Would an oil finish benefit from soaking?

I use truoil and started using a technique I learned on here I think. Use a couple drops of ArmourAll with the truoil and it will dry in less than five minutes. You can do twenty coats in an hour
 
Sam, I gave up on trying to get things across the border. I usually wait till I go to the states and have stuff I need shipped to a friend there. Not very practical but sometimes the only way and always cheaper.

Birdog, do you know what process Dan uses?

KFU, I did read about the armor all trick, I'll give it a try too.

Thanks all.
 
By looking at his finishes, you can be pretty sure he uses the stockmakers technique. Applying oil til it doesn't hold any more and then start sanding and reapplying oil, keeping the sludge on the surface to fill the pores. It is necessary to use sandpaper as steelwool pulls the sludge from the pores.
 
To build on what Birdog4 said...
We call it mud rubbing, I havent heard of anyone talk about it in knife making. Not that it wouldn't work, wood is wood after all, it doesn't care if it is attached to a firearm or a blade. Generally when you are doing a mud rub on a stock you would sand to 400 or 600 unless you want it really glossy, then you could go to 1000ish. Assuming you want to go to 600, you would then get a rubber rectangular eraser, the ones that are like an inch by two inches by 3/4 inch, wrap your 400 around your block, put a few drops of oil on the wood and start wet sanding it. This will create a mud like substance, you want to get a decent buildup of the mud on the wood, maybe 2mm thick at most, since you dont want to change your dimensions. Let that dry a day, then you get the choice to continue doing mud rubs or sand off the mud rub if you think it's good. When you are all finished, the sandings will have been pushed into pores with the oil and it creates a nice smooth finish that is very water resistant. Oh, once you sand off the mud rub, you would take it to the final grits that you want and when you are doing the mud rub removal, you want to make sure you are using that eraser again so that the sandpaper doesnt pull the mud out of the pores.

I dont know how this finish would work on a stabilized piece of wood as I have never worked with stabilized wood before.
 
I have soaked a couple of knives fore 24h in linseedoil and it will solve slow cureing epoxy. Luckely I spotted it myself.
 
Thanks for the instructions Jake, I will surely give that a try. :thumbup:

Peppen, thanks for the heads up but I think that I've come to the conclusion that soaking is not something I want to do.
 
Patrice, I promise I'll respond to this at length tomorrow - the methods described so far aren't how Dan does it, and not to say that you can't get great results the way they've described, I've yet to see any finish reveal the detail that Dan's method does. Trust me, I want there to be an easier way - I just haven't seen it!
 
Soaking is fine provided you leave it at least 24 hours after the glue has cured and wipe the excess off before it goes gummy.
No point in oiling stabilised woods, the resin will have filled the voids so the oil shouldn't penetrate anyway (unless it wasn't very well stabilised).
I usually finish with a layer of beeswax/carnauba wax about a week after oiling. Gives better grip in the wet and marks just buff out with a cloth.
Not much point in oiling naturally oily woods either. Rosewood, D.I. Cocobolo etc.
 
Dan's method, and a method that I've since copied, involves making a small cabinet that you can place a rotisserie motor in. Yep, just like you'd use to cook a roast or a chicken on your grill.

Weber-7519-Rotisserie-Gas-Grill-500x500.jpg


I made my cabinet out of an old kitchen cabinet, drilled a couple of holes in the sides and mounted the rotisserie motor on one side, passed the spit through the hole and out the other side with a support bearing so it'll turn freely. I also mounted a light fixture in the floor of it with a 100 watt bulb - more than enough heat to raise the temp in the cabinet to about 90 degrees, so the oil cures properly.

8497244547_8f3fd79def_z.jpg


Rather than using the cabinet doors, I replaced them with a couple pieces of plexiglass sheet that I mounted in some wood I channeled with the table saw so that I can slide them back and forth.

8497244945_c6ca08f3de_z.jpg


I even use the skewers for a roast - I attached a couple strong neodymium magnets to it, then cover the blade in painter's tape. After I apply the oil, I open the cabinet, stick the blade to the magnets and start the rotisserie motor. This way, the knife slowly rotates and the oil never gets a thin area and a thick area of oil - it all dries pretty evenly, and at the same thickness.

8497245717_a814c6b94b_z.jpg


Sand the knife handle to it's final grit, then apply the oil and put the knife on the rotisserie. Turn it on, and let it run. 24 hours may be enough to cure the oil, but I find that more time is better. A couple days certainly doesn't hurt! I turn the rotisserie off after 12 hours and just leave the light on to keep the temperature up.

Once the oil has dried, re-sand back down to bare wood and repeat. Every time you re-sand you take the surface layer off but fill the open pores of the wood with oil. Keep going this way until the pores are filled, then one more good coat and let it cure.

Once it's cured, I follow with progressively finer grits of pumice stone and then rottenstone, all with a little light mineral oil in a slurry.

Lots of work, and requires considerable amounts of time, but I've yet to see any other finish rival it.


Please pardon the wretched photos, and the wretched beater knives in the photos - I'm a pinch pressed for time today, but I promised Patrice I'd post!!! Sorry to leave you hanging so long, buddy!
 
Apologizing Matt??? Where is that "slap behind the head" app again? ;)
I really appreciate you taking the time explain this in details and with pics to boot.
Another thing added to my to try/to build list. :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top