Wax on scales?

I

IanBryant

Well-Known Member
I just received an order of handle material from bell forest and a set of scales has wax on it...
I have no idea where to go from here and I am beginning to feel foolish for asking since it is probably a non-issue for most folks but I'm not wood worker and the (limited) success I have had with wood is from a combination of common sense and luck. Do I just scrape it off and go or do I need to do anything special like let it dry more or just quit over thinking stuff?
 
the wax keeps it from expanding / contracting while it sits on the shelf. It's a way to control moisture content to avoid shrinking, swelling, and cracking.

When you are ready to use the scales, just sand off the wax.
 
I figured it would be a simple solution. None of the others had it so I just thought it unusual. Thank you for putting up with and doing away with some of my ignorance.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
i wondered the same thing when i first saw it. some woods are very stable and don't need it.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've learned over time to remove the wax, and let the material "acclimate" (usually at least 6 moths of it sitting in my handle material cabinet), otherwise let's say I were to order some wood from someplace very humid like Florida......it's sent to Montana, where the humidity hovers in the teens. I leave the wax on, then right before putting it on a knife, I remove the wax. All of a sudden that moisture that was sealed inside the wood in Florida, gets rapidly "sucked" out by my dry climate...... and more times then not, bad things happen. The handle material shrinks AFTER its on the knife, or warps and pulls away from the tang (on a full tang), or the worst, it checks or cracks. Just the reverse happens if the wax is left on until just before use.....if the material goes from a dry to a high humidity environment (things swell).

Probably the best example of this was when I built a "gator" knife for a gentleman in southern Florida....he wanted sheep horn scales, and I didn't really think it through. The knife was of course made in Montana. The scales were applied with Loveless bolts, and accraglass. About two months after he received the knife, he called saying that the handles had separated from the tang. Then he sent a picture! OMG!! The sheep horn had curled near the back of the handle, and one side had literally pulled the loveless bolt through the handle material! That was a big DUH moment for me. I ended up replacing the sheep horn with carbon fiber......something that approximated the cost of the sheep horn scales, and would not be affected by environmental conditions.

There are many natural materials that I either hesitate, or just plain refuse to use for knife handles.... because I've known them to be sensitive to environmental changes...... Ebony being one of the worst. There's a reason why you see most seasoned knifemakers using the natural materials they do, such as African Blackwood, Desert Ironwood, or sambar stag...... those particular species are more stable, and not as susceptible to climatic changes then many others.
 
Thanks for the reply Ed. I didn't see it until I already had liners epoxied to the scales (impatience and it is a beautiful burl...impatient couldn't wait).
My daughters like to come out to the shop and watch and by "watch" I mean distract me with little kid chatter while I'm epoxying liners to scales....I ended up putting one on upside down and having to flip it back over so the outside was covered in epoxy...the wax saved my bacon on that one, it just peeled right off after it cured. Lesson? Leave the wax on until you have everything epoxied.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
Here in fl. I try to use only stabilized wood. or hard dense woods like ironwood or African blackwood like Ed said. right now where I live it rains every day, sometimes two or three times. at 7:00 in the morning the humidity can be 90% or more. I've had knives with some wood handles that were beautiful when they went into my dehumidified big box, and came out a week later and the wood shrunk to where you could feel the tang...leave them out for a couple weeks and they would go back...mostly. be careful with light woods if there going to move from one area in the US to another which is more than probable in it's lifetime.
as far as wax goes, I scrape as much off as I can with a knife, then sand it clean. then it gets put away for along time. some of that wood may have been dipped in wax in the lowlands of Humidistan 10 years ago, it needs to breath and acclimate. on another note, I got a friend visiting in Greece right now and he said he's bringing me back some nice figured olivewood, I can't wait to get it.
 
Sweet deal on the olive wood! I hope this isn't one of those learning experiences where I made a beautiful handle (pics coming shortly) and the wonderful state of Mississippi and her brutal humidity kill it ....because I was impatient.
 
I'm also in Florida, and these guys are right on the money. In the beginning I used some softer woods. Some time later, as winter came along and the humidity dropped, the tang was sticking up higher than the scales all around. Luckily, I hadn't sold the knives so they were still with me. I should have mentioned this before when you were asking about the wax. In my case, the wood came from Woodcraft and didn't have any wax on it. On my first knives, I'd buy some handle material online, it would come in and I'd use it. I didn't really have a choice. Now that I've been doing this a little while I've managed to accumulate materials in bulk and they've likely been sitting around acclimating for several months before I use them, like Steve said.

