Wood Finishes for Knife Handles - Explained!
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- čas přidán 20. 02. 2017
- In this video, knife maker Walter Sorrells outlines various wood finishes frequently used by knife makers to finish the handles of their knives. Included is information about lacquer, shellac, polyurethane, water base, oil finishes and CA. Mostly theory. A video on the practical application of finishes will follow in a month or two.
More at:
Tactix Armory: www.tactixarmory.com
Sword making videos: www.waltersorrellsblades.com
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Twitter: @WalterSorrells
Facebook: / waltersorrellsblades
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Who the hell has this much knowledge about this subject??? Thanks bro.
This may sound weird, but I accidentally discovered that automotive polymer sealants leave a pretty nice finish. I was cleaning my just-sanded knife scale, and accidentally used my mixture of rubbing alcohol and polymer sealant. The alcohol evaporated but the sealant remained. The look I can describe is it was as if you just took a damp rag and wiped it down. It appeared damp and super colorful
hi mr sorrells my name is mark sealy and i am a Blade smith who lives in Barbados and i am making knives right now because after watching u make knives and swords i got really inspired and i have learnt a lot from u as well so keep up the good work walter
"Give yourself permission to fail". Priceless advice from a veteran of the craft. Thank you!
I follow many knife making channels for entertainment. I come here for education. Thanks so much for making these tutorials. They have helped me so much.
Ive had great results with 1 coat of CA glue, then steel wool (ultra fine), clean well then 5 to 10 coats of tru oil. buff with pink no scratch. Amazing finish.
Excellent video, clear, concise, progressed smoothly and well summed up at the end. The information showed an understanding and knowledge of the craft and products and how they might turn out on a project. Thank you for the video.
Thank you Walter! You helped my dad and I complete the knife kit we got for my birthday.
thanks ... a wealth of knowledge.... the mechanism of action of the finish is vital in understanding what your doing or what went wrong... thanks again
i know you use the time you'd otherwise use to put your food on the table. Thanks a lot for your work here on CZcams Walter, i wouldn't make knives if you never tought me. greeting from The kingdom of Denmark :)
Thank you so very much for making this video. I am new to knife making and know nothing about the different finishes. This video really saves me days, hours, weeks of experimentation and money. Thank you so much for making it!!!
Very timely video since I was coming to that point in my first knife and looking for what I should purchase as a finish.
Hey Walter, I just wanted to say thanks for the great tutorials and walk-throughs. I just finished my first knife build, and for a handle finish, surprisingly enough... I used some of my Ballistol gun cleaner/lubricant. The stuff is great for leather and wood waterproofing so I figured I couldn't go wrong. After allowing it to soak and cure for a while, I finished it off with 2 coats of polyurethane and in my humble opinion it looks great and will serve as an acid/oil/water resistant finish for many years to come. I suspect eventually there will be some outgassing that may render the finish bubbly and scratchy, but I'll deal with that when the time comes. Keep up the great work. Us amateurs and hobbyists are learning quite a bit from you.
Thanks for the great coaching and inspiration Walt. Ive learned a lot and made some nice looking k ifes after learning from you.
Extremely informative video. Thanks Walter!
Thanks for everything you do walter!
Another great and informative video Mr Sorrells, thank you very much!!
Great video. Thanks Mr. Sorrels.
Nice info, good review and tutorial. Making my first knife with typical walnut,cherry,& maple ribbon scale. This video helps me to decide how to finish.
Great Video. I am just learning knife making and I learn so much from your site.
That clears up a lot! Thanks Walter.
Super helpful as always Walter!
Great summary! I was surprised you didn't specifically mention 'food safe' finishes, which I think is very useful for kitchen knife handles where they're getting constant use / cross over between food prep & with wet hands - you generally don't want any chemicals leaching out etc. For such handles I use either pure tung oil or walnut oil, built up usually in 6 layers. Then with a top coat of wax - again, pure wax (we have cosmetic grade), so no chemicals involved. I have to say though that the cure time with pure tung oil is very long when I've used it, but worth the wait. Household oils like olive are much more likely to go rancid - walnut oil is found at all supermarkets, so is perhaps the easier choice.
