Still need a good finish for wood

T

Travis Fry

Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
489
I'm not really a newbie anymore. I've finished about 80 knives and probably 75% of them have had wood handles. I've used teak oil, Waterlox (a tung oil based furniture finish), Danish oil, and CA. I'm not really happy with any of them.

CA is a royal PITA but looks good and shows of grain better than anything else. The oils are easier but I can't get the shine I sometimes want, and they get gummy after awhile. Waxes don't seem durable enough for me.

Anyone got anything better, or is there really not a good product out there for what we do?
 
That's the main reason I have swithced to useing stabilized wood.Sand to a high grit and buff.
Stan
 
Have you tried Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey? I know you said you weren't happy with the other oils you tried, but I have been able to get a high gloss to matte with dfferent final finishes with tru-oil. A bonus is you can use ArmorAll as a catalyst with it to get many coats on in a very short amount of time. This is one of those areas in this hobby where everyone will give you a different answer and swear their's is the best. Maybe check out some woodworking magazines/web sites for different ideas.


-Xander
 
For a CA type finish I have used a catalysed clear varnish. The one I used was sold by Rustins here in the UK.
http://www.agwoodcare.co.uk/prod/rustins_plastic_floor_coating.html
Its pretty good, easier to apply and finish than CA and seems to hold up just as well. The only hitch is that it will chip if dropped on a rock and on a user knife it isn't so easy for the owner to repair. At least everyone can get CA.

I have used Tru-Oil and didn't like it all that well. Maybe I didn't apply it right, but getting a real oiled finish seemed difficult. It didn't so much penetrate the wood as sit on top. Also, whatever I do, the stuff dries out in the bottle before I can use it all!

Danish oil won't give shine, but soaking a handle in it for 24 hours gives great penetration. It can kill chatoyancy though (at least with walnut and birch). Not a bad first step before additional oil top coats.

The nicest wood finish seems to be the most time consuming, the way the high end gun makers do it, boiled linseed, beeswax, turps sub and terebene, and MANY applications using finer and finer grades of sandpaper to wet sand the wood. The final finish enhances chatoyancy and figure, penetrates some, fills pores and has potential to give a glassy smooth surface, and can be user-maintained. I don't fool with it on everything, but for non-stablised temperate hardwoods, it does seem to work nicely.
 
One high gloss finish I do is take a container like a cup and fill with tung oil and soak the entire handle in it for 3-6hrs then pull out let dry and buff with steel wool and repeat this until u get the finish u want. Between 2-4 times usually depending on the wood. A variation of that is wet sanding with it after pullin it out of the tung oil the 1st couple of times just depending on the wood.
 
fast14riot said:
Have you tried Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey? I know you said you weren't happy with the other oils you tried, but I have been able to get a high gloss to matte with dfferent final finishes with tru-oil. A bonus is you can use ArmorAll as a catalyst with it to get many coats on in a very short amount of time. This is one of those areas in this hobby where everyone will give you a different answer and swear their's is the best. Maybe check out some woodworking magazines/web sites for different ideas.


-Xander
Click to expand...

I just picked some Tru-oil up after I saw this post. The stuff is OUTSTANDING!!
 
Travis Fry said:
I'm not really a newbie anymore. I've finished about 80 knives and probably 75% of them have had wood handles. I've used teak oil, Waterlox (a tung oil based furniture finish), Danish oil, and CA. I'm not really happy with any of them.

CA is a royal PITA but looks good and shows of grain better than anything else. The oils are easier but I can't get the shine I sometimes want, and they get gummy after awhile. Waxes don't seem durable enough for me.

Anyone got anything better, or is there really not a good product out there for what we do?
Click to expand...

If your oil finishes are ending up gummy it is caused by something you are doing. You should use an oil that will penetrate and build up with repeated coats. Tung Oil, Danish Oil, Teak Oil or Tru-Oil.

First of all use the oil in a warm dry area. The wood and the oil should be used in conditions similar to what you have indoors in your house.

1st couple coats can be fairly liberal as long as you wipe off the excess after a short while. Under an hour. Let it get good and dry between coats.

Gummy oil is usually caused by using in too cold or too damp of conditions. It can also be caused by applying too heavy of coats and not being allowed to cure properly.

After an oil finish is good and dry you can apply a paste wax and buff by hand for a glossier finish. An oil finish is less prone to show scrapes and scuffs since it goes beyond the surface. It is much easier to repair an oil finish as well.

I hope this helps.
 
Burl Source said:
If your oil finishes are ending up gummy it is caused by something you are doing.
Click to expand...

What Mark said. It takes lots of thin coats in a clean dry warm atmosphere, and plenty of dry time in between. It may take days to get it done, but it's worth it. I've done many guitar necks and knife handles both with Danish oil and plain tung oil, rubbing between coats with 0000 steel wool. Burnishing the last couple coats with clean denim or cotton gives more shine. The result is soft and silky to the touch whether you go for gloss or a matte finish.

Search around for Bruce Bump's way of oiling wood and sanding it in wet, allowing the dust to fill the grain. I haven't tried that yet but it sure looks good.
 
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