Wood Scales finishing

N

NORSEWOLF

Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Messages
38
What is best way to get a high gloss finnish on wood?

With oil by buffing? I want to bring out wood grain and do it
Right like I see on some of the high end blades y'all make.

Also what speed do you buff at and type of oils used?

That for the help in advance. The help I have gotten from this sight
is what is making me into a maker.

Hope to have some blades I am willing to post soon.

Norsewolf
 
Tru Oil. Lots of coats, buff with fine paper or steel wool in between. Tru Oil will fill in the pores with about 6 or 8 coats. Takes about a week (let each coat dry for a day). It won't gloss up until 4 or 5 coats, but you can get it very glossy if you take your time.
 
It all depends what the wood is. A common misconception is that oil coats are film building. They are NOT.

You cant make an appreciably thick or shiny layer using oil. Cured oil is simply too soft, and in most of the wood used in knife making it will never cure. Oils like tung oil, boiled linseed oil and tru oil are all reactive curing, which means they react with oxygen to form new, solid compounds. In an oily or stabilized wood, there is not enough oxygen for the oil to ever cure.

If you do want a shiny finish, you have a few choices.

1. Pick the right wood. Woods with a very fine grain and high natural oil content cant get very glossy with fine sanding and a light burnishing. Woods like Cocobolo, ebony, Kingwood and desert ironwood can all be sanded to over 2500 grit and then either buffed or rubbed vigorously with a cloth. The heat of the friction will draw oil up from the wood and create a very glossy finish.

2. Stabilize. When a wood is stabilized, it is pressure impregnated with a mix of polymers and resins. This means that when sanding, a uniformly smooth surface can be achieved, one that reflects light evenly for a high gloss finish.

3. Coat it. To my knowledge, the only coating that can be made thin enough while still staying strong enough to coat a knife handle is cyanoacrylate. Also called super glue, or CA glue. There are lots of tutorials about how to apply a brushed coating. The thing to remember is ou have to finish the handle FIRST, and then apply the coating, then polish the coating too.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
It all depends what the wood is. A common misconception is that oil coats are film building. They are NOT.

You cant make an appreciably thick or shiny layer using oil. Cured oil is simply too soft, and in most of the wood used in knife making it will never cure. Oils like tung oil, boiled linseed oil and tru oil are all reactive curing, which means they react with oxygen to form new, solid compounds. In an oily or stabilized wood, there is not enough oxygen for the oil to ever cure.

If you do want a shiny finish, you have a few choices.

1. Pick the right wood. Woods with a very fine grain and high natural oil content cant get very glossy with fine sanding and a light burnishing. Woods like Cocobolo, ebony, Kingwood and desert ironwood can all be sanded to over 2500 grit and then either buffed or rubbed vigorously with a cloth. The heat of the friction will draw oil up from the wood and create a very glossy finish.

2. Stabilize. When a wood is stabilized, it is pressure impregnated with a mix of polymers and resins. This means that when sanding, a uniformly smooth surface can be achieved, one that reflects light evenly for a high gloss finish.

3. Coat it. To my knowledge, the only coating that can be made thin enough while still staying strong enough to coat a knife handle is cyanoacrylate. Also called super glue, or CA glue. There are lots of tutorials about how to apply a brushed coating. The thing to remember is ou have to finish the handle FIRST, and then apply the coating, then polish the coating too.
Click to expand...

I've recently tried #3 with success on ironwood. This was thanks to BF member Brock. Since ironwood isn't stabilized this worked great
 
I've been using tru oil on stabilized wood and getting very nice gloss finishes. I sand it through 2000 grit and then put 3-5 coats of tru oil on and its beautiful.
 
The reason it's beautiful is the sanding. You could be using linseed or mineral oil. It won't cure hard enough to give any protection
 
Very true. The key to have a well sanded smooth surface that is a set of continuous curves. You can have a well sanded handle, but it can be made up of many facets which give a rough, unfinished look.

Or you could dunk the whole thing in high gloss poly and it would be shiny. Ugly, but shiny.

The real key is to sand slowly, getting rid of all scratches from the previous grit. Depending on the wood, take it up to around 600-800 for most domestics, 1000-1500 for most stabilized and 2500+ for high end exotics.
 
I dislike sanding a lot but I recognize how important it is to remove the previous grits marks before moving on. I also recognize that Tru Oil isn't putting a "protective coat" on it either. But it does bump it up to a nice gloss when I am shooting for shiny.

It is true that just because it is shiny doesn't mean its good. There are a lot of small things that go into making it good.
 
I agree that sanding is what makes a fine finish. I like using Nick Wheeler's method of applying Tru Oil. Starting at 320 grit, wet sand using Tru Oil with each grit up to at least 1200 grit. I usually go to 2000. The wet sanding helps fill the pores as you go. Let the oil dry between grits. I also apply Birchwood Casey's gunstock wax and hand buff at the end. This gives me a high gloss finish.
 
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Second question is what product do y'all use for stabilizing wood?

I have a high end vaccum pump (6 CFM).
I will be building a vaccum tank to use for stabilizing.

Norsewolf
 
what product do y'all use for stabilizing wood?
Click to expand...
I like cactus juice, but I can't afford a pump or chamber yet, so I haven't actually stabilized with it yet (what it is designed for). However, I have cast with it with good results... I might be biased since its made close to me.

Staying on topic somewhat, what types of wood is Danish oil appropriate for?
 
Here is one of Nick Wheeler's videos showing how he finishes a handle wet sanding and building up coats of Tru-Oil.
This method works well on stabilized wood and most natural hardwoods.
Danish Oil is another oil blend that works well for building up coats for a uniform finish.
Watch these 3 videos in order.
[video]https://youtu.be/7TmZ0m9x1kM[/video]
[video]https://youtu.be/Ubx2e4-gUMw[/video]
[video]https://youtu.be/Nc4y1bFj3co[/video]
 
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