Wooden knife handle finish

[Mad Professor]

What have people been using for wood finishes?

I'm a newbie to knife making and am just finishing up some small projects to get a hang for it. I got some green river blanks, wooden scales ( cherry and osage) and made up some stuff for the kitchen as first projects. Will haver nicer stuff than I could buy, and the osage and cherry will hold up if left in the dishpan

I read that the osage will loose it's nice yellow with time so I have tried marine spar varnish on one and it really brought out the color.

I assume linseed and tung oils are widely used?

Anyway what was used in the past and what are people having good results presently?

 

[M. De Land]

I have been experimenting with epoxy applied with hot air for sealing walnut and then using my tru-oil over the top. It looks like oil finish but seals like only epoxy can that has had some penetration.
I never liked epoxy finishes that lay on top because they crack in cold weather but if you can get them to penetrate by heating and working them in before they set up it is a whole new ball game.
There are some epoxy formulations out there I'm told that are made thin just for this purpose. I've only tried Agra-glass with a hair blow dryer so far on some pistol stocks but liked the results very much. MD

 

[LRB]

Super glue is used as a finish by some of the makers of modern styled knives. I just use MinWax Antique Oil Finish. It soaks in well and is durable.

 

[BrownBear]

I've always wondered if "back in the day" knives were finished at all. Doesn't mean I am being critical here at all.

But from a purely functional standpoint, my favorite knives for USING as opposes to looking at don't have any finish on them at all. They acquire a "finish" of their own pretty quick from blood and sweat, but retain good gripping qualities. I sure prefer the feel of them on a job when the blood is up to my elbows. I've had some pretty nice highly finished knives do their best to gig me when they slipped during use.

 

[50cal.cliff]

I am just venturing a guess here but "back in the day" I would venture to guess if it got a finish. It was more or a natural finish, like wax.

Once in the field it would more than likely be bear grease or some other animal fat!

I have hot dipped in wax and the hand rubbed with rags to rub into the wood with, black walnut!
It was a knife that was used for dressing out fish, so it was exposed to water and fish slime and it held up quite well, before it had to renewed!

Here is a link to finishes used from the 1600's-1950's. http://prorestorers.org/notes/earlyFinishes.htm

 

[44-henry]

I would guess they may have been finished in the same fashion that gun stocks and other items of the period were. Likely a varnish or shellac maybe followed by wax. On the frontier leaving the wood raw might have been a practice that happened, but I doubt anything that was imported would have been left unfinished.

 

[BrownBear]

I would guess they may have been finished in the same fashion that gun stocks and other items of the period were. Likely a varnish or shellac maybe followed by wax. On the frontier leaving the wood raw might have been a practice that happened, but I doubt anything that was imported would have been left unfinished.

That makes some sense, but it sure would have had me scraping off the finish if I was using the knife regularly.

 

[Black Hand]

I read that the osage will loose it's nice yellow with time so I have tried marine spar varnish on one and it really brought out the color.

Unless the Spar varnish has a UV blocker, the color will change regardless.

 

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I have given thought to early days with no finish at all and to animal fats/oils.

I need to check if the spar I used has a UV blocker? I know it holds up for years on my wooden canoe/paddles and never has yellowed itself.

Will post a picture of some the kitchen knives I've made so far.

The reason I have used cherry and osage, so far, is that they are quite rot resistant and if not finished or minimal finish the wood will not rot. The osage is a %!#ch to work compared to the cherry. None of it grows around here and the closest we have to it is locust or mulberry.

I do have a nice mullberry log and a sawmill so may try that for some future projects.......

Anyway, keep the ideas coming. I've got the bug for another hobby.

 

[LRB]

I would guess real spar varnish would very likely the dominate finish of the time. Trade knives were probably dipped and hung to dry before packing. Just guessing, but I will check on it.

 

[LaBonte]

The most common finish on knives, hawk, handles, and gun stocks for the 18th and first half of the 19th was a real boiled linseed oil/rosin varnish.
In this process pure linseed (aka lfax seed) oil was heat polymerized by boiling. During the boiling a very small quantity of white lead was added as a dryer as well as the rosin (colophony was just on type) - by controlling the amount of rosin and how long it's boiled you can make a "soft" finish or a "hard" finish. This type varnish is similar to that used by violin makers. It was thinned as necessary by aerated real gum turpentine.
Original Spar varnish was a version of this linseed oil based varnish.
Other finishes used were spirit varnishes - these were often colored.

For a period finish that holds up well to weather I use first shellac/neatlac, which I make myself, first as a sealer. This is followed by as many coats of my own real boiled linseed oil as needed. Add a coat or tow of wax is so desired.

 

[Baxter]

My most trusted kitchen knives appear to be oak-handled and without any "finish"; they are easy on the hand, don't slip even when wet, dry well and are durable for years. I am beginning in the area of small knife building and I will be using no finish on the wood. baxter

 

[Rifleman1776]

I read that the osage will loose it's nice yellow with time so I have tried marine spar varnish on one and it really brought out the color.

Unless the Spar varnish has a UV blocker, the color will change regardless.

True. I work quite a bit with OO and like it for small projects. Great for knife handles or other handles.
The UV blocker will slow the color change but not for long. Your nice yellow/orange color will turn to a walnut brown depending on exposure to light. There is no stopping it.

 

[Rickey Brown]

on the knives, gun stocks and revolver grips, I make I use a blend of 70/30 boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits with a little red mahogany stain. The first sealing coat is slurry rubbed in with 240 grit sandpaper, rubbed off across the grain with cheesecloth then allowed to dry, successive coats are hand rubbed in

 

[crockett]

Most of the knives of the day looked pretty much like this:

http://www.sheffieldknives.co.uk/acatalog/2-116.html

I'd just use the boiled linseed oil and also steel pins to attach the scales. Three pins in a straight line is okay. Beechwood is a good choice. Ash would look okay. Some knives at the time had reddish wood like rosewood, barwood etc.

 

[crockett]

The super glue finish. It dries in about 20 seconds so you have to work fast. You put on the glue and smear it around with a piece of plastic- like an old credit card. The finish will be bumpy so you sand it smooth and do it all over again. I always have to put on about 6 plus coats to get an even finish (there will be depressions that have to be filled in)
Why do it???????
Some knifemakers put on exotic wood handles that have a lot of figure. These woods can occasionally have hidden voids. The superglue fills these and makes them disappear. It therefore made sense to go ahead and keep using the superglue for the finish. As I said- the first few coats will have lots of depressions and look bad.
You need to sand to a gloss #1500 grit paper or finer. Between coats you need to sand to #600 grit and get rid of as many depressions as possible.
Linseed oil is a lot easier IMHO.

 

[tenngun]

I've finished them with oil and lard.Have left them unfished and the oil from your hand and whatever your cutting soon gives it some color.If your using some well figured wood treat it like a gun stock plain wood let it age on its own