First post -- Howdy!

M

Mook

Guest
Poco told me about this group, and I'm glad he did. I'm looking forward to picking some brains.

My first question: What is a good finish for wood scales? I've just finished my second knife, and I've put cherry scales on it. After 2 applications of tung oil, it's looking really nice, but I wonder if I've made the right choice of finish, especially where durability and protection is concerned.

After these two coats, what grain there is in the cherry still seems pretty porous. I don't want dirt and grit to get worked into the pores when I'm out using this knife in the woods. Would it be feasible to apply oil based polyurethane over the tung oil to form a protective seal?

Should I start over and go with something completely different?

Thanks in advance.
 
Finishing

Mook Im sure theres a few opinions out there on finishing. If you were doing traditional wood working you probably would've used a pore sealer on that piece. Since you've already started in with the tung oil. I would soak your handle in the tung oil to try and get as much of it soaked into the handle as possible. Wipe it off sand lightly to create a slurry, and then resoak again and do this 5-6 times until you really think that oil has gone as deep as it can go.

There is surface finishing and then stabilizing. Stabilizing is where the whole block has been impregnated and its water resistant, and the movement of the wood has been greatly reduced. Some call this "plasticizing" the wood.

Theres a list of what should be plasticzed and what wood doesn't need it. If your going to continue on you might want to try some of the wood that doesnt need stabilizing, or go right for the stabilized stuff and see what you think of it. Even in the list you will find differing opinions............LOL. Good example of this is walnut another open grained wood.

You have a bunch of very talented and experienced makers here to help answer your questions. Post some pics of your progress.

-Larry
 
wet sanding with the tung oil is what I was going to suggest but Larry beat me. Welcome to KnifeDogs mook.
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BossDog said:
wet sanding with the tung oil is what I was going to suggest but Larry beat me. Welcome to KnifeDogs mook.
t
Click to expand...

Thanks. I already feel welcomed here. I'm just a hobbyist knifemaker; if I can get good enough to make knives for Christmas presents that the recipients wouldn't be ashamed of, I'll consider it a success.

As to the finish, I really like the look the tung oil has given the cherry I used, so I'm going to try an experiment. After giving the tung oil a good 48 hours to cure, I'm going to topcoat with solvent based polyurethane. If that turns out like crap, it's easy enough to make new scales and start over.

As a hobbyist, I guess I have the luxury of being able to experiment and take my time. No worries about meeting production deadlines... Though you guys who do this professionally really make works of art, I tell ya.
 
One other thing...Tung oil takes a long time to dry. You might find some Danish Oil, it is mostly tung oil with some evaporants and maybe some other additives depending on the brand. It will give a little better finish and dry in a fraction of the time.
 
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