First: please forgive if this is out of place, but it is pertinent to knifemaking materials.
I love to work with walnut. I am only just learning to select wood for figure and I have mostly been guessing at orientation. I saved a nice round about 18" diameter and 24" in length from a walnut tree i took out for a friend a couple years ago. It sat, covered out doors for almost two years in a barn until I came back to town, split it and brought it into my shop. Over the last year I have used some of it in handle stacks for hidden tang knives, but I am now cutting some of it into scales. This was my first time going from tree to board, so i want to make the most of it until my latest wood seasons.
I have to do this by splitting and then employing handsaws for the moment, which is rewarding, if also tedious.
Before I get any more longwinded; Here are a couple scales I just cut:
They are tangentially cut, as i thought this would be the best way to preserve the birdseyes in the figure. They where cut from a block into scales with a coping saw (not my preferred option, i assure you), dressed with 120 grip to level (read: not square) and i wiped on some true-oil to highlight the figure.
My questions are:
To preserve this level of contrast without unduly darkening the wood, what might be a good treatment/finish? I've considered tru-oil and CA. I can't get too fancy at the moment
Is there a way to bring out more chatoyescent effect in walnut? Is this just a matter of fine surface finish and optically clear finishing agent, or is walnut just sometimes poor in this department.
Basically; What might I do to make the best of this wood and it's figure?
I'm googling too; but it's clear that a lot of you here really know how to work your hardwoods.
I love to work with walnut. I am only just learning to select wood for figure and I have mostly been guessing at orientation. I saved a nice round about 18" diameter and 24" in length from a walnut tree i took out for a friend a couple years ago. It sat, covered out doors for almost two years in a barn until I came back to town, split it and brought it into my shop. Over the last year I have used some of it in handle stacks for hidden tang knives, but I am now cutting some of it into scales. This was my first time going from tree to board, so i want to make the most of it until my latest wood seasons.
I have to do this by splitting and then employing handsaws for the moment, which is rewarding, if also tedious.
Before I get any more longwinded; Here are a couple scales I just cut:
They are tangentially cut, as i thought this would be the best way to preserve the birdseyes in the figure. They where cut from a block into scales with a coping saw (not my preferred option, i assure you), dressed with 120 grip to level (read: not square) and i wiped on some true-oil to highlight the figure.
My questions are:
To preserve this level of contrast without unduly darkening the wood, what might be a good treatment/finish? I've considered tru-oil and CA. I can't get too fancy at the moment
Is there a way to bring out more chatoyescent effect in walnut? Is this just a matter of fine surface finish and optically clear finishing agent, or is walnut just sometimes poor in this department.
Basically; What might I do to make the best of this wood and it's figure?
I'm googling too; but it's clear that a lot of you here really know how to work your hardwoods.
