Wood Treatment For Khuks New From Nepal

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
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OK, all you woodies and dust bunnies, expertise is needed.

When Yangdu recieves Khuks fresh from Nepal, she treats them with Linseed oil. Reno has a very dry climate, as you know, and wooden handles often crack if they are not treated right away. I started to suggest Watco's Danish Finishing oil, but then had second thoughts.

Because, Yangdu wants to cut down the number of khuks that crack,

And, needs a treatment that will work and yet leave the customer the most options for treating the wood later.

Some people like plastic, some True Oil, some laquer, some linseed oil, etc etc

What should Yangdu put on the wooden khuk handles fresh from Nepal?



thanks,
munk
 
Isn't there a lemon oil that formby produces?

Just what my mother used to smother all her old furniture items with when I was a kid.
 
I use natural Watco on all of my Khukuris, both horn and wood handled. I find that I can add coats of other finishes afterwards, including wiping varnish - even wiping polyurethane varnish.

I have never tried to use linseed oil after Watco. If you want to finish the stuff with linseed oil, it will take too many coats before you get much protection.

Watco is a good finish. ....and can be coated afterwards with other finishes. There is a general problem with any initial coat of finish - you may have difficulty with adhesion if you use some other finish later. I haven't had this problem with Watco, but have either used multiple coats of Watco and nothing else, or Watco followed by a wiping varnish, either Formby or Watco Polyurethane.
 
I tend to like linseed oil myself. I use it on all of the wood handled khuks I own. I think it creates a finish as good as True oil, but smells much better. I do not make my finishes as nice as some of you guys though. 6 to 12 coats of linseed oil and then I use Butchers bowling alley wax as a final touch. I end up with a strong satin finish when done.
I think that linseed is a safe thing for Yangdu to keep using. Works well, costs little and can be sanded up and treated with what ever you want after.
YMMV;)
 
the kamis should be soaking the handles in oil for a few hours before sending them over.
 
What kind of oil, Dan?


I tend to like linseed oil myself. I use it on all of the wood handled khuks I own. I think it creates a finish as good as True oil, but smells much better>>ArchAngel

I thought this was funny, because I notice the smells of things too. Gunnies always wax poetic over Hoppes Number 9. So, a little known but still important part of a product is how it smells.



munk
 
I'd vote for mineral oil personally methinks because of its penetrating properties.

WHATEVER oil Miss Yangdu should happen to use she needs to be cautioned about wiping them off with rags and then letting the rags set in a pile as spontaneous combustion could occur rather quickly. I don't know if one oil is any worse than another but the warning is prominent on the Boiled Linseed Oil containers.
 
I'd personally go for mineral oil first, and linseed oil second. mineral oil may be a little cheaper. I don't think it conflicts with any other aplications.

mike
 
Recently, I read a test of wood finishing materials for moisture barrier protection (was it in Fine Woodworking??). The best thing to keep water out of wood, it turned out, is to dip it or brush on melted paraffin wax, believe it or not. Also the easiest to remove later, I bet - and for sure the cheapest.

I often apply alcohol based stain to wooden handles and finish them with TruOil. I would not like a handle saturated with some unknown oil that I would have to remove by sanding off 1/8" of wood. I would much prefer a think coat of wax that I could scrape off easily. Now I know a lot of folks wouldn't. It sure would look ugly, and would have to be replaced by a permanent finish before use. So, this is probably an academic issue.:rolleyes:

Mineral oil would most likely prevent any varnish or lacquer finish from adhering. I'd nix that idea. I'd also be afraid that if the kamis were told to soak the handles in mineral oil, they'd use some truck's crankcase drainings.
 
Mineral oil is not OK if you want to add some other finishes.
I would rather see linseed oil continue, but it does not protect much against drying out. You would need multiple coats before it did that.

Watco works pretty well, but I don't know about just one coat. If you needed just one coat, then I would think that Watco would do better than just linseed oil.
 
Yeah, I can see that- give the Kamis rein to soak the handles in 'oil' and see what creative oils they might use....

I'm not a wood chuck, though have done gun and furniture refinishing. I would think mineral oil would be the worst one to use if a customer was going to want to seal it later with plastic or laquer or whatever. I thought Watko's Danish or Linseed, just a single application, might protect the wood and allow later a greater variety of refinishing.

Wax, of course, once used negates any seal like Polyurethane or whatever.

There's lots of wood working web sites and I'll probably visit one later and see what the wood brains think.


munk
 
The right air invironment is the only real way to keep wood from cracking.
Maybe she can set up one room as a properly climate controlled storage area to place all of her knife shipments in. That and a quick application of some Guardsman furniture polish to the handle (has no silicones) just before she ships them out, should take care of most of here current issues.

Guardsman comes in ready mixed forms and as a concentrate. I prefer the concentrate. Half water, half concentrated solution is the norm for furniture application, but I would recommend mixing 2 parts concentrate to 1 part water for something like what we are discussing here. The application should be done with this and a soft cloth dampened in this solution (old t-shirt is fine). It should not be a drenched cloth, just nicely dampened in the solution.

