTLE extra on this time. It will increase the depth more quickly." And, as usual, I was wrong. It ran. Came in next morning to see this really nasty drop that had formed. Funny, it didn't seem to me to have been THAT much more that I had applied.

I've tried a number of different applicators: QTips, cotton balls, pipe cleaners (still use those for the grooves). As you can imagine, they all leave somthing behind. Now, I just use my fingertips.
 
Have you tried thin latex gloves? I use those...same idea as fingertips, but less mess on the ole hands.


And I should say....that it looks awesome! Great pic too! (#9)
 
Great job! A 20" WWII is on my wish list, and I hope it looks half as good as that. I refinished several gunstocks and handgun grips with tru-oil, and usually do about 12 coats. Fingertips still work best for me, but I know what you mean about being patient!

Thanks for sharing,

Norm
 
Dan, I've used latex for superglue finishes, but not for TruOil. I'll give it a try.

I'll pass on your apprecation to the photographer (twern't me).
 
Aardvark, I can appreciate the tru-oil job the most, having had the opportunity to handle this wonderful khuk... It feels like it would limb a tree and keep going.

Glad you got it. Thought I'd never see it again.

They find their rightful owner. Sometimes with help. I DID insure the sucker for $250 when I sent it back...

...and, if you want a "before" picture... well, I had just gotten a 5 MP digital camera the day before.... and I KNEW I had to return the khuk... so.... I got a pic of it somewhere, next to the triangular box.

Hee, hee. When you opened your box, and saw a $65 blem.... musta been a bad moment. But think how I felt- that is one beautiful khukuri, and having a few, I am one to appreciate it. Felt very strange, SENDING a khuk to Reno the next day.

So thanks for the look, and the closure.


Ad Astra
 
I had 5 bottles of truoil shipped to me from the States.
There are 3 khukuris on my computer desk that just sit there waiting to have their handles sanded and re-oiled.
I don't know how many coats I have done yet, but I just cant get them to look like yours!
I read the instructions and all that, but the magic eludes me still...
 
There are instructions?? Uh, oh.

Danny, they never look like anything until you get to about 7 or 8 coats. I used to feel like I was wasting my time until about that point.

It's all a matter of patience.
 
Hey Danny. Here's the directions on my bottle of Tru-oil. ;)
Steve

1. Use mineral spirits and a toothbrush to remove the rouge if necessary,and wrap masking tape around the bolster to protect it from scratches.
2. Start sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. When down to bare wood, move to 320 grit, then 400, 600 grit, always sanding with the grain. Use a hacksaw blade with the "set" of the teeth ground off the sides to clean out the grooves.
3. Apply a heavy coat of Tru-Oil with your finger. You can even sand the wet Tru-Oil with 600 grit sandpaper to make a slurry of wood and finish to help fill the grain. Smooth it off with your finger.
4. After 2 days wipe off any that is still tacky, and let it dry 1 more day.
5. Lightly sand with 1000 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Wet the sandpaper in a bowl of water. It makes the finish very smooth, and keeps the paper from loading up. You don't want to remove finish, just dull it. You can reuse this piece of sandpaper til you complete one handle.
6. Dry off the handle thoroughly and recoat with a VERY THIN coat of Tru-Oil.
7. The following night, if the finish is dry, wet-sand, dry it off, and recoat with a THIN coat of Tru-Oil. Repeat every night until the pores are filled, and you can look deep into the finish and see the soul of the handle.

No stain is used.

Chandan and Rosewood are very oily woods. I have had problems with the Tru-Oil staying tacky for many days. If this happens, after each coat I heat the handle with a hair dryer for 2 or 3 minutes to set the finish. It seems to harden the finish before the woods natural oils can leach into it.

Thanks to Walosi and Yvsa for their input and past posts regarding refinishing handles!
 
Steve's the Obi Wan Kenobi of Tru Oil ;) He knows his way around a belt sander and a buffer too. :thumbup:

Sarge
 
Daniel Koster said:
Have you tried thin latex gloves? I use those...same idea as fingertips, but less mess on the ole hands.
Click to expand...


I've used latex gloves a couple times with moderate success: It's a trade-off with loss of feel when the thin layer being applied gets a hair too tacky to spread right vs. that whole reproductive harm warning thing on the label. ;)

My wife and I are planning on having one more kid, so until then I'm gonna try to forego the bare finger as Tru-Oil applicator ... when possible.
 
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