Kellam Puukko, care?

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Nov 12, 2007
7
0
ohio
Hello friends, I just got a Finn series Kellam Puukko knife, with a wood handle. The handle feels dry, I was wondering what I should use to protect it?

Thanks

JBOGGS
 

Chinkapin

Settler
Jan 5, 2009
746
1
83
Kansas USA
There are many good products that you can use. My recommendation is find one that says it is boiled linseed oil with a drying agent added. Boiled linseed oil is what is put on the finest gunstocks. It will give you a good depth of finish and bring out any grain that may be present.

Be sure it has a dryer in it or it can take FOREVER to dry.

One nice thing about linseed oil is that if you ding the handle up a bit, you can touch it up with a little sanding and some more linseed oil.

Put on a minimum of five or six coats, rubbing down each coat after it is good and dry with 0000 steel wool.

Some people don't rub down the last coat. I like a satin sheen, not a high sheen, because I think it looks a little "classier", so I rub down the last coat with rotten stone (a very fine powdered pumice). You can get it a good paint stores.

Tung oil is easy to put on, drys fairly quickly, and looks very nice. But, in my opinion it darkens with age. (not necessarily bad -- but know what you are getting into).

With the linseed oil, take your time, rub just a SMALL amount in by hand, rub it a lot. You are literally rubbing it into the wood. Add more as needed.

If your knife has a finish on the handle, and I assume that it does, you might want to sand it lightly with some 400 grit sandpaper (or higher) to knock off the top of the finish so that it will take the new finish into the wood. If the finish is heavy you might need to strip it off, but the way you describe the knife as "dry" It sounds like it has very little finish.

Good luck,
 

Chinkapin

Settler
Jan 5, 2009
746
1
83
Kansas USA
gun bug: I also have a new knife, a Finnish EnZo. I just attached arctic birch scales to the tang. After answering your question, with what I though was the consensus opinion. I began to search the internet for info regarding finishing birch. I knew that it is very difficult to stain without leaving blotchy spots.

I was originally inclined to stain my birch, as I normally do not care for real light wood, such as naturally finished birch. However, I discovered it is very difficult and involves several steps to stain properly.

At this point, I decided that it might look quite nice left natural. To make a long story as short as possible - - I found several web sites that said boiled linseed oil would not hold up well outdoors, and reacted to sweat by darkening. They also extolled the virtues of Tung oil as being less apt to darken and better at bringing out the subtle grain of birch.

So, If they are right then I was wrong. These people were all professionals who stain finish cabinetry for a living.

I also found out that there is such a thing as Pure Tung Oil (which is not so good); Tung oil that has additives; and some products that say "Tung Oil Finish" that actually contain NO Tung oil at all! According to some, Minwax Tung Oil Finish has no Tung oil in it at all. Homer Formby's Tung Oil, according to them has only a little Tung oil. I guess It is "Let the Buyer Beware."

I Tung oiled my handle and it really came out very pretty. It was a fairly well figured piece of Arctic birch, and I am well pleased with it.

I hope this information is more accurate and more up to date on my previous "conventional wisdom"

I think my somewhat negative feeling regarding Tung oil expressed in my previous post happened because I used a very inferior brand of oil.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
I find it very odd that they said linseed doesn't hold up well outdoors, as all my knives have linseed oil finished handles and I've never had a problem at all, and they wipe dry after getting wet as well. I've never noticed them darkening due to sweat, but most of them are darkened with a torch to help bring out the grain anyway.

I personally dislike tung oil, but that's just me. I've never found it to bring out the grain nearly as well as linseed, but perhaps since it's thinner (at least the stuff I got was) it might work better on something like curly birch.

When finishing a knife handle I'll usually soak in linseed oil over night, rub with fine steel wool as stated and leave it for a while to dry in to ensure that the oil does penetrate into the wood and dries. I've actually got two different linseed oils, one thinner that I use for soaking and one thicker I use for finishing. The thinner, I assume, has more spirits added by the manufacturer to make it that way, but the thicker seems to give a more attractive finish. After that, it's just several coats of oil applied with steel wool with some soaking in/drying time in between.

Pete

PS: As I posted, I remembered that I've never used tung oil, I was thinking of teak :eek: Sorry about that!
Also, re-oiling periodically will increase the life and look of the handle.
 

Tye Possum

Nomad
Feb 7, 2009
337
0
Canada
Interesting! I was about to look for a post about this for my Kellam wolverine. I don't mean to take over the thread but I gotta ask a couple questions...

First, how do you soak the handle, like do you just put it in a glass of linseed oil or something?

Second, when applying those coats of oil, how do you do this? Do you use a rag soaked in oil and just rub the handle or drip some right on the wood and rub it in?

Third, do you combine soaking and rubbing in or can you just do one or the other?

Sorry, I had to ask because I'm planning on doing this to my knife soon and although I could probably find out for myself while doing it, that might ruin the handle as it seems to be a fairly big and permanent thing to do.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
First, how do you soak the handle, like do you just put it in a glass of linseed oil or something?
Exactly!

Second, when applying those coats of oil, how do you do this? Do you use a rag soaked in oil and just rub the handle or drip some right on the wood and rub it in?
I use the fine steel wool to apply all coats of oil.

Third, do you combine soaking and rubbing in or can you just do one or the other?
I combine - even if you don't apply more coats after soaking (which I always do anyway) the oil needs to be rubbed in and the excess removed, or it will dry on the surface of the handle - not only will it take a long time to fully solidify and be goopy until then, but it will be like a rather unpleasant and rubbery varnish - in my experience at least! If it starts to get goopy and sticky on the knife I take that as a sign that it's not soaking up any more oil, and I'll use steel wool in oil again to remove the goop and then wipe the handle dry with a rag.

Hope this helps...
Pete
 

Chinkapin

Settler
Jan 5, 2009
746
1
83
Kansas USA
Draven: I agree with what you said about finding it odd about linseed oil not holding up out of doors. I found it odd myself since all of my guns are stocked with walnut and the majority of them are finished with linseed oil. I have had most of them for many, many years and they do not need refinishing, they have been caught in rainstorms, and you pretty much carry a gun in the same location every time you pick it up and none of my stocks are discolored from sweat or anything else.

I would say that they have darkened somewhat over the years, but only ever so slightly.

As far as touching up or repairing a handle on a knife, I feel that both oils lend themselves to "touch - ups." A little light sanding, another application of oil or two and you are good to go.

I was just repeating what I had gleaned from the web. As we all know the web is full of good ideas and its also full of garbage. The trick is in discernment, LOL.
 

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