Best way to finish a black walnut handle?

T

ThompsonKnives

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Jul 7, 2009
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I have a knife with black walnut handle slabs and want to finish the wood with a non-glossy but grain-enhancing luster. I hate it when the wood's too shiny to see the grain; I'm looking for more of a satin finish that will still seal and protect the wood well. What have you found to work well for this type of wood?
 
A clear danish oil , and when you notice it is no longer being soaked into the wood , wipe it off with a paper towel and leave it be to dry . Just did one today with camphor burl .
 
Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil

It's a linseed oil/varnish blend that is often used on gunstocks. The walnut gunstocks I've seen with Tru-Oil have come out superb. If you add many coats it will get shinier and form a film, but that's after a lot of coats. Wipe on a coat with a rag, wait a minute or so and rub it off with a clean rag. Do this over a few times until you get the look you like. If it's too shiny, hit it with some 00 steel wool or a fine scotch pad. You can find it in many sporting goods places that sell firearms.

It's great stuff. If it's meant to be used on a shotgun in the rain, snow, generally lousy weather, it'll be perfect for a knife handle. I love the stuff.

Also, be sure to lay out any rags you use until they are dry. Crumpled up oily rags can spontaneously combust. No sense in burning down your shop.
 
teak oil works well too, and penetrates hard woods deeply but leaves a satin finish with the grain still visible and not filled. the directions on the can don't seem like enough to me though, and I usually do 3 or 4 coats. My most recent I suspended in the oil for about an hour to let it soak, and that seems to have worked well with hard maple.
 
This is a very good finish for any hardwood... http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=5531/Product/PRO_CUSTOM_OIL_GUNSTOCK_FINISH

I add 1 Tablespoon of mineral spirits to a full can to thin it out a little and slow the drying rate. Sand and whisker to 320 grit, then whisker a few times at that grit until no whiskers stand up (3-4 times).

To seal, add equal amounts of finish and mineral spirits, then flood coat looking for areas the wood sucks the oil in. When the wood won't take any more, wait a couple of minutes and lightly wipe finish off against the grain. Let dry completely... it takes a day or more.

To fill pores, wet sand with finish at 320 grit. Work quickly, then wipe excess off against the grain with a light touch. Do this as many times as it takes to fill all pores. Don't jump up in grits until the pores are filled. Don't use steel wool because it will cut the finish out of the pores. Wiping excess off against the grain leaves more sanded material and finish in the pores than wiping with the grain.

After the pores are filled, sand in finish with higher grits until the amount of luster wanted is reached. Don't let excess build up on the surface.

Mike
 
The sad fact, though, is with use almost all dark woods darken so much you lose the grain. Certainly, I've found it true with ironwood. Walnut has a very fine grain, so I think sweat and oils from the hand would continually darken it. I honestly do not think comparing gunstocks to knife handles is a good one, sort of like comparing apples and oranges. A gunstock does not come into such close contact with human skin as a knife handle.

All of the adice offered is excellent, but keep in mind just putting and keeping a good wax on it may be a good way to go. You can always clean off the old wax and put fresh wax on. That may be the best way to go to preserve the clean, nice grain and color. Just my two cents:)

Dave
 
OK, instead of a knife handle/gunstock comaprison, how about a knife handle/guitar neck comparison. Both are handled frequently and often with sweaty hands. Tru-Oil is a very popular guitar finish, especially on the necks because it isn't as sticky as many poly finishes can be.
 
PB, I wasn't knocking tru-oil. It's tried stuff. All I am saying is just about any oil will darken wood. I just like a good wax. Each to his own.

Dave
 
A finish that fills the pores and is in the wood right up to the surface will not allow hand oil and dirt into the wood. If oil and dirt build up after time, it will come off with mineral spirits, Murphy's Oil Soap, etc. Finishes like this can be refurbished when they need it. I have my hands on my hunting pieces way more time through a season than I have my hands on my hunting knife.

A finish that is a pain to put on but is really tough and will both preserve and show the grain is an epoxy finish. I use Brownell's AcraGlass and get both the resin/catalyst and handle warm (using a little light bulb in a heat box)... not over 100F very much. Doing this makes the AcraGlass very runny and it sucks into the wood really well. A person can use expoxy thinner and get the epoxy into the wood better, probably.

The pain of it comes in getting the finish back down to the wood surface and getting the pores filled. It needs sanded in after the sealing coat, lightly wiping excess off against the grain. Sanding it down to the wood suface is tough work and uses a lot of sand paper. I like to put an oil finish over the epoxy and wax over that but I think a person could just use wax. The finish is cleanable and recoating with wax is easy... reoiling and rewaxing is not a lot of work, though.

Mike
 
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I rub the wood with 0000 steel wool and teak oil after I have sanded to 800 or 1000, and that gets rid of the plastic look for me. I also do not buff the wood at all after the steel wool. As soon as you use the buffer that is like buffing plastic.
 
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gixxer said:
I rub the wood with 0000 steel wool and teak oil after I have sanded to 800 or 1000, and that gets rid of the plastic look for me. I also do not buff the wood at all after the steel wool. As soon as you use the buffer that is like buffing plastic.
Click to expand...

I'm checking to see if I understand... at the end of 800-1000 grit, the stabilized wood looks plastic?

Have you tried using 3M Scotch Brite pads in fine or extra fine (maroon - lt. gray) instead of steel wool?

Mike
 
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The sandpaper gives a little bit of shine (not 100% like plastic), not as much as the buffer, but the steel wool knocks the shine down. when I get home tonight I can post a pic of one with maple and teak burl that I finished like I described. Scotch brite pads? Never tried it, but I might. This also depends on how hard the wood is to begin with also.
 
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I have a bunch of black walnut 1/2 X 2 (anyone want to trade?) I made several small kitchen knives using it just because it was on hand. After finishing everything I soaked the handle in thinned linseed oil for about a week. That was all the time I could stand to wait. A couple have been used and abused in my kitchen for a couple of years and are still holding up well. If I do the same again I'll probably use a thinner oil.
Because the grain is not interesting I'm not sure I would use it on anything else except a user knife.
Just what I do,
Lynn
 
I like to use Tru-oil but it takes time to get the results we all like. The grain needs to be filled by sanding with the oil on and letting that dry for about a week. Dont use wet or dry paper if its black in color. I use Rynowet because its red and wont leave black in the pores. I cut the tru oil by 1/3 with mineral spirits and apply a drop or two and rub it in and rub it off and let it dry. It takes another 2 weeks of this sanding between coats progressively going finer all the way to 2000 grit with a BirchWood Casey gun stock wax as a final coat.
I know it sounds like a PITA and it is but thats the way the big name custom gun stock makers taught me and it works. They charge thousands of dollars for a custom stock. Good results are not easy with high end guns or knives.
 
I some times dunk the whole handle in true oil gun stock finish and sand with it on the 1000 grit paper then buff the crap out of it with wax to seal it better tung oil works too.
 
I use Watco Danish oil with the same basic procedure. The wood gets oil til it absolutely won't take any more.Then start with the sanding.
Using this method, I can make walnut and maple look like it has polyuerethane on it. Just takes time and patience.
Not a method for the hyper and those with little patience.
 
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