Whoops- it's like pouring the milk before the cereal...

S

soupah

Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
221
Okay, I'm (even more) officially dumb. As a rock.

So I have this new villager Ganga Ram with unknown wood handle (it's a Yangdu direct-special) and I have this can of boiled linseed oil that I've never used. I hear about others finishing wood handles with the stuff, so I read the directions and sand and apply the first coat and let dry. No problems- the wood looks darker, which I like, but there's no Tru-oil-like gleam. It's a flatish finish, no gleam at all.

It just needs more coats, I think. Well, 4 coats later (with 600 grit sanding in between), the handle is darker still but no gleam. Totally flat.

Heck with this- I want, I need that Tru-oil gleam. So I sand again and apply Tru-oil. And the Tru-oil sits there on top of the finish and doesn't penetrate at all. It's gummy and sticky and...bad. Even after 3 days drying.

Questions for y'alls;

1) Did boiled linseed "seal" the wood and prevent any other sort of finish?

2) Should I revert back to linseed (and is that possible)? If I apply enough linseed, will I eventually get that gleam?

3) Should I wipe it down and continue applying Tru-oil, or will it never dry/ penetrate now?

4) Is there a way to sand it (a lot) and start over, or is it pretty much a done deal?

5) Should I keep my damn hands off it?

Next time, cereal first!
 
At this point, clean it up and stick with linseed oil. I think linseed oil can be shiny- how shiny, I don't know because I don't use the stuff. But it used to be the finish for rifles, and there's a lot of shiny old rifles. I wonder if you have to polish it- buff the finish? I do recall they put on a lot of coats, (old riflemen) and it took a long time, and True Oil though linseed oil based is fast drying, which sort of ended lineseed oil.

Or you could get a solvent and take the stuff off. I wouldn't do that. It's a nice knife. You can get another nice knife. This is a learning process. Everyone I know who works with wood has made a mess, many messes.

munk
 
First, don't worry.:) TruOil is mostly linseed oil anyway. It has additives that make it dry faster. It may be that the linseed oil wasn't dry, even though it seemed like it was. Wipe the truoil off. If it's too gummy, it's ok to put a little mineral spirits or paint thinner, or nearly any solvent on a rag. Then wait a week. Linseed oil takes a while to dry properly. Then try the tru-oil again. Use an extremely thin coat, as thin as you can, applied with a fingertip. If it happens again, wipe off and stay with the linseed oil. Note, you can sand between coats with finer sandpaper, 1000 or even 1500 grit. Dip the sandpaper in water to keep it from loading up. Be sure to use the black wet-or-dry silicon carbide sandpaper meant to be used wet.

Even with tru-oil, it takes about 15-20 coats to get that mirror shine. Let us know your progress.

Steve
 
Steve knows. You should see his knifes. Pretty knifes.

Cheaters have been rumored to use polyeurethane, or even, (gasp) super-glue (don't tell).

Have fun. It is just a knife that you are making your own. Welcome.
 
I have not experiemented with linseed oil on my khuk handles, but I have used it on everything from furniture to floors -- buff the junk out of it, and it does shine up really nicely.

I have also found that with my handles, most of the woods develop a gloss after a lot of heavy use. It's not as pretty or even as an intentionally applied finish, but the oil from your hands will eventually darken and polish the wood. I like the uneven patina. It looks "lived in," i.e., used and enjoyed...
 
I have also found that with my handles, most of the woods develop a gloss after a lot of heavy use. It's not as pretty or even as an intentionally applied finish, but the oil from your hands will eventually darken and polish the wood. I like the uneven patina. It looks "lived in," i.e., used and enjoyed>>>>>>>>> Broken H.


That is the pantina that antique furniture owners prize.

If Steve Ferguson is wrong about the not quite dry lineseed oil, then something in the True Oil is interacting with the linseed oil. That is what I think it is, and you may not be able to apply it on top of the lineseed oil.


munk
 
Thanks all- I think I'll wipe down the handle w/a little nail polish remover (gotta love acetone) and give it a week as Ferguson suggested, and then give it another go with more linseed oil. Munk, you may be right- I suspect a weird reaction between Tru-oil and boiled linseed, even though they both are similar.

Here in Chicago, it's been very humid all week, and things probably weren't drying quickly in the first palce. I think I've just been a little hasty with letting the handle dry between coats, and everything got gummy.

Really, I think I'll just stick to Tru-Oil in the future. I'm guilty of loving a glassy shine, and it's a tad easier to work with.

Thanks again, my fellow forumites!
 
I think the chemicals that allow Tru-Oil to dry quick are probably interacting with the untreated linseed oil.

I wonder why Polyurethane is heathen to the purists? I like it. It can get real shiny. I'm not sure anyone can tell the difference between a well polished clear Tru-oil finish and poly finish.


I still like Watco's Danish Finishing oil best. And though everyone agrees mineral or baby oil is fine for both blade and wooden handle, I prefer to use dinosaur distillations (real oil) on metal and other finishing products on wood.
I've the sneaking suspician some of my other oils, like Formbys or whoever, may be mineral oil with additives...but I don't want to know for sure. Some of the blade oils are modern ones with silicon and other slippery highly viscous stuff in them. If I'm going to use my knife for food preparation, as with the cleaver, maybe mineral oil is best. Some people use vegitable oil on their blades.

There's a super duper floor wax I have here I'm going to put on a knife handle some day.


munk
 
As you put lindseed oil into the wood it stays aliquid but over time the oil will under go a process that causes it to harden. The longer it sits the harder it becomes. Then with lots if rubbing it takes on a sheen. There are some old rifle stocks that are oil finished that look like they have a polyurethane gloss finish.
 
ferguson said:
Even with tru-oil, it takes about 15-20 coats to get that mirror shine. Let us know your progress.

Steve
Click to expand...

I finished woodchucking the handles on my khukuris about a month ago with boiled linseed oil and Armor All. The grainlines came out more but except for my WWII (which I've had the longest), none of the handles shined up. I put ten coats on them so far. Guess I'll having to keep chucking for awhile. ;)

Bob
 
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