Maybe I'm just being weird about this. What are your thoughts?

sparklygalaxy

sparklygalaxy

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Apr 6, 2018
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I just got this Desert Ironwood #54 Big Jack off of Ebay. I'm absolutely in love with it, but the wood is much shinier than my other two Desert Ironwood GECs. I'm just slightly confused as to why it would have a shine to it when the other two have a much more obvious matte/satin finish.

What are your thoughts, ye wise and all-mighty Blade Forums? ^_~

Maybe my inexperienced self just doesn't know about wood finishes. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Or both...

Happy Holidays all! :]

Sincerely,

~ Sparkly G. ♡
 
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Wood gets shiny with buffing and/or wax and oil. Some wood has more oil than others and will polish up more even if not waxed/oiled. If a knife is polished by hand a cutler can spend more time with one piece than another or different cutlers can spend more time. I like how it looks :)
 
brownshoe said:
Wood gets shiny with buffing and/or wax and oil. Some wood has more oil than others and will polish up more even if not waxed/oiled. If a knife is polished by hand a cutler can spend more time with one piece than another or different cutlers can spend more time. I like how it looks :)
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I actually do too. :) I was just curious about the sheen, but it sounds like it must have been previously waxed or oiled, which I don't mind. ♡
 
DelOro said:
It deals mostly with the bolster finish.

My GEC's with polished bolsters have more shine/polish to the wood.

The satin bolsters usually have a more satin finish to the wood.

Nice Knives! :D

- Del
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That must be it, Del! The only other difference is that the bolsters on the #54 are shiny! I didn't put two and two together. ^_^
 
Personally IMO it looks great.
Maybe not quite the same as your others?
Some pocket time will dull it down a bit.
If it HAS been waxed snd shined and you can't abide it maybe a microfibre cloth will get some of it off.
Cheers.
 
I would also add that the finish can vary some between different cuts/grain patterns. I have had some variation in the quality of finishing of ironwood I have done.
 
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Ahhh Sparkly, you caught the GEC disease. #3 It's a good sickness to have by the way.

Could it be Cocobolo rather than Desert Ironwood? My Madison Barlow is cocobolo and it has a bit of a sheen to the wood. I can't really tell the difference between the two woods if they are dark.
 
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I can't tell you why it's shiny, but you'll find that we pick a lot of nits in this forum. :D
Nice looking knife! Enjoy!
 
DelOro said:
It deals mostly with the bolster finish.

My GEC's with polished bolsters have more shine/polish to the wood.

The satin bolsters usually have a more satin finish to the wood.

Nice Knives! :D

- Del
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Bingo! If the factory can't buff, or doesn't want to buff, a slab - the bolster will typically be satin as well. With ironwood there are parts of the grain much harder than others; my guess is they have started going to a satin finish on it to keep from getting the raised veins from some buffing away faster than others.
 
I think the possibility of it being tied to the polishing of the bolsters sounds plausible. It would make sense that increased polishing on the ends might need to be evened out...

Or maybe it is just a thing. In any case, that is a lovely knife.
 
The "hand" part of "handmade" means there will be differences like this. Varying times in finishing, varying lots of wood, etc. Vive la difference!

Zieg
 
Old Engineer said:
Just count your blessings . You have 3 nice looking GEC's in Desert Ironwood . I see what you mean but I do not see a problem .

Harry
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No no, no problem at all! I absolutely LOVE it! :) I just was wondering why there might be a difference in the wood. Sorry if I was not clear - I think it is beautiful and am so happy I was able to score it. ^_^
 
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