Yew handle care and maintenance

[Leshy]

Hello, drawing on the community knowledge here again, hope someone can help.
I have a knife that Mick91 did for me last year, it has a beautifully figured yew handle , and hasn't been varnished or oiled I don't think, as Mick said that the yew would darken and perhaps discolour if the wrong thing was applied.
Apparently the yew has a chemical in its wood , much like the tannin in oak , that can react with certain products...

Now I use tung oil for most woods or boiled linseed oil for tool handles and my axe haft , but I'm worried I might ruin the yew grain colour and/or figure contrasts (orange and dark brown) if I use it on this handle...
Would any of you gentlemen know of a definitive product (natural or synthetic) that would not only feed and protect the yew but also enhance its beautiful colour?

I have smudged it whilst sharpening, as I use Japanese water stones and its a messy affair...
So now I've used 0000 wire wool to clean it, that worked a treat , but now it needs a coat of oil or wax or both?
Or , should I just leave it naturally untreated?


I don't have any other pieces of yew to play with and test out , but I though maybe beeswax would do the trick?

Any ideas or thoughts are very welcome.
Thank you in advance

Best regards

 

[Mesquite]

B.O.I.L. works nicely

 

[mick91]

I use teak oil boiled linseed will do fine though. I would tend to avoid synthetics like tung oil though

 

[Leshy]

B.O.I.L. works nicely

Please expand the acronym ? But thank you for the response!👍

 

[Mesquite]

Boiled linseed oil

 

[dwardo]

Pretty much no matter what you apply the heartwood is going to go a dark toffee brown and the sapwood a darker golden yellow. All down to UV.

I like walnut oil as its thin and food safe but anything along those lines will do,

 

[Leshy]

Boiled linseed oil

Thank you kind Sir!

I do have some here already so I might as well...
😊

 

[Leshy]

I use teak oil boiled linseed will do fine though. I would tend to avoid synthetics like tung oil though

Thank you Mick! It's still as beautiful as when you first made it , just needs "feeding" the scales to restore the sheen !
Ain't that RWL34 a bleamin hard steel to work with???!!!
I appreciate even more now the work you put into it...
Much appreciated!
👍👍

 

[Nice65]

Tung oil comes from the nuts of the Tung Oil tree, the natural version isn't synthetic but I think it's used as an ingredient in some products.

I'd recommend any drying oil. Yew isn't particularly absorbent, Danish oil works well and can be buffed to a high polish. Linseed is ok but takes an age to dry.

Because it's not an absorbent wood, the colour change will be minimal, it'll just look enriched.

Apply very thin coats, wiping away excess. Allow to dry for a week, repeat. Took me two months to get my air rifle stock to a good finish.

 

[Leshy]

Pretty much no matter what you apply the heartwood is going to go a dark toffee brown and the sapwood a darker golden yellow. All down to UV.

I like walnut oil as its thin and food safe but anything along those lines will do,

Thank you dwardo , sounds like I was worrying over nowt....
😒

 

[Leshy]

Tung oil comes from the nuts of the Tung Oil tree, the natural version isn't synthetic but I think it's used as an ingredient in some products.

I'd recommend any drying oil. Yew isn't particularly absorbent, Danish oil works well and can be buffed to a high polish. Linseed is ok but takes an age to dry.

Because it's not an absorbent wood, the colour change will be minimal, it'll just look enriched.

Apply very thin coats, wiping away excess. Allow to dry for a week, repeat. Took me two months to get my air rifle stock to a good finish.

Thank you....👍

 

[Mesquite]

... just needs "feeding" the scales to restore the sheen !

Once a day for a week
Once a week for a month
Once a month for a year
Once a year for life

 

[Leshy]

Once a day for a week
Once a week for a month
Once a month for a year
Once a year for life

.....👍👍......