Wood gurus - does this sound right?

K

killa_concept

Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
1,161
So I gave my two wooden kukris a finish awhile ago (a 15" satisal AK and 18" neem Vojpure - both by Sher (T)) but was fairly unimpressed by the results on the AK. My method was sanding the handles(100, 220, 400), followed by wiping off with a rag, then applications of Formby's high gloss tung oil with 24 hours dry time in between and planing with 000 steel wool. I think I did about 4-5 coats. I actually liked the effect on the neem as it made it more orange, glossy, and brought out the grain... but the satisal didn't turn out like I wanted it to: coats didn't dry as well as on the neem, the end result didn't come out glossy, and although the wood was richer in color, it seemed kind of dark. I've noticed that the dried up tung oil on the lip of it's container was fairly yellow - perhaps this was what darkened it up? It looks great on the neem but not on the satisal. Anyways, long story short, I'm not pleased with the results....


I'm starting over and hoping for advice on my proposed method:
As we speak, my handles are getting stripped with citristrip and then I'll be starting over from scratch. Once I get the citristrip off, I'll clean it with turpentine, give it a quick sand with 400, clean again with turpentine, then start the finishing process after some dry time. I'm thinking that I'll use Tru-Oil instead of Tung and dilute it about 2parts turpentine with 1 part Tru-Oil, so that it soaks in nice and deep. I'll do maybe 4-5 coats of that, then gauge where to go from there...
 
Last edited:
called "Woodchucks."

Led by the spirit of Walosi, gone now, but abiding in the heart of every dusty, splintered, and Tru-oiled owner of wood handled khuk throughout the world.

:)
 
I use diluted BLO (2 parts BLO:1 part Thinner) and put as many coats on the wood as it will accept, while wet leaving a bit of soak in time in between. Once I have put as much of this onto it as I am able, I leave it to dry for a couple of days and then I start the tung oil without thinning, at most four or five coats, usually three. Between coats all I do is sand if needed when grain pops up to smooth the wood back down. When the last coat of tung oil is done, I leave it again for a few days to dry completely then sand it with 000 steel wool to shine it up. When I am done with the Teak Handle Pala put on my Mini Tarwar, I'll post you a picture. I seem to be cursed with really featureless wood though as this Teak has unremarkable grain but it is looking a lot nicer then it did when it was all pale and washed out.
 
Thanks guys!
Karda, I've seen that post and it's actually what originally sparked my interest in finishing my kukris. I even posted in that thread about whether the wood was satisal or not (I was surprised he got it so bright red!). Straight Tru-Oil definitely did Steve wonders, but from what I've read up online, cutting it 2:1 with turpentine helps lower viscosity and allows for deeper penetration (which mine will probably need as citristrip sucks a lot of moisture out of the wood). Glad to know it worked for you warty! Going to give it a go :thumbup:
 
Last edited:
BLO isn't Tru-Oil Killa... just for the record. Boiled Linseed Oil=BLO
 
Yeah Kis, those older posts are soothing reads. I figured the newer members might appreciate walosi's wisdom and patience. At least I figured out how to post a link...about time.
 
Thanks fred - that was a great read. Scary how right on Yvsa was - he posted in that thread saying:
Yvsa said:
Walosi my Bro I would urge you to post the info no matter if it is wordy and boring.
That way it will be cached someday in the archives at least and will provide invaluable information for a mighty long time to come.
We never know who may come along that will put the info to good
use.
Click to expand...

I tried cutting it with turpentine because I thought Tru-oil was mostly LO... bad idea. It soaked in like you wouldn't believe (the wood practically drank it in), but then it dried way too fast (like overnight / 6 hours) and left a weird (albeit rather shiny) coating. I'm stripping it once more and going with straight Tru-Oil this time around... hope all this stripping doesn't kill the wood! (having a hard time refraining from innuendo :p)

Sorry for not heading your warning Karda
 
Last edited:
It apparently is a modified mineral spirit or a modified Linseed oil depending on how you want to look at it. I would just go by the company's instructions for use or follow the way someone like steve, whom has experience with it, does it.

No need to apologise to me. Mistakes are how we learn. Apologise to your khukuri....:p ;)

From the birchwood-casey site:

WHMIS sheet on Tru-Oil
COMPOSITION / INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS

Description CAS # Weight %
Mineral Spirits 8052-41-3 > 56
Modified Oil Proprietary < 33
Linseed Oil Proprietary < 11
 
Yeah - the turpentine did not react very well with the Tru-Oil, that's for sure... I guess I'll go by Steve's and Walosi's advice - they'd know better than anyone!

