wood knife handles

[dafyddw]

HI , I've just cut some handles for a knife, but now I need to 'finish' the wood. I'm a real newbie to woodworking. Can anyone tell me the best way to finish the wood? cheers DW

[randyswoodshoop]

Hi, Alot of knife makers just use rouge on a buffing wheel to finsh there handles. I like to use tung oil on the wood handles. randy

[dafyddw]

buff it up after? cheers DW

[randyswoodshoop]

I do at least three and yes I do buff Randy

[Andy Dingley]

I'd avoid tung oil in favour of a commercial blended oil based on tung. You really need to use thinners and driers in addition to pure tung - otherwise it's quite awkward to use. The risk with oil, especially pure tung, is that you put it on too thick and then it never dries properly. The trick for any oil finish (and indeed most finishes) is to only ever use thin coats.

If you did apply it too thick and it refuses to dry beyond sticky, scrub it clean with white spirit on a rag, then re-apply more thinly.

For plain oil finishes on knife handles with "smart" wood finishes, then I'd use about four or five coats of Liberon's finishing oil, buffed out heavily between coats with a 3M or Webrax plastic abrasive pad in the finest grey colour. I don't make an effort to do this, just leave it on the table and give it a new coat whenever I walk past. Leave a good few hours between coats in this weather. When it's done, leave it a few days somewhere warm and then finally buff it and wax it with a white pad.

For "workshop" tools I use Danish oil instead, which is a mix of oil and a little varnish. Tougher, but doesn't look as nice as a plain oil.

[r payne]

For knife handles I use linseed oil (either raw or boiled), a mix of linseed oil and beeswas or plain beeswax. To apply the oil, wipe some on, let it set for a few minutes then wipe off the excess and allow to dry. Drying will take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours for boiled (maybe longer if it is cold or humid) to a week or more for raw. For the mix of beeswax and oil, I mix about even parts oil, wax and turpentine (helps disolve the wax) then wipe that on wait a day then polish or buff. For straight wax, the wax has to be melted on carefully.

ron

[Lew Hodgett]

SFWIW, totally by accident I created your version of "Special sheep dip" as follows:

Using a 1 lb coffee can, add 1 cup each of beeswax, BLO and turps.

Place coffee can in a 2 qt saucepan, about 1/2 full of water, which creates a double boiler of sorts.

Place sauce pan over low heat and allow everything to melt and mix.

When wax has melted and mixed, remove coffee can from water with a pair of pliers and allow to cool.

If mix is too hard to apply easily, remelt adding more turps.

Cap coffee can with plastic cover to keep on shelf.

YMMV

Lew

[dafyddw]

Many many thanks for all the advice thus far! I've noticed that Teak oil is apparently a mixture of tung and others . Would this be suitable? DW

[<marierdj]

What I use is

on View to see more details. The wood I use is: Tiger maple, Bird eyes maple. As for the finish I only use pure Tung oil on maple or bee wax finish. Hope this help Denis

[Peter Huebner]

What I am curious about is: what do you use to rivet the shells onto the knife tang? Or do you use screws? I've tried to get stock for riveting some knife handles once, and drew a total blank.

-P.

[Smaug Ichorfang]

Peter Huebner wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I highly recomend

for *all* your knife making supplies - wood and mineral scales, blades, rivets/corbys/etc. They have a good page on knifemaking info. I've built many of their kits (folders), and used many "bare" blades for projects. You can even call them up and just chat about knives!

[r payne]

I go old school and peen brass rod.

ron

[Andy Dingley]

I use thick brazing rod (brass), but anneal it first. You have to be an insane quantity if it's just for rivetting, but if you're doing brazing anyway the stuff is cheap and handy.

Otherwise model shops. They're expensive per-pound, but they sell small quantities in a range of sizes.