Wooden Handle Care in Humid Environment

B

brswan

Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
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I'm ordering my first custom made knife. I really like the look of the wooden handles but am worried about maintenance and comfort.

I live in Florida so it is humid. I've read you have to oil your handles, but I don't know how often. Would it be better to just go with micarta?

So far I'm leaning toward micarta because I love the grip and feel. I'm not sure how a wooden handle would compare

Any tips would be appreciated
 
Johnson's paste wax, or neutral paste shoe polish.
 
If you want specific care instructions, the maker would be able to give you the best advice, but to be honest, wood is pretty resilient. It is better for slab handles than styles that need close tolerances to bolsters, in which case the wood should be sealed, solving that problem as well.
 
The bigger danger with wood is extremely dry environments, in which it can split, crack, check or warp. If the environment is consistently humid, I'd not worry as much about it. This is something to watch, if at some time in the future you move to a dryer climate. I noticed a few wood items of mine warped and/or split after I'd moved away from central Texas (humid) to New Mexico, which is usually dry and sometimes extremely so, with RH levels dipping below 5% at times; and even the 'muggy' days in NM are still usually 20 points below an 'average' day in central Texas (30-40% RH vs 60%+ RH).


David
 
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