I've been using Guardsman furniture polish for about 17 years and absolutely think highly of it. I started wood refinishing when I was about 22-23 years old (will be 40 in a couple of weeks). The company I worked for at that age was a firm called Warwick Archetectural Woodwork Refinishers, and I learned all aspects of refinishing and maintaining wood. I
worked about 6-7 years with them, and just continued after that to keep wood part of my personal life.
Again, climate control is the key.
By the way, Guardsman was all we used back then, and we always polished each piece with Guardsman before shipping them back out.




Here's a way it's looked at from a museum artifact preservation point of view:

A popular misconception concerning the proper care of wooden furniture is that wood becomes "dry" and needs periodic "feeding." Once cut from the tree, wood does not eat and cannot be "fed." Moreover, unless fungal microorganisms have destroyed the majority of the cell walls, wood never ceases to absorb or lose moisture, so it can never be said to be too "dry." Even wooden objects from tombs of Egyptian pharaohs still have the capability to expand and contract in response to changes in humidity.

The perceived dryness on a piece of furniture is usually a condition of the finish, wherein it has become crackled from age, where shrinkage of the film of finish may have resulted in its cleaving from the wood, and the aged finish is generally covered by a layer of embedded dust. Treating the "dry" wood with an oil can have either of two adverse effects. If the oil is a drying oil (pressed from any nut or seed such as linseed, tung, walnut, or any other plant), as it dries it forms a film by the oxidation and cross-linking of its components. Unfortunately, the process doesn't stop when the film is hard but still clear. The oil continues to oxidize and cross-link, eventually becoming dark, soft, gummy, and very difficult to remove without damage to the original finish. If the oil is a mineral oil (a distilled fraction of petroleum), it will never dry, but can penetrate into the wood through microscopic fissures in the finish, causing dark streaks. Again, the solvents necessary to extract mineral oil from wood are harsh enough to remove original finish and may even remove some of the wood's natural color. Most pump or spray polishes contain drying oils or, worse yet, pure silicone, which cannot be removed with any solvent known to science. Oil soaps contain detergents that may be too harsh for an aged, original finish, and they intentionally leave a film of drying oil. Since the intent of any polish is to brighten the surface of a finish (the polish fills in microscopic scratches and fissures in the finish, temporarily restoring luster and clarity), one wants to use a polish that does not darken and that is easily removable. The best alternative to commercial furniture polishes is a good grade of paste wax. One can buy a can of furniture wax (e.g., Renaissance Wax or Goddard's), but the average paste floor wax (e.g., Johnson's, Behlen's, Butcher's Bowling Alley) contains excellent plant and animal waxes at a fraction of the cost.


The above information was copied from the following link, which has more preservation facts:

http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/collections/artifacts/acs2/

Hope this may offer some help :)
 
Ballistol®?

I'm no woodchuck, but I've put this on raw wood and it seems to bring out the grain. Preserves the metal too. It's mostly mineral oil, with some other stuff, I think. Good also for leather. And if there's one smell I associate with these things, it's that licorice-y odor that makes me cough every time.


Ad Astra
 
Mineral oil still gets my vote because it will penetrate and *should* help solve the problem, besides it's probably the cheapest that Miss Yangdu could aquire.
The resulting oily wood wouldn't be any worse than the Chandan or Rosewood to put further finishes on.
All that would need be done is a thorough cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap and if that didn't clean it enough then some judicious use of mineral spirits would take care of the problem.
My first vote would also be the Ballistol-Lube but it's way too expensive to be used in such a manner.
Miss Yangdu would have to buy it by the five gallon can or larger methinks to keep an ample supply.:rolleyes: :(

I used Ballistol and Mineral Oil on my large Foxy Folly handle and I doubt I would have any trouble starting with it is now if I wanted to put a Tru-Oil or polyurethane finish on it. It has not shown the slightest tendency to crack and the finish is beautiful.:thumbup:
 
Welp, (you like that word?) you guys have made me just curious enough to go to a wood site and find out. I'll let you know if the sophisticated antique and furniture guys know any different than us lowly knife guys.



munk
 
I'd lean toward a humidifier myself except for that pesky rust thing...

What kind of finishes does mineral oil preclude? :confused:

*looks over at 29 wood handles in alarm* :eek:
 
Relax.
I believe there are products, gentle ones at that, which remove finishes and allow one to continue.


I've written a place called Wood Finish Supply for advice.

I must tell you this as soon as possible, because I found it amusing and informative:
(And Do Not Take My Amusement The Wrong Way)

When Yvsa warned about oily rags I noted it but told myself Yvsa was right but probably worries too much.
Guess what?

The Very First Thing these Professional People Warned About Was Leaving Oily Rags Around in Balls!!!!!

Take heed. !!!

We got smart people on this forum who Know Things. But you already knew that.

munk
 
For those that ever run into a problem where oils in the wood are causing fish eyes in the finish, or the finish simply not drying because of oils in the wood, there is a method that most times can prevent this problem. It's a process where you first seal the wood with a heavily cut down shelac/denatured alcohol mixture. After this is done, then one can apply the laquer or other clear finish on top of the shelac, which will act as a barrier from the oils.
The shelac usually dries on just about any oil in the wood.

When ever I feel that a natural wood oil or years of heavy oil based furniture polishing was used on a wood, I usually prepare the wood with this shelac treatment before applying whatever finish I want on.
 
We have a maple cutting board that has been treated with mineral oil twice a year for many years. It gets wet several times daily and is still sound and crack-free. So, perhaps MO is a good treatment???
 
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