Help a young bushcrafter out!

[LukeP]

Hello dear bushcrafters,

I have a question that's been bothering me for quite long now. I really want a genuine bushcraft knife. That is, one with a wooden handle as opposed to a plastic one.
So far I've only used Mora's, because I'm afraid that wood will corrode upon contact with water. And let's be honest: if you're out in the bush you never know when it's gonna rain, when you're gonna fall in a pool you failed to spot or any other activity which involves water and a wooden handle.

Is it really that bad, or am I exaggerating? And if I'm not, are there any techniques of treating wood so that it becomes "water-resistant" if you will? Any "low-budget" ones (up to about 10 quid), like certain types of varnish or oil which will protect the wood?

I hope you can help me out, for this is something that's got me thinking me for a couple of months now...!

Cheers,

Luke.

 

[beenn]

I think exaggerating

I have a knife with a wooden handle which has been used many times, i've heard of the wood swelling up on folders like opinel knives but i cant see it being a problem on a fixed blade- although i'm no expert

 

[blacktimberwolf]

There are a few oils you can use to protect & enhance knife handles, Raw linseed oil is in my opinion the best (there are several recent threads on this subject, have a look in "edged tools") it's non- toxic, cheap & easily found.

 

[John Fenna]

I prefer wooden handles for most knives - even my canoeing knife is wooden handled!
Just oil it now and then with a wood oil - teak oil or boiled linseed are good examples...

 

[Nonsuch]

The carbon steel blade on your Mora or new bushcraft knife will corrode long before the wooden handle! Go ahead and get a wooden handled one if you want to!

 

[Shewie]

Water is a good preserver of wood, it's certainly not corrosive anyway, remember the Mary Rose ?

Go on, treat yourself to a decent knife

 

[Shinken]

Also consider a knife with a handle made from Lignum vitae of Coccobollo. They are very weather resistant woods due to them being naturally oily

 

[Everything Mac]

Just as Shewie says, water is good at preserving wood.

I'd soak the wood in a suitable oil. I soak my wooden handles in boiled linseed oil. Seems to work well enough.

All the best

Andy

 

[LukeP]

The carbon steel blade on your Mora or new bushcraft knife will corrode long before the wooden handle!

I'm a bit ashamed of this little ditty, but I have never actually used a carbon steel blade; I always went for the stainless ones (also due to my fear of water).

But, I have decided to buy a carbon steel blade anyways because of the huge advantages. Only problem I had was with the handle, but you guys are doing a great job at convincing me to purchase a wooden handled one!

 

[LukeP]

I'd soak the wood in a suitable oil. I soak my wooden handles in boiled linseed oil.

Basically, if I got this right, I acquire some linseed oil, put it in a container/bottle of sorts, and soak the knife handle in it? And this won't leave me with an oily/slippery knife handle, even after I wipe it with some cloth?
How long should I soak it in linseed oil, you reckon?
The choice of linseed oil rather suprised me: I expected I'd have to apply some sort or varnish to keep the water out, but now it appears as though oil can do the trick quite nicely!

 

[Highbinder]

Also consider a knife with a handle made from Lignum vitae of Coccobollo. They are very weather resistant woods due to them being naturally oily

What are other hard wearing woods? I know Osage orange is very hard stuff, and Ironwood, too.

As long as you take care of the knife it'll be fine. The steel and leather sheaths will be much more susceptible to water.

/e: varnish would make for a very slick handle when wet. The wood soaks up the oil, in effect leaving less space for the water, if I understand it right. And whatevers left after you wipe down the wood should evaporate. Anyway, if you're buying rather than making all this will have been taken care of by the maker.

 

[addo]

you'll be fine Luke, soak a wooden handle over night or more, wipe off the excess and allow to cure (dry and harden) for a day or two depending on the oil.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Basically, if I got this right, I acquire some linseed oil, put it in a container/bottle of sorts, and soak the knife handle in it? And this won't leave me with an oily/slippery knife handle, even after I wipe it with some cloth?
How long should I soak it in linseed oil, you reckon?
The choice of linseed oil rather suprised me: I expected I'd have to apply some sort or varnish to keep the water out, but now it appears as though oil can do the trick quite nicely!

Thats pretty much it - soak a