Wood handle staining my hands black

ATX

ATX

Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
98
I just made a knife with an Osage handle. Every time I sand on the handle, I end up with my hands stained black. And I'm talking about having to soak my hands in Dawn soap and scrub with a brush to get it off type of black. Is it the dust from the Osage that is staining my skin? If so, what other types of wood used for handle material will cause a stain on your skin?
 
I'm not sure if one would use it for scale material but walnut has put some blackness on my hands much like you described...

Edit: scrubbing with vegetable oil should lessen the work of taking the stains off of your hands... then a good scrub with your standard "grease removing" dish washing soap should get you cleaned up nicely
 
Osage Orange, Walnut, Ebony, and some other woods will do that. A seal coat of oil after sanding will help.
 
Thanks for the reply. And Walnut was my second choice for handle material.
 
I deal with that issue with these.

LatexGloves_sm.jpg
 
use lemon juice to scrub the black stuff off. I work with a lot of mesquite and lemon juice is the only way to get the stains off your hands.
 
Yep, Camatillo, some Kingwoods, and Purple Heart will do that.

Camatillo will really stain you purple. If you heat it up in sanding or buffing, the oil/resin weeps right out onto the surface in little beads.
I wipe these woods down with lots of acetone after sanding ( wearing nitrile gloves) until it stops staining the rag. Then a gentle buff with wax or a seal of oil makes it OK.

Once most of these "staining" woods have reacted with the UV in sunlight, the color will gradually go back to normal, and the staining will stop.
Osage will go from yellow/orange to brown
Walnut will darken from tan to brown
Camatillo will go from purple violet back to brown shades
Purple heart will go from purple to brown/red
Cocobola will go from yellow/orange to orange/brown
 
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