Question about tung oil and knife handles.

R

redd1981

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Oct 4, 2011
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Hey guys,I recently finished my third knife and thought it came out good enough to be my first gift knife (still working on those first fifty stacy :D )

Anyways, I used Honduran rosewood for the handle and and tung oil for the finish. Well I kind of went crazy with the tung oil and put a ton of coats on it. Im not sure how many coats but I spent about 2 weeks on it making sure each coat sat long enough to fully dry. I now have a nice high gloss handle that almost looks wet. The problem is when I hold it it feels oily and leaves my hand feeling greasy. Its been about a week since the last coat and it still feels the same. I tried washing it with dawn and it did not help. the wood looked and felt bone dry when I started the process so Im not convinced its natural oils bleeding through the finish (am I wrong on this?) and I dont want to wipe it with denatured alcohol until I get a second opinion Im afraid it going to remove the finish.

Any advice?
 
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Wipe it off good with denatured alcohol, let dry for a few hours, and sand it back with 400 grit to just exposing the wood. Let it sit for a few days. Sand up to 1000 grit and buff hard with a soft cotton cloth.
 
I will try this stacy. am I pretty much doing this to start over with bare wood? I like the way it looks but I find it unacceptable to give someone a knife with an ever-greasy handle. was using oil on an oily wood my biggest mistake? what is causing this? the wood did not feel oily before I put the tung oil on. sorry all the questions but Iv never had this problem before. but at the same time this my first time using rosewood.
 
Yup. Some woods simply won't allow the finish to cure. You'll find that with Blackwood too. Sand and buff.
-M
 
I've used tung oil on 5 handles with Honduran rosewood. None felt greasy. I sand the handle to 1500 grit w/d, then buff with white-compound. Using a q-tip to smear tung oil on it, wait 5-10 minutes until surface feel tacky, wipe it dry with clean cloth. Repeat oiling after 12hrs or so for 2 more times. Finish with white-compound buffing.

The oiled handles seem stay smooth and gloss after extended exposure to water. While the one I didn't oil seem to get the dull look after short period use in wet environment. So far (I'm quite new at this), only Cumaru wood won't take any oil, it oozes oil instead.
 
Try a danish oil instead. It has a mix of varnishes and oild that dry more completely than pure tung oil. I have used danish oil on many tropical woods. Each coat takes 24h or more to dry. Don't add more after saturating the wood until the handle is dry to touch again. (24 or more hours)
 
I've used waterlox tung oil finish for years. Works great, but you can put on too
many coats. 2-3 is enough. This product isn't pure tung oil, but a modified
tung oil varnish, and dries through oxidation not just evaporation.
 
If you put on genuine tung oil it can take a long time to cure to begin with, if it's one of the tung oil finishes (about all most people will find locally) then it's probably due to a combination of putting it on too thick and the natural rosewood oils.
 
Hello! New here :) I have a basic question about oil/varnish. I've been collecting vintage steak knives with wood handles that could use refiishing. What do you do about the rivets and spine between the scales? Do you steel wool/sand the varnish down to keep metal exposedl or varnish over the rivets? How do you do multiple coats and not cover the rivets? Ideas welcome :)
 
Welcome xetaprime,
This is a year old thread. You should look at the dates of the last few posts before resurrecting an old thread.

As to varnish on handles, you just let it cover everything. In the rubbing and buffing, it will rub off the metal. The trick is to allow the finish to penetrate INTO the wood, not build up ON it. That is why it is wiped off after 5-10 minutes, allowed to cure, sanded down, repeated 2-3 times, and buffed hard when done. There should be no noticeable layer of finish on the surface.
 
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