finishing ironwood

[Andrew Garrett]

What's the best way to finish an ironwood handle?

This is for a bird-n-trout knife. It may get wet.

Thanks.

[EdStreet]

Hello,

If the wood has some awsome structures going on then you may want to use some sanding sealer and poly top coating.

If you need to enhance the wood structures then may want to look at a blend of things, minwax #209 natural sealer, 100% pure tung oil (I like old masters for all wood stuff) mixed with a few drops of alcohol stain just for the effect,

However the #1 all time best mix for all wood is what we M1 Garand nuts (read collectors) refer to as cullivers magic paste, it's 1 part bee's wax, 1 part turpentine and 1 part tung oil, heat up the wax itll it's melted, then mix all parts together, you will have something like liquid shoe polish and will harden just as fast. when it is dry you will have a shine like you've been hand rubbing it for decades, oh and please note you need to buff quite good at the end.


Ed

[Andrew Garrett]

Off to the store (or stores) for bees wax, turpentine, and tung oil!

Thanks ED!

[EdStreet]

Hello,

Keep in mind you need to do any sanding/staining/etc BEFORE this mix goes on, any after the fact will NOT penetrate into the wood.

Ed

[Andrew Garrett]

Gotcha! Sand to finished, then rub in the magic!

Any special cloth, damp sponge or such for the application?

[EdStreet]

I always put it on with a gun patch to get the base coat on then finish up with my fingers. work it into the wood quite well as much as you can, when it starts cooling it will turn into a brick. I find the hardest part is melting the wax.

you have any photo's of the wood like it is now? going to put any stain on it?

Ed

[cricket]

I have finished dozens of Ironwood handles, and the thing I like best about about using it is that the wood is so dense it doesn't need a lot of extra finishing...All I do is shape it with a grinder, hand sand to about 400 grit (finer if you like) then polish with your buffer using white diamond polish...Then if you want to, use a light coat of Renisance Wax and your finished....I have never needed to use stain on this wood, hope this helps??..

[TexasJack]

I like to use Danish wood oil on it, usually the neutral color. After wetting it for a bit, sand with really fine sandpaper - maybe 600 grit or finer. Then wipe it off. Really brings out the deep colors in the wood.

[Andrew Garrett]

Now I have a few diferent methods to try!

While we're at it, I also have nice sets of Ebony and Cocobolo scales. Will the same treatment work for these?

Forgive the questions, but I have only used stabilized wood and synthetic materials thus far.

Thanks.

[TexasJack]

Some woods are 'oilier' than others. Lignum vitae is supposedly the oiliest wood there is. (They used to use it in clock mechanisms to keep them lubricated.) Cocobolo, ebony, ironwood - are all very dense and oily. They don't absorb finishes particularly well - and they also don't need a lot of finish. It's always a good idea to seal up any knots or tiny cracks and to seal the surface.

You can usually tell how a wood will behave when you sand it smooth. Dense woods like you mentioned will almost look 'finished' at that point.

[Andrew Garrett]

Well, I now have danish oil and all three ingredients for Culliver's paste. I am curious what part the turpentine plays in this mix. Why would a solvent be of use?

I'm thinking that I'll use the blend for this piece and try plain danish oil on my next one and compare results. I also think I'll work in some tung oil before the mix to get deep penetration.

Thanks for the help! I'll post pics here when the knife is done.

[EdStreet]

First off I butchered his name, it's Culver, sorry about that.

Second I have a bastogne stock made with danish oil and it's quite good.

As for the turpentine part, from what I understand it will evaporate and also help clean the object and act as a wetting agent for deeper penetration. As you may know wax is kinda dense and needs help to soak into the wood.

Ed

[Andrew Garrett]

Cool. I should get to the wood finish sometime late this week. The blade just came out of the oven and I'm gonna try etching a design in the steel and filing the spine.

Thanks again for the help!

[cricket]

There's a little trick I use when I'm in the process of finishing ironwood. Sometimes I can't wait to see what the wood is going to look like when finished. You can get a sneak preview by wetting the wood, it's almost like looking into the future...

[Andrew Garrett]

Well, I've done two wooden handles since the last entry here. The plain tung oil was so, so (on box elder burl). The three part wax, tung, turpentine stuff is awesome! I put it on last night and wiped it off this morning. Wow! I'm gonna give a hell of a buff-out when I wake up this afternoon, but if it gets no better, it will be great!

Thanks Ed, and to everyone else as well. I highly reccomend this mix! It's a pain, but I have a feeling it's worth it. I'm gonna try plain danish oil next as suggested here. If it doesn't measure up, I'll throw on a coat of the mix!