Richard, I am a big Walter fan and am new at this. sounds like you have a specialty with Kitchen knives. I buy the kitchen knife and handcraft the scales (food safe is important to me and my customers). I am not in the Cactus League with stabilizing yet, but will be using the Minwax Hardener technique for now. What is the cosmetic grade wax you use? I want my customers to be presented with a wonderful looking finish and be able to refresh it when the so choose to do. What would you suggest they refresh it with? Thanks, WoodRicks
Food safe finishes are a sham. All modern finishes are food safe when cured. Biggest myth and waste of concern for hobbyist woodworkers.
You make gorgeous knives. Those wood handles turned out awesome.
Awesome info, thanks for sharing!
Instablaster.
Awesome video, very informative
My favorite wood finish for knife handles so far is Howard's feed & wax, it's a blend of orange oil and beeswax and looks great on walnut and other dark woods, and even lighter woods look good with it too.
Well done! Very helpful. Thank you
Excellent every time. Thanks!
You have done a great job. Thank you. As for Polyurethane, I do use the quick dry (that I rub and wipe until it's dry to the touch) but I don't sand. I use steel wool just to scratch the surface for the next layer so I don't get fisheye. Nice job again. Thanks!!
What grit steel wool do you use?
I like 3-0 and 4-0
Great video walter!
Thanks for the information.
The tips and it's video have been very helpful to me as a knife maker but I mostly use synthetic handle scales .
Always great info!
Excellent video!!!
so so grateful for this video... I had a arm-r-seal polyurethane topcoat which I hear is food safe which I've been using on my archery rings. However, the entire can hardened.. this video helped me think of some alternative options.
thank you sir. this video helped me out alot.
Great info.
Thanks
That was informative and cool
good well balanced and informative Vid, Cheers Mate
really nice vid, help me a lot really to understand the difference !
Hi Walter, very nice and useful video (as usual)! I usually use a combination of oil and wax... good tip about oil and lighter woods...
Thanks for this video. I found a neglected folding Gerber Magnum Hunter on ebay and I am going to take a shot at giving it new scales. I am hoping to learn as much as I can before I start so I get an end result that I like, do it the right way and only do it once.
Very helpful, thanks!
Epic Ripping Belter Mate!
Oil varnish blends are a combo of both durability and shine. I'd suggest trying out Formby's Tung Oil Finish. Takes a couple coats but a little extra work goes a long way. It forms a beautiful finish that is protective and brings out the finish nicely.
Jeff and Joseph thanks...made 2 with snakewood so will try both...I am a painter for 30 years wanted to be sure of product from knife makers point of view...appreciate the help
I like that you covered waxes, very often overlooked.
excellent vidéo
This is spot on I have tried all of these and wax and oils are definitely better for a working knife
Behlen sells a product called "rock hard table top finish" it works great, its FDA approved for salad bowls and cutting boards. It makes a nice hard coat on knife handles.
What an excellent, well produced video! Im about to apply beeswax over 3 coats of linseed and hoping to get the a decent looking finish that's usable. Thank you very much
Another great, informative video. I use micro-crystalline wax with great results.
Thanks very helpful!
Thanks for the rundown, Walter.
My favorite all-purpose finish is actually extra virgin olive oil, followed by beeswax. Works very well on leather and wood both (the EVOO darkens leather a lot, which I tend to like). I usually soak the wood thoroughly between sandings as I go up in grit (for most hardwoods I do 3-4 passes from 80-400 grit). On the tighter-grained woods I use a little heat from my heat gun to encourage the oil to penetrate a bit. Then when the surface is where I I want it, I apply beeswax with the heat gun and a scrap of cloth, using just enough heat that the wax starts to wick into the grain, then wipe clean with a cloth while the wood is still warm. Finally after it's cooled I do another rubdown with a clean paper towel which takes off any wax flakes and gives it a nice soft sheen. I love the feel of a wax finish in the hand after a bit of break-in. :-)
Uncephalized I would love to see a picture of the knife that resulted from this! I've never heard of anything like that before and I am intrigued...
I have used multiple coats of boiled linseed oil and a coat of lacquer to finish. I like the way the oil brings out the grain and the lacquer gives it a great shine. this finish works very well with curly maple.
