wood knife handles

OutdoorsFamilyMan4

OutdoorsFamilyMan4

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Jan 20, 2012
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I have a set of wood scales someone made for me. all I need to do is put some type of finish on them. what do you guys recommend?
 
OutdoorsFamilyMan4 said:
I have a set of wood scales someone made for me. all I need to do is put some type of finish on them. what do you guys recommend?
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Would need some more info. What kind of wood is it? Has it been stabilized? What is the knife used for? Some common finishes are tung oil, mineral oil, shellac, varnish, wax: it all depends on what you have and what you want.
 
they are for a becker, so therefore hard use. one is walnut, the other I believe is dymondwood--is there anything I can use on both of them
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Neither look like Dymondwood.
Why didn't he make them out of the same material?
 
If you want a good tough finish, I use polyurethane. Rustoleum water based poly for floors for a satin finish, Deftane oil based for a high gloss finish. Both have worked well for me, I like the water based because it is 90 minutes between coats and has almost no odor. for a quick and dirty that works ok and is super easy, mineral oil.
JMHO
the old sailor
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Neither look like Dymondwood.
Why didn't he make them out of the same material?
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my grandpa made them and one of the supposed dymondwood (I think it looks like cocobolo) blew apart because of a knot. he only had walnut so he made the replacement out of that. he's too sick to make any more
 
10-12 coats of Tru Oil is what I would use. Lightly sand with 0000 steel wool between coats and you'll have a high gloss finish that is pretty tough.
 
how do you apply the mineral oil? I think I want to use that to clean it up and protect it. I think I want to sand it down more later. can I put a different finish on later? like tru-oil or a poly
 
One scale appears to be a rather plain walnut. The other is perhaps Bubinga or Rosewood..... but certainly NOT Dymondwood. Dymondwood is a type of knife handle plywood with colored layers.
http://www.knifemaking.com/category-s/298.htm

Any good oil finish will work fine on those scales. You can say it is a Scagel inspired knife when done.

Good story for knifemakers to know ( As related to me by Dr. Lucie):
William Scagel once was caught in a blizzard walking home to his shop/house . A man in a car stopped and told him to get in before he froze to death. The man was a local Democratic party leader, and Bill refused to get in. The man followed him, trying to convince Scagel to get in. After Bill was stumbling and nearly frozen, the man shoved him in the car against his will and took him home. He got him in the shop, started a fire, and left him to warm up by the stove. The man surely saved his life. A while later Scagel came to town and went to the man's business. Saying he did not want to be "Beholdin' to any damn Democrat", he gave the man a hand made pocket knife. Knowing what an eccentric he was, the man politely thanked Scagel, and when he noticed that one scale was pink MOP and the other was ivory, he asked why. Bill replied, "Because you Democrats want everything both ways!"...and he left. He later said it was because Democrats are two-faced.
Staunch and ultra conservative Republican Bill was to the bone.......Warm and fuzzy Scagel was not!
 
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