The Tru-oil/turpentine mixture soaked pretty deep into the wood so I'll probably do a couple of applications of citristrip just to make sure it all comes out... after that, cleaning, sanding and drying will still probably be needed before I can try again. Looks like my satisal handled m43 will probably be here by the time I can re-finish, so I'll be able to do all three at the same time :)

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
I wouldn't worry about stripping it out unless you hate the way it looks. You are being pretty hard on this piece of wood with all the stripping you are doing to it. Eventually it may become gray and ugly if you keep this up. Just go ahead and put the straight stuff right on top of what you've done, it should have no effect at all on the finished product. I really cannot stress enough though that Boiled Linseed Oil is a lot different than what you are using, Tru-Oil. I really am not much of a fan of the Tru-Oil stuff myself and have stuck with the basics, BLO and Tung Oils, when I am doing most woods, sometimes a bit of stain depending on what I want it to look like in the end.

As for the Teak handle I just finished up, as I said the piece of wood was rather unremarkable as far as grain goes but Pala really finished well. I certainly had no sanding to do to it when I started out. It was smooth as a baby's bottom and is again now that I am done with it. Only now it is a bit darker looking and less pale than it was and has a bit of character to it. In general though, if you don't have a Mini Tarwar, grab one when they make the rounds again as they are pretty sweet blades.
 
warty said:
I wouldn't worry about stripping it out unless you hate the way it looks. You are being pretty hard on this piece of wood with all the stripping you are doing to it. Eventually it may become gray and ugly if you keep this up. Just go ahead and put the straight stuff right on top of what you've done, it should have no effect at all on the finished product. I really cannot stress enough though that Boiled Linseed Oil is a lot different than what you are using, Tru-Oil. I really am not much of a fan of the Tru-Oil stuff myself and have stuck with the basics, BLO and Tung Oils, when I am doing most woods, sometimes a bit of stain depending on what I want it to look like in the end.

As for the Teak handle I just finished up, as I said the piece of wood was rather unremarkable as far as grain goes but Pala really finished well. I certainly had no sanding to do to it when I started out. It was smooth as a baby's bottom and is again now that I am done with it. Only now it is a bit darker looking and less pale than it was and has a bit of character to it. In general though, if you don't have a Mini Tarwar, grab one when they make the rounds again as they are pretty sweet blades.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow up warty. The citristrip is from my neighbor and is very old and not particularly strong - this will also only be the second time it's stripped. I definitely felt I had to use it to get the weird gunk formed by my Tru-Oil/Turpentine combo though as the layer was rather hard/waxy and sanding would not have done the trick... after that, I'll be resanding and just using Tru-oil to do the finish.

The handles I have are pretty nice in my opinion.... The neem has a lot of varied colors when finished and a very pleasant grain structure. I sort of wish my satisal one wasn't as dark as it is, but it is also rather pretty and I know will benefit from a properly done finish.

That all said, I really do dig the mini tarwar - sadly, I don't have the money around to get a collection quite as impressive as yours, so I have to be a bit more selective in what I pick up :(
 
Time is what it takes as well as money... I took my time.

Did you clean off the rouge from the Satisal before doing any of this to it ofr did you assume the stripper would clean it off? I am not so sure it does to be honest and would suggest in the future you read the thread on how to remove the rouge and start there first before working satisal.
 
warty said:
Time is what it takes as well as money... I took my time.

Did you clean off the rouge from the Satisal before doing any of this to it ofr did you assume the stripper would clean it off? I am not so sure it does to be honest and would suggest in the future you read the thread on how to remove the rouge and start there first before working satisal.
Click to expand...

Well I outlined my method for the first attempt with tung oil in the opening post: 100->400 sanding then wiping off with a damp rag. It was pretty light sanding though as I thought the wood to be pretty smooth... if that method didn't entirely take off the rouge, that very well could have been the issue as the tung seemed to soak in more in some areas than others...

Yesterday, I stripped/scraped the tung finish, sanded with 100->400, finished with 0000 steel wool, then cleaned with turp prior to the tru-oil/turpentine fiasco that ensued... Tonight, I've done the same process again to get rid of the turp/tru-oil gunk - so any rogue that was on the wood is LONG gone.

I just finished off applying the first coat of Tru-Oil and it looks pretty snazzy... Let's hope that the 3rd time's the charm ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top