Interestingly, the finish I put on my handles has greatly improved since that time when my scale material moved. Since then I have sent knives all over the US, Canada, Alaska, and several to Korea. None since has demonstrated that issue and many were not stabilized wood. The finish you use to seal the wood goes a long way, *if the material can be sealed.

I don't have nearly the experience of these other guys who have posted. I didn't have any idea sheep horn would move like that.
 
Last edited:
When you say "seal", do you mean polishing until it has closed the pores (don't really know how to word that. I hope you get my meaning) or do you mean "seal" as in tung oil or whatever?

If it is the latter, what would you suggest?
 
Last edited:
When you say &quot;seal&quot;, do you mean polishing until it has closed the pores (don't really know how to word that. I hope you get my meaning) or do you mean &quot;seal&quot; as in tung oil or whatever?<br />
<br />
If it is the latter, what would you suggest?

Some use linseed oil some use tongue oil,danish oil or true oil.
Is a preference type of thing I believe. I'm sure Ed and the other seasoned makers will chime in with a bit more info.
I'm still learning so I cant offer much help beside what I just did.
 
Personally, I put Tru Oil on anything that will take it. Typically four applications. Tru Oil is a Birchwood Casey product that was developed for wood gun stocks. It leaves a hard, glossy finish that stands up to the elements very well. If a material won't take Tru Oil then I will apply wax and buff.

I make a lot of kitchen knives, and regardless of what you warn people against- I know that many of them will end up in the sink underwater at some time or another. I have a number of my knives here at home that I used non-stabilized wood and sealed with Tru Oil and torture them to see how well they will stand up in the hands of customers. I'm very pleased with how they have held up. Even if the customer doesn't toss it in the sink, many knives are going to get blood, fat and the like all over the handle. Putting a good seal on the wood will help keep it from staining.

As Walt says, there is also linseed oil, tung oil, etc. I have used these as well, but I prefer Tru Oil if the material will take it. By "take it" I mean that on some materials like rosewood, cocobolo, and any very oily wood, the Tru Oil won't cure. You'll go check on the knife a day later and it's still tacky to the touch. If it won't cure, then I clean it off and go to wax and buff.
 
Last edited:
I think I'm going to check into tru oil, it sounds like serious business. I am using tung oil and I have no complaints but if there's something that will do a better job, I see no reason not to use it instead.
 
You can get Tru Oil from Amazon or Midway, or just about any gun supplies dealer. There's nothing magical about Tru Oil, it's just good stuff. I like it because it leaves a hard coating which is pretty darn waterproof.

Using it is a little work and doing it right takes a couple of days. It's a simple process but it does take time.
 
John, have you used tru oil on coolibah? I used danish oil on it an well with teens the knife handle did end up in the bottom of a sink of dishes and is a bit not so pretty anymore.
 
Hey Walt. Yes I used it on Coolibah. It worked very well, and did a great job filling large pores and checks.
 
6472a3122cc709436a31d6a9b0867839.jpg


00095fff2a8b4667cf9d05d0f3f40ede.jpg


This piece of coolibah had a number of voids but the tru oil did great at filling it and sealing it. It took about 6 coats if I recall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That's a beautiful knife.
I have some voids in the burl of the knife I'm currently finishing with tung oil, should I try and fill them with sealant or will just sealing the surface be sufficient? I like this, I'm learning stuff...
 
As a general rule, you want to fill all voids and even the pores. That's a an aesthetic decision, so do what you think looks good. Lay that tung oil on thick to fill the voids, then wipe down the surface and let it cure. Keep doing that until you get voids filled. Tru Oil is perfect for that kind of thing because it's a bit thicker and gets tacky enough to stay in place until it cures. Once dry you can rub it down with 0000 steel wool to knock off high spots and smooth the finish, then you apply another thin coat, repeat. I do it four times.
 
If you look close you can see where I made a mistake on my pin holes. In the photo with two knives, that bottom knife is done in amboyna burl. The holes are a tad oversized and you can see epoxy around the pins.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top