blackening knife handle

[mrcharly]

I've previously done a flame-blackened handle on an axe and it worked well.

Want to put a shiny black finish on a hardwood handle for a knife. Would boot polish work?

 

[Stevie777]

small tin of Black Lacquer maybe ??

 

[Samon]

it'll be mucky!

my advice is flame blacken, then seal the wood with super glue or lacquer then polish.

 

[Dave Budd]

boot polish won't work

Your best bet is to use a very hot flame such as an oxy-gas torch, that way you won't risk drying the wood too much and cracking it, or having issues with other metal handle parts. Any organic bits might cause issues though. Alternatively, dye it black with leather/wood dye and then oil.

If it's got a lot of tannin in it (such as oak) then a soak in vinegroon works well

 

[HillBill]

The heat won't do the glue bond any favours if epoxy has been used. Anything over 60/70ºc will soften it!

 

[santaman2000]

I'd look for an ebony wood stain then lacquer and polish over that.

 

[mountainm]

soak in very strong tea for ages., then apply vinegaroon solution to it - this will blacken the tannins - then polish.

 

[Samon]

For those unsure what vinegroon is, it's a solution made from vinegar and metal shavings. You can make it in a jam jar in a week, fill half full with white vinegar and either file off iron, steel shavings into the jar, or just droip in some fine wire wool and leave to slowly fizz away. I found after two weeks with a straining I had a good amount of useable vinegroon dye. It turns raw leather black/dark grey in seconds and similar with untreated wood.

Good for us on the cheap and a fun project.

 

[Robson Valley]

The vinegar and iron stain preparation is a very old one, sometimes referred to as "ebonizing."
I use about 2C vinegar and a "bun" shaped pad of fine steel wool. Takes about 3 weeks to dissolve.
The iron acetate formed in the process reacts with tannins in woods (and leather, thanks for that).
If you work with a very pale wood with a low tannin content such as Lime/Linden, you can assist that with a first stain
of very strong tea to supply the tannin. Then the iron acetate binds up quite well, scrap tests, first, of course.