Trials and Tribulations

G

Glenn Jones

Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Messages
618
I decided to do some work on one of my khukuries. The end buttplate was loose (there was a fine gap between the wood and the buttplate) and the leather of the scabbard was looking a bit dry.

While waiting for a nurse friend to get me a fine needle to use to squirt some superglue under the buttplate, I decided I would oil the wood - one coat of oil on each of two days. On the third day I received the needle from my friend and low and behold when I checked the buttplate, it was perfectly tight. I was amazed at how easy the cure was for the loose buttplate and amazed at the amount of shrinkage there must have been in the wood that was fixed by coating it with some wood oil.

The next problem caused severe heartburn. I coated the leather of the scabbard with leather conditioner. I had previously used this leather conditioner on new shoes to soften them and it worked perfectly - on shoes. I followed all the directions including placing the scabbard out in the sun to open up the leather pores. At the end of the day, I tried to return the khukuri to the scabbard. It would not go. The scabbard had shrunk big time. The khukuri would only go in a matter of a few inches. I tried using sandpaper on the end of a probe into the scabbard. Unfortunately, some of the sandpaper eventually broke off inside the scabbard - heartburn was becoming chronic. After much work I managed to get all the sandpaper out and there hadn't been any noticeable improvement.

I then tried another approach. I use renaissance wax on all my blades. Wonderful stuff for stopping rust but not a terribly good lubricant. I coated the blade in a heavy coat of gun oil. Gun oil is generally a good lubricant. I then forced and I mean absolutely forced the blade into the scabbard. I then left it there for a couple of hours, pulled it out and reoiled the blade again. I did this over and over again but only oiled the blade three times. Each time the scabbard became a little looser. I don't know why this worked, but after 24 hours of doing this about 8 or 9 times, I now have a perfectly fitted scabbard. I still don't know why this method of loosening the scabbard was so successful - but it worked.
 
Way to hang in there, Glenn.

What kind of oil did you use on the handle?
 
Glenn, greetings. I need to shrink a scabbard. What kind of leather conditioner did you use? Thanks for the info.

Ben
 
I always try wood oil before anything else. I prefer orange but currently only have lemon. Howards is a good brand. I have Formbys right now.

The wood obsorbs the oil It needs it. This swells it back out. All my wood handles get oil conditioning frequently. Good wooden furniture should get the same.

You can do this after applying a sealer like True Oil but not the other way around.

I prefer oil only finished wood.

Not that anyone asked me.


munk
 
Munk, I had a wood handle that really needed some treatment. I used some boiled linseed oil and it soaked it right up. I have heard a lot about the Tru oil. I would like to try it out, but did I mess up by using the linseed oil?

Ben
 
Ben,
If you only put one coat of linseed on there, I don't think it's a problem. Just rough up the surface with some sandpaper, brush it with acetone to get surface oil and sawdust off, smooth it down with steel wool, and whip out the True Oil! You can also get Stock Sheen and Conditioner--should be right on the shelf next to True Oil--if you want. This follows a good sealed coat, and takes the gloss down to a satin finish, if that interests you.

Now watch munk come in here and blow my methods away! ;) :D
Warren
 
Thanks Warren. I put a good amount of linseed oil on, went to make a cup of coffee and when I got back to the garage 99% of the oil had soaked in. Oops. I don't think what I did qualifies for a "light coat."

Ben

Always learning. When, oh when, am I going to know everything?
 
I would not remove the linseed oil!!! Besides which- you can't entirely.

It is good stuff. It was the preferred choice for many years for gun stock and other fine wooden implements.

Leave it. You can add wood oil after it dries.

munk
edit; the utility of removing linseed so you could apply tru oil completely escapes me. Tru oil is an improved quick drying coating, that if memory serves me correctly, is comprised in part of linseed oil. I could be wrong- but the point is- why discard one in favor of the other when they both do the same thing?
 
Thanks for the info, Munk. Makes me feel better. Linseed oil is what my dad always used. In fact, when I smell it I get a bit nostalgic.

Ben
 
munk,
I wasn't suggesting he remove the linseed oil entirely (note, don't SOAK the handle in acetone, just brush it), I just have noticed that taking off the top layer of oil when you're trying to put a finisher on usually lets the finish be more even. I wish I hadn't started that post with the "if there's only one coat" thing, as it really doesn't matter as long as the surface is prepared.

You're quite right, there IS linseed oil in True oil, but True oil seems to set a lot harder and create more of a finish than pure linseed. That's purely aesthetic, though. That's also purely my experience--it could be others get different results. If basic wood care/utility is the goal, I don't think there's any point either. But if he's looking to make it purdy...
:)
 
You're over my head, Tmp, Yvsa or Walosi or maybe Fed know a lot more. I never heard of linseed as soft unless it didn't set right.

But if it is more of a satin finish, I'd like it better than tru oil, I just never had the patience to use it.

If you want to know, I gave up treating wood to hard finishes- they blemish easily. An oil finish can be repaired in minutes, and looks wonderful.

Now there is a walking stick I've put some form of super plastic on. I figure it's going to get beat. But for knife and gun handles, I go oil. I got sick of putting six coats of tru oil on a gunstock only to see it scratched the first day out.

munk
 
Good reading here. Now that I ordered that village model, I'll be trying one of these -- I guess since the primary goal for mine is preservation (in a high desert climate) and simplicity, that boiled linseed is the preferable/cheapest way to go?*

Already got some steel wool ready.:)



*not counting paint:barf:
 
Or you could do what I do and soak it in wood oil.

Keep in mind the patina so prized by antique furniture fanciers is usually made by handrubbing oil into the wood for a long time.


When it falls below 10 degrees here and the heat is on inside, it is so dry the skin on your feet and hands crack and bleed.

Well, I'm a voice in the wilderness here, crying natural OIL in a world demanding supertough finishes.
My villager handle just looks better all the time, Never sanded, just oiled.

munk
 
Trying oil on one Villager won't kill you. If you let it dry out long enough, you could probably put a hard finish on it eventually if you didn't like the satin finish of oil.

Get this; scratch the oiled handle and to fix it? Oil it. The scratch is deeper than that, you say? Light sanding and more oil. It is the simplest upkeep. I use it on every firearm I can now, and on every wood handled khuk.

If my world was as simple as an oiled khuk handle I'd be walking on the streets of paradise.

munk
 
Ok, Im a little lost here (one of those days), so if this doesnt make much sense, or Im just blathering away to myself (big surprise) take it as you will.

Firstly, the good ol linseed oil wiping tradition, if I remember correctly comes from the military. Gun stocks, for the army at one point (IM not a gun guy, so I dont know which gun, and what time period except a vague recollection that its around one of the World Wars, maybe earlier, or later) were finished by dipping them in linseed oil. And to keep the soldiers busy theyd have em constantly cleaning/polishing the rifles, hence the polishing with linseed oil. Not a bad thing to do, on linseed oil finished stuff, or non-finished stuff. But on something that is not of an oil finish here are a few cautionaries. Firstly, modern boiled linseed oil has heavy metal driers, that can marr certain finishes if applied on top (eg. french polished pieces, etc...). Secondly, if the piece is already sealed with, letsay wax, unless the sealant is removed, the oil can occaisionally not penetrate, but instead sit on the surface of the wax, causing a cloudy appearance. Thirdly, certain finishes dont meld, so sometimes, and since linseed oil is a penetrating type oil it can loosen an original finish, especially if that finish was a surface finish (like french polishing), and cause it to flake off.
However, if the wood is raw, or really dried out, linseed oil can do alot in rejuvenating the wood. It is actually recommended when using linseed oil, to over-coat the wood a bit, and let it sit a bit to allow the wood to soak up as much oil as it can, before wiping off excess. However, as has been noted linseed oil is not a hard finish like, tung oil, or a eurythane (Munk Im sorry but I just cant think of a good explanation at the moment of what I mean by soft versus hard, beyond saying that one is soft and one is hard, and of course that doesnt make things any clearer). Which is why I use a linseed/tung-oil/turp blend for stuff. Has the re-juvenating properties of the linseed oil, with the hardness of the tung. Anyways, it never hurts to cut the oil down with some natural gum-turpentine, helps penetration. And now Im completely lost at what I was trying to say in the first place, so Ill stop, but hope somewhere something in this post made sense.
 
I don't know what you mean by soft or hard, but Jack OConnor and his generation were always finishing sporting rifles with linseed and came up with a hard enough surface for hunting,w hatever that is.

You might tell the poster who has already used linseed what to do.

I still vote oil. Oil is good. Oil is your friend.


munk

edit; btw, I called a super duper floor tile manufactuerer on what do do about a wooden floor I had, the square's grain went different directions. (i forget what they call that) anyway, she mentioned wax never came all the way out.

I imagine that is true regardless of the wood product.


anyone had any experience with a heat blower to remove finish?
 
Originally posted by btice
Glenn, greetings. I need to shrink a scabbard. What kind of leather conditioner did you use? Thanks for the info.

Ben
Click to expand...

Ben,

Just got out of bed down under. The stuff I used is an Australian product called GE-WY. I bought a large tin of it years ago from a saddlery here in Australia and used it to soften the leather on an old saddle I had. When I applied it to the scabbard I applied it in excess, rubbed it in, placed in sun, and left for 24 hours.

Aardvark,

I get my supply of wood oil from a friend I work with who loves working with wood. I know it's an Australian product and will get the name of the product for you later today.
 
Come to think of it, using the stock sheen/conditioner on a glossy true oil finish takes it down to a softer, less reflective look---more like what straight oil finishes look like. Guess it's two methods of arriving at the same thing! :)
 
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