I'm not a knife maker ,although I have replaced a few and am a wood turner. One of my favorites is a blended wax called " Salad bowl finish " from Lee Valley Tools. I apply copious amounts to the handle or bowl, set it on a cookie sheet in the oven on low to warm it up. It helps the wood soak up the wax, then polish warm. Another one I used for a machete ( strictly an outdoor tool) was Dubbin it's a boot water proofing wax. I used it on birdseye maple looked beautiful and lasted for quite a long time out in the elements.
Thanks for the best treatise on the internet. The only other questions would be a recommendation of a non sanding wood cleaner and do any finishes have a negative effect on handle attachment.
Great Info!
Great video really helpfull
Very helpful, keep it up!
Nice job
You forgot one aspect of linseed oil. In the higher temperatures the oil will bake out of the wood. I used BLO for refinishing an old mosin stock. It turned out nicely, but the hot days in the sun really brings the oil out.
Rly great Video!
Excellent
Thanks again I use tung had good results
great video. .
Nice video
I use stain on light wood that I texture with a Dremel to make something like Case Bone Stag just with wood.
Carve, Stain and then just hit with a sanding block and you have a great effext! Like doing this on my Opinels or any knifes that are cheaper with simple wood. Great effect on a budget!
Hmm I might try this. I like that jigged look
Thank you you are awsome ! Continue
Keep in mind some super hard woods like Purple Heart can be buffed to a glossy surface with no other protecting agents (but they're still recommended)
I'm glad I ran into this comment. I actually have a pair of Purpleheart scales waiting to be used. Now I know.
Thanks for this video, could you cover stabilization of handle materials at some point please?
Absolutely what I was looking for to refinish my kitchen knife handles. Wax!!
800 likes is a nice round number 😀but what's really nice is the knife at 10:30 - beautiful. It's shown a few times in the video and rightly so. Walter makes lovely knives, and great videos.
Hey Walter, thanks for the video it made my life easier. What are your thoughts on Waterlox (original to marine grade) for knife handles?
This was great. I can add a little experience to the CA finish option. For knives, I just wouldn't do it. It works pretty well for pieces turned on a lathe. That makes the application of it a little easier, but it is still labor intensive as hell.
I really like the look of 1 part beeswax to 4 parts linseed oil. It works really well with tight grain hardwoods like Hickory and Pecan. To really make the grain pop though you need to apply the finish, give it a few licks with the good ole Berzomatic just to the point where the wood starts to get darker. But dont hit it any more with the torch or the wood will burn. When the finish is still hot take a shop rag or paper towel and hand buff the finish. It goes a lot quicker than it sounds.
Formula sounds like the mixture Vincent Vangoh used to achieve his impasto think paint with transparency. I will try it out ty...
I polish the raw wood with a buffing wheel and polishing compound on most of my knives. It looks amazing on hedge wood (Osage Orange) and other really sense woods.
For stabilized wood I love the results of 2 part polyurethane varnish. For unstabilized I also prefer this finish but I start with a layer of epoxy diluted with acetone which helps pull the coating into the pores and crevices. 2 part poly is a simply a clear version of the highend Awlgrip paint which is the type of paint used on high end super yachts but also has UV protection added. Even better, but harder to find and more expensive, is a 2 part acrylic varnish... which is a wood version of Imron paint which is what most ultra expensive cars- like Ferraris - are coated with. The varnish I use most often is Interlux Perfection Plus.
man you do everything I want to do in my life. knives, guns, guitars. I bet you have an awesome car and a few hundred acres of land too.
Long time fan of your work here. My wife and I just caught you on the idiot box this evening! I have to say, the method of creation looked REALLY challenging. However, you made it look easy!!! We're proud of you from D.C. buddy. BTW...how might one request a custom piece?
almost done with my first knife. guy at Rockler suggested a walnut oil finish. we shall see how it goes. i still have some sanding to do first though.
I've used "Tried and True" Varnish Oil with great success. You get a deep hand rubbed oil finish that cures to a hard finish over time with a good bond between layers. A little goes a very long way.
I used both penetrating stain finish and satin spray-on spar urethane on my rifle stock. First time I'd put a finish on wood, so I messed up a little in a couple places, but nobody else seems to notice them. Overall it looks fantastic. It's so hard and strong that you could probably use it as a baseball bat with no issues. I plan on sanding the messy parts down and re-applying the spar urethane sometime soon.
I used most of it on the outside, but I also sprayed a bit inside the stock to prevent moisture retention.
Don't put it back on the rifle until it's fully cured, though. At least not very tightly. The urethane tore some of the bluing off the barrel. It was already partially burnt off there (surplus rifle), but regardless.
I looked up this video since I got some vintage kitchen knives I want to restore and future-proof (they really don't make them like they used to), and I guess I was already on the right track. Looks like urethane is probably the only finish that will survive the dishwasher.
If I learned one thing from this video it's that people use super glue to finish wood. I never would have guessed that. For a working knife I use either Ballistol or Boiled Linseed which is what I use for axe, rake etc handles.
I like using shellac French polish style - very easy to apply and repair, totally non-toxic, and with moderate durability and fantastic luster. It's also fairly cheap and more environmentally friendly than many finishes. French polish is much more durable than brushed or wiped on shellac, do to the many overlapping layers (similar to a Abalone or mica).
2/3 walnut oil 1/3 beeswax very durable and easy to apply rich finish and even works for polishing hard oily woods like rosewood
Great vid like always!
only the sound in the beggining doesn't stand in line with the sound we get use too in your channel...
I personally like mixing finishes. I will first wipe the wood down with acetone to get rid of the oil, then CA finish, sand most of it so that it fills the grain, next do an oil finish and perhaps finish it with paste wax. Very beautiful, durable, and fixable.
Never made a knife handle, but have used boiled linseed oil on my axe and shovel handles for years. Those handle as good a the day I bought them.
Nice video. I'm experimenting with using lemon oil I use on guitar fretboards as the finish for a replacement knife handle. I hope it turns out well. Lemon oil is a penetrating finish, right?
Awesome info but one question on kitchen knifes what would be a good choice for a food safe finish
Great video! Do you have a video on creating the wrapped handles of the Japanese swords?
Yes. It's available on my web site.
I'm about to use Hawaiian Moa for a handle on a concealed carry and used Karambit. It's such an exotic wood that I'm torn on what to use. any recommendations on what to finish it with?
I've been very happy with teak oil.
the best finish as well as the most time consuming that I have discovered is an oil base stain covered by several coats of c.a. glue then sanded smooth with steel wool, then a spray on top coat of outdoor polyurethane. the c.a. glue will break down over time without a top coat protection. as an experiment, I've left two of my skinning knives outside in the weather for two and a half years and the finish still looks great.
Separately, I see a lot of brushing lacquers claiming to be limited VOCs now. I wonder how those things will do compared to what is probably a lot like acetone in the nitro finishes.
Agree on poly - lay it on thick in floors, but getting it hard enough to sand but not fully cross linked is a pain - it's too temperature sensitive and if you try to speed things up with heat and air, it can crosslink in hours and shed the next layer, leaving you working with only one current layer to sand and buff back to.
French polished shellac. For a low wear finish, literally nothing looks better. It gives the perfect surface finish of a perfectly applied CA, without the potential crazing or the appearance of a plastic or glassy coating over the surface. It works magnificently on figured, high contrast woods, bringing out the grain and creating a perfect gloss finish.
Moreover, instead of doing the whole process, a friction build finish (commonly used in woodturning) consisting of 1/3 BLO, 1/3 shellac, 1/3 denatured alcohol, varying the alcohol content as required to get the consistency you like has given me the same results as a traditional french polish, and is a lot easier to apply. Just a bit on a rag or paper towel and rub into the wood surface.
While the finish will lose some gloss with wear, it isn't prone to flaking off like other build finishes ,wearing rather smoothly. It can be applied over penetrating oils, but outside of specific applications, I find it isn't required as the BLO in the finish will do the trick. I have used this on a number of high wear pieces. It doesn't gum up with water exposure (I often finish handmade safety razors this way. They see plenty of water). I generally put carnauba over the finish, adding a good layer of protection.
I have used it on knife handles and the aforementioned razor handles, and it wears from a gloss to semi gloss. Best of all, it is fast. Multiple coats, the friction of polishing removes drying time. Can finish a knife handle in about 5 minutes after sanding.
Finally, on dense/oily exotics, you can use a wax based polishing compound before application (wipe off thoroughly first), to get a really fine surface finish. I will often buff the piece with white diamond compound then apply carnauba after the application of the finish as well.
Never thought of using super glue. thanks for the idea.
What was that knife in the thumbnail? Looks awesome.