got one of stew excelent hoof knifes The handle as he said is functional , I found it a little uncomfortable to hold , so 15 mins with a file and i made some finger grips took off the "hard " back surface and gave it a bit of palm shaping . Stripping off the yellow varnish reveals a nice beech grain so i finished it with 600 grit . Wanting a waxed finnish i melted a mixture of pine resin, bees wax, linseed oil and turps in a jam jar in a bowl of hot water once melted i stirred in a tea spoon full of cedar wood oil. once set the resultant mixture is easy to apply to the wood a polishes up great and of course smells great to? Does any one have a pet mixture they use on leather or wood ?