Ivory micarta tip

[Mitchell H.]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, did a search and didn't see it. I noticed some complaints about how hard it is to keep ivory paper micarta clean when working, etc. so I tried something simple, and it worked....I would sand it to 800 grit and try to buf it with a felt belt and white compound and the brass pins would smear black across it so I couldn't get the polished finish. Well, out of desperation, I washed it with dawn dish soap and rubbing with my fingers under hot water after buffing for the umpteenth time, and lo and behold, it took every bit of stain and discoloration out of the handle to reveal a perfect, clean buffed handle

[Terry Primos]

Good tip. I haven't heard that one before. Here's another:

I haven't used Ivory Micarta for better than 10 years, but back when I did I used Topal tooth polish, which is a toothpaste for smokers -- to remove tobacco stains. That worked well for me. Made the handles smell good too.

[ranger1]

Good info!I had the same problem,I used Crest.Dishsoap would seem less abrasive.

[AwP]

Dawn is great stuff, a whole 'nother league from other dish soaps. It can be used as an industrial strength degreaser, it's a key component in super quench, and you can get just about anything on your hands and it'll take it off. There's a bunch of other odd uses for it too. I heard that they donate free dawn to oil spill cleanup opperations, from using it to clean shop when I worked at an oil change place I can attest to the fact that it's up to the job. No, I don't work for dawn or have stock in their company or anything, I just think it's great stuff.

[Andrew Garrett]

I just finished one with this stuff and was wondering if neutral shoe polish would be a good sealant. Anyone try that yet?

Super glue is out of the question on this one as it is carved heavily.

Can't find rennisance wax anywhere. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, ehh?

[Mitchell H.]

Originally Posted by Andrew Garrett

I just finished one with this stuff and was wondering if neutral shoe polish would be a good sealant. Anyone try that yet?

Super glue is out of the question on this one as it is carved heavily.

Can't find rennisance wax anywhere. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, ehh?

I have used neutral shoe polish compared to johnsons floor wax which was recommended by someone here, I think, and found the shoe polish seems a little better.

[circlepknives]

You can get it here Andrew!

http://www.restorationproduct.com/

BTW try ren wax in google

[circlepknives]

Mitchell, pls email me at paulv22@cox.net

Thanks!

[fitzo]

For a lot less money, one can get good results with either Briwax (woodworker.com) or Conservator's Wax (leevalley.com). Goddard published a study of waxes for blade protection some years back and liked Briwax the best, IIRC.

[tmickley]

Originally Posted by fitzo

For a lot less money, one can get good results with either Briwax (woodworker.com) or Conservator's Wax (leevalley.com). Goddard published a study of waxes for blade protection some years back and liked Briwax the best, IIRC.

I read that article Goddard wrote on wax and duplicated his tests. Bri-wax was better at protecting against rust, is significantly cheaper and looks just as good, if not better than Ren wax. I use Bri-wax and let my Ren wax rust on the shelf....

[Andrew Garrett]

Thanks fellas!