What woods dont need a finish? tung oil etc.

mxlj

mxlj

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Sep 15, 2005
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In cased missed it in a post or something, Is there a list of what woods don't need to or won't take a finish?(like tung oil) I have seen oily exotic woods that don't. But is there a clear list or maybe just tell what you know in your experience.
 
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Go to this address. They are the best that I have found. Especially the wholesale deals. http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/
 
I am really curious why you would want to use woods without a need to finish.
I consider wax a finish so I am not contradicting Troop.

Many of the dense oily woods can be polished up and will look good for a while.
But........... in time most will oxidize (probably not the correct word) from exposure to air or UV light and change color or fade. Changes in temperature will cause the wood to move. Exposure to moisture or even oil from your hands will also have a detrimental effect.

In addition to appearance, applying a finish to the wood will help to protect both the look and the structural integrity of the wood.

Some of the makers will use stabilized woods without a finish.
Now days a lot are applying an oil finish even to stabilized woods to enhance the appearance.
 
I don't in any way re direct this thread but the last post from Burl makes a good point. I use a lot of very hard, dense, oily woods (cocobolo, osage orange, bocote, ebony and others) that I only sand to a 400 grit and then polish on my buffing wheel and call it good. I would like to hear comments on that process.
 
gnique said:
I don't in any way re direct this thread but the last post from Burl makes a good point. I use a lot of very hard, dense, oily woods (cocobolo, osage orange, bocote, ebony and others) that I only sand to a 400 grit and then polish on my buffing wheel and call it good. I would like to hear comments on that process.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing with those woods and also Desert Ironwood, African Blackwood, A few others.
 
Burl Source said:
I am really curious why you would want to use woods without a need to finish.
Click to expand...

Well, im not but i did try to put some tung oil on some wood that rejected it. It started to turn milky and splotchy. with many more coats it finished out even and nice, but didnt ever get to a high gloss only a satin look.
 
I would have to second Mr. Farley. Try playing with "Pro Custom" gunstock oil from Brownells. And/or Tru-Oil (Also found in Brownells catalog) is very popular with a lot of knifemakers. I exclusively use Pro Custom oil even on stabilized Koa for filling the grain, building up a finish, etc...

That said, I am becoming a new fan of Desert Ironwood and snakewood. I sand them to 2000 grit and put on a super thin coat of Minwax floor wax and they are beautiful.

-M
 
For oily woods I use 100% carnuba wax finish. It's very hard and has to be burned into the wood with a buffing wheel. It smells nice while finishing on a buffer. A side effect is that when the knife is used the heat from the user's hand will warm the wax and provide extra grip (think surfboard wax.)
 
The ultimate wood for no finish is Wenge.

Raw Wenge is used all the time for guitar necks, and all you need is to sand it out to 600+ and give it a quick buff.

I used it on the bass guitar I built, and I'm thinking about doing some knife projects with it.

It can be prone to splintering, but is very stable after being worked.
 
I look at wax as more of an enhancement/protectant than a finish. Finishes, in my mind, are oils, varnishes, shellacs, polyurethanes, etc...that actually get into the wood and bond with it.

Oily woods, like Cocobolo, won't readily take an oil finish without complications (oil never dries, or dries in spots and stays tacky in others, etc). That being said, I read about a method of using an oil finish on oily woods that worked for a couple knives I did with Coco handles.

The method is to basically take a cloth and wipe the handles with acetone right before adding the oil finish. The acetone will cut the natural oil from the surface and allow your oil finish to penetrate and set up. Worked great for me.
 
Being a gunstock maker, it is a question which only brings up more questions. Using acetone on oily wood only removes the oil from the surface. If you put a finish on top of this, the natural oil will often come to the surface, eventually, and cause bubbling under the finish. Plain lacquer seems to be an effective finish on oily woods. Some woods like African Padook (Vermillion) will be a hot orange when first sanded/finished then turn to a very dark red (oxidizing) then after years turn to an ugly brown (with no finish, it turns rather quickly). Many Weatherby's used this wood and the owners have forgotten what it originally looked like. Weatherby used an extremely hard two part Epoxy called Fullerplast. Some woods like cocobolo are toxic. A friend sanded a rifle stock out in the hot Summer weather on his lap. His "privates" were enflamed for several weeks. I almost successfully listened to this without breaking up. My guffaws were not appreciated. Some plasticisers are a lot better than others with K&G in Arizona being better than the others I have tried, but some woods just won't treat.
 
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