Will CA glue harden up maple burl so it does not get marred up easily?

G

GrizzlyBear

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Dec 5, 2009
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On the last knife I did, I used a beautiful set of Redwood burl scales from Burl Source's new knifemaker set. They were unstabilized and the only finish I did on them was to take them to 2000 grit and finalize with several coats of Tru Oil. I figured the Tru Oil, once cured, would create a fairly hard finish (as it has on a couple other items I've used it on). Well, the knife got marred up, and I am going to either have to strip the scales off and go with a stabilized set, or sand off the Tru Oil and refinish with CA glue.

Now, my main question concerns the use of another set of scales from that set; a really, really nice set of maple burl (also unstabilized). Instead of going the Tru Oil route, would a heavy dosage of CA glue applied in coats so it will soak in, work to harden up the outside of the wood to prevent easy marring of the surface?

Or, should I keep them for a knife that won't be worn everyday and get a set of stabilized scales?

Thanks!!

Craig Collier
 
Lets use an example of a piece of foam rubber used as a handle scale.
1) You can varnish it, and the surface will be smooth and hard...but the underlying foam is still soft and pliable. Any force applied will distort the finish,quickly damaging it.
2) You could use a harder surface, like epoxy resin. That would be a bit harder, but will still allow damage to the surface when enough force is applied to bend and crack the epoxy.
3) A thin resin, like CA, will penetrate the foam deeper, but will still be mainly in the outer area. The same problems may occur, but distortion should be less, and repair should be simpler. The thinner the CA the better the penetration. Vacuum and/or pressure will help it get in deep.

The best solution is to start with wood completely penetrated with a resin....stabilized wood.
 
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GrizzlyBear said:
<snip>... I figured the Tru Oil, once cured, would create a fairly hard finish (as it has on a couple other items I've used it on). Well, the knife got marred up, and I am going to either have to strip the scales off and go with a stabilized set, or sand off the Tru Oil and refinish with CA glue....<snip>
Click to expand...


Why are you going to strip the Tru-Oil completely off? The beauty of tru-oil is that it is super easy to touch up. Just take some #0000 steel wool and scuff the damaged area, wipe clean, and apply a drop of oil just like you did in the beginning.

Now how long did you let the tru-oil cure before you subjected it to anything that may cause damage? When I do a rifle stock I ALWAYS allow a minimum of 3 weeks for post cure hardening of the tru-oil and not let it get below 60*F. Some stock makers say 30-40 days. Yes it will be dry and feel hard after 24 hours but after a month there is a noticeable difference.

It could also be that you used too much tru-oil and built it up very high off the surface and combine that with putting on the next coat(s) too soon can cause some inferior results. These conditions are common to people thinking tru-oil isn't any good.

I don't know your experience level with tru-oil, I am just listing some common problems I have seen with tru-oil before I figured out how to best use it.


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
Why are you going to strip the Tru-Oil completely off? The beauty of tru-oil is that it is super easy to touch up. Just take some #0000 steel wool and scuff the damaged area, wipe clean, and apply a drop of oil just like you did in the beginning.

The spot that is marred up is kind of deep. If Tru oil isn't going to harden up enough to protect this wood, then I want to remove it and put on something that will. I love Tru oil, and have used it on several other things and I agree with the ability to fix small blemishes :).


Now how long did you let the tru-oil cure before you subjected it to anything that may cause damage? When I do a rifle stock I ALWAYS allow a minimum of 3 weeks for post cure hardening of the tru-oil and not let it get below 60*F. Some stock makers say 30-40 days. Yes it will be dry and feel hard after 24 hours but after a month there is a noticeable difference.

The final coat cured for a couple of days before I delivered the knife to the customer. He began wearing it immediately, but only to town and church. Not to the woods or anything like that. He's had it for about 3 weeks now, and just a few days ago the damage was caused. I didn't know anything about the temperature affecting cure time nor the 30-40 day time period. I knew it took a while, but not that long.


It could also be that you used too much tru-oil and built it up very high off the surface and combine that with putting on the next coat(s) too soon can cause some inferior results. These conditions are common to people thinking tru-oil isn't any good.

I followed the same procedure as I have done with other items to build a finish. Not 1 coat per day as some suggest, but when the coat felt dry (ie: no longer tacky) I applied the next coat. And I'm only using a drop or 2 spread over the entire handle. I may have used too much too quickly for this type of wood. But, based on past experiences with a couple other knives and a muzzleloader stock, the same procedure turned out well with them.



I don't know your experience level with tru-oil, I am just listing some common problems I have seen with tru-oil before I figured out how to best use it.


I understand and appreciate the help. I just think that the redwood burl is too soft on it's own to be fully protected by the Tru oil. Chalk it up to a learning experience and to not use unstabilized burl on a user knife :).

-Xander
Click to expand...

(apparently I can't submit this reply without typing anything else after the quote...so here it is lol)
 
bladsmth said:
Lets use an example of a piece of foam rubber used as a handle scale.
1) You can varnish it, and the surface will be smooth and hard...but the underlying foam is still soft and pliable. Any force applied will distort the finish,quickly damaging it.
2) You could use a harder surface, like epoxy resin. That would be a bit harder, but will still allow damage to the surface when enough force is applied to bend and crack the epoxy.
3) A thin resin, like CA, will penetrate the foam deeper, but will still be mainly in the outer area. The same problems may occur, but distortion should be less, and repair should be simpler. The thinner the CA the better the penetration. Vacuum and/or pressure will help it get in deep.

The best solution is to start with wood completely penetrated with a resin....stabilized wood.
Click to expand...

I am seeing this now :) thank you for the advice. Luckily, the customer is a friend and isn't mad that the handle is marring so easily. Now, I need to find *SOME* way to either fix the handles he has, or, regretfully, strip them off and put on a set of stabilized scales.
 
Try sanding off the Tru-Oil, and soaking the entire handle end in thin CA. Let it dry slowly and on its own ( no speed setting spray). After a few days, sand down the surface, wipe the excess off the blade, and buff the handle lightly. It should be fine.
 
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