Inganeþ se Wyrm (Old Eng.='Enter the Dragon'), or, Giving Garud the Walosi Treatment

yikes...

apology accepted, and I didn't read close enough. As far as I know they could both show up though.

As I recall Wal used things like very fine steel wool wrapped around toothpicks. T'were me,I'd avoid the steel wool since it has a nasty habit of breaking up and wedgeing itself in little crevices on "ordinary" handles, let alone the carved ones.... I'd use jeweler's files, then bits of fine sandpaper wound about them. For the perfectionist, maybe cotton doped with abrasive next.

What a blast from the past--I still wonder how both are doing now. Beo did take great pix.
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with raising the dead as long as there is some note saying so...so I tried to help :) It is a good topic...many of us have these or Hanumans and it's the garage time of year in the US for woodchucking!
 
I used jewelers files (actually old moldmakers files) to clean up lines, smooth nicks, and general stuff. Most of the carving on my Garud had been cleaned up very well, so this was a small part of it. 0000 steel wool strands around a toothpick, or more often a Q Tip were used to take out the lines left by the files (and most of these were fine burr files that left very little to smooth out). An old, soft toothbrush is necessary to remove any steel wool left on the wood. In the rally "busy" parts of the carving, I used a Q Tip to apply the oil, and just let it set up and harden in those places. A good small knife is handy, if you "overuse" a Q Tip to the point that it starts leaving linters on the wood. Sometimes it is handy to wet the Q Tip with water, wring it out, and then use it to apply the oil. I got the eyeballs on mine so smooth that the light reflections made them look reptilian. Scary little critter. Fun stuff, addictive, and help you stay sane ..... or keeps you quiet and looking industrious so they will THINK you are still sane.

As for raising this old thread, Thank You - reminds me of when I had a life.
 
ok I understand about the sanding part to smooth out the carving that sounds good...

But what is the first step when you get a fresh handle.. there was discussion about removing the original finish is this correct? What is the best way to do this?

Then you do your fine sanding and rouge-ing.

Then you rub oil on it many times..

Did I miss anything? Any tips from those who have been there? :p
 
My first step is to go over the wood with a soft toothbrush dipped in Murphys Oil Soap, to dislodge the last of the buffing rouge. Whatever they use for their final finish (wax, oil, ?) comes off with this, in most places, and blends well with the stock finishing oil in places where it remains. The only sanding I do (with 600 grit wet or dry) is in places where the steel wool won't reach, and the carving is too delicate to poke around with a file. In these places, fold a small piece, and use the corner, sometimes backed with a toothpick. There aren't too many places where the actual grain will light up, what with the profuse carving and stippling of the backgrounds, but those that will take a smoothing, and show some figure, will really show up well against the adjacent carving.
 
thanks for the tip please don't mind if i recall this thread after the oil soap treatment..... :D
 
There it is from the woodchuck's mouth/fingers.

And we didn't even have to turn on the signal.
 
Okay oil soap brushing is done, should I do it again for good measure or go to the next step....?
 
John were you still getting red residue off the handle or had the soap started remaining white? If it's not red anymore you should be through with the soap. Give it a light sanding and/or steel wooling per Walosi's instructions, get rid of any dust and start with your finish of choice.
A smooth polished hard substance like a toothbrush handle or small piece of metal, bone, or whatever rubbed over the surface will burnish the wood and help start the sealing by pushing the wood fibers together. The slicker the better before you do that though.
There's lots of woodchuck tricks.;)
If you want to stain it do that first, after the light sanding of course, and you may want to do it a couple of times with the light sanding the finish step.
 
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