Thoughts on finishing bolivian rosewood

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Remyrw

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Jun 17, 2010
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I just finished shaping a handle made from bolivian rosewood. I'm wondering if anyone's worked with this before and how they finished it. I'm not looking to change the appearance, just seal and protect it and help maintain the appearance. I've thought about a clear poly, but would actually prefer something more easily maintained by the future owner. A poly finish, even a thick one, eventually gets all nicked and scuffed up and needs some love.

How about a wax finish? If I went with a clear wax finish like ren wax or lustra I could just do the whole knife and it's something the owner can easily redo as needed.

I'm not against the poly finish, just not convinced it's the solution in this situation? I can think of plenty of times I'd want the slick, durable finish of poly, but I'm not sure how it'd work if I want something a little more subtle and easily refreshed.

Any other options? Product suggestions?
 
I've had good luck using Johnson's paste wax -- heat the wood until it's a bit warmer than comfortable to hold, melt the wax, flood the wood with the wax until it can't absorb any more (or immerse it), let it cool and buff with a soft cloth -- easy to renew, not totally waterproof, but fairly stable, and since it soaked into the wood, it doesn't seem to crack, peel, or scratch as easy as a poly finish.
 
hmmmm, thanks, that sounds like a good method. That method sounds almost ideal for what I'm after.
Much appreciated. I may use a different wax, but if I go that route I'll make sure it's something appropriate to the technique.

Thank you.
 
Rosewoods can have natural oils in them that can interfere with proper curing of polyurethanes, and even sometimes with curing oils like tung oil, linseed, etc. I would sand it to a high grit and see how it looks, it might not need anything, or maybe a bit of wax. If you decide to try something like tung oil, or Tru-oil, give the wood a quick wipe with acetone to remove any natural oils near the surface
 
Yup, that's one of the reasons I was shying away from the polys, along with a traditional oil finish. I was reading up on the shellac finishes that are often used with it for furniture. Right now I've got it sanded to 600 and may go to 800.

I've thought about leaving it, due to the natural oils, but it still changes with moisture now, and you get a raised grain, I'd rather another layer of protection.
 
If it's anything like New Guinea Rose Wood. I wouldn't leave it unsealed. It's too soft and unstable. Maybe if it were Macassar ebony or very hard Australia timber like Jarrah or iron bark. As far as oiliness NG Rosewood really isn't too bad. At work we glue, lacquer, two pac etc. without acetone when making furniture. Never had any problems. Kweeler on the other hand bleeds like an Eskimo.

I think a soak overnight in sunflower voil, vegetable oil or the like would be sufficient and super easy to re-apply. You could even use decking oil as it's designed for outdoor timber.

Also, if your going for oiled or natural finish. Sand into the thousands.
 
Guitar parts are generally advertised as Honduran or "South American" rosewood, I don't know if that's any different from Bolivian. What I've always done with rosewood fretboards is to sand/dampen/sand/dampen etc with fine papaer, like 600 minimum, until I get sick of it... then leave it alone. When they get grungy (and believe me, they do), a few drops of plain lemon oil applied and burnished with a lint-free cloth cleans the wood right up and gives it a nice soft glow. I've only made one knife handle out of rosewood, but that was over 20 years ago and the client claims it's still in great shape after a LOT of outdoor use and just cleaning/refreshing it with oil from time to time.
 
James, that's an interesting idea, I hadn't thought about the dampen/sand routine but once you mentioned it I remember that as a way to reduce future issues with texture changes.

I'm not sure whether Bolivian Rosewood is different from the other south american ones, but it is technically NOT a rosewood, just shares some of the properties and got the name.

What I'm going to try is the sand/dampen/sand routine with 600 grit, then heat it up and apply the neutral tone wax. I'll test on some extra material first, but if it works well it should be perfect for what I'm after.

Thanks a bunch, guys.
 
Well, it worked beautifully on my test piece so tomorrow after work I'll repeat the process on the real parts.
 
A lot of folks have tried to remove the plentiful oils with acetone, but it only works on the surface and usually comes to the surface. The most ineffective finishes are oil based. The natural oils come out are ruin the look. Weatherby uses a two-part epoxy-Fullerplast which has worked well for over 50 years. Another effective finish is lacquer. I have tried simple wax on Brazillion rosewood, but it darkened the color too much.
 
Like James Terrio, I immediately thought of guitar fretboards and how many are not finished at all and are subject to finger oils, sweat and who knows what else from time to time. They stand up to this neglect surprisingly well.

Bolivian Rosewood is often called Pau Ferro in certain circles, looks a lot like rosewood except it's pores are nearly undetectable. It's great stuff, but the dust is often the cause of allergic reactions (think cocobolo-like) but with precautions, it's do-able.

I'd follow James' advice and not use any kind of film finish. Oil or wax ought to do the trick. Certain guitar fretboard elixers are available at music stores and bore oil (used in clarinets and oboes) might do the trick as well.
 
I'm doing a wax finish as described above, at least for this first one. After sanding I started by heating it up and applying a good coating and letting it soak in a bit, then rubbing it in. Repeated with heat once more and then a few more times without heat. I'll probably do a few more before I'm done.

I agree, the wood probably would be ok without it, except I want it to be more resistant to moisture/water, foods.... Not constant exposure but at least not stained in a short period of time. I also figure the wax lets me coat the metal as well, adding a nice corrosion protection to the 1080 I work with. It's an easily replaced bit of protection for anyone since it basically amounts to wipe on, wipe off when it comes to the metal.

You can see the somewhat finished results on the other thread.
 
A while back I had some Honduran Rosewood.
When I sprayed it with aerosol lacquer it looked good at first.
After about 10 minutes I saw a bunch of small dark spots appearing.
Oil from the wood was bleeding into the lacquer.
 
1066vik,
You guys will laugh, but I actually ended up using a minwax product. "Paste Finishing Wax" which is a hardening wax meant for furniture and floors. All the usual ingredients, goes on the same as things like Ren. Wax and Lustra... Just available locally for less cost without shipping. This one is neutral tone, designed to be suitable for lighter woods or when you don't want to significantly change the color of darker stuff.

We're a few days in and my test piece still looks good, but it's clear where I fully rubbed it in and hand buffed versus areas that got waxed and not fully rubbed in or buffed. Not an issue on the knife but good to remember in the future, particularly if I use it on furniture.
 
cool - I'll keep an eye out for the minwax when I run out of paste wax.
thanks!
 
I'm still waiting for the horror stories about how it's going to eat the steel or only lasts two years or something. :) You know, the usual, "you didn't buy the fancy special brand." stuff.
 
On my only rosewood handle I tried a crazy glue/cyanoacrylate finish before taking it out in the bush for a 4 day tent based hunting trip. I learned the value of it sealing the outer layer of wood, while allowing the handle to still retain a wood like feel as it is sanded back down to wood with very fine steel wool. You may wish to try this on another piece, at least to compare how well it works for you.
 
Remyrw said:
I'm still waiting for the horror stories about how it's going to eat the steel or only lasts two years or something. :) You know, the usual, "you didn't buy the fancy special brand." stuff.
Click to expand...

naah - minwax makes some good stuff - used their poly to seal the cathedral ceiling and hardwood floors in my house when I built it.
I first used johnson's paste wax on a cherry box because it's what I had leftover from living in the barracks -- great way to pass inspection - melt paste floor wax and spread it with a sponge, let cool - then machine buff.
at the time I figured if it was good enough to walk on, it'd work decent for furniture -- and sure enough, it seems to hold up quite well. (been 15 years since I made the box and it hasn't needed to be refinished yet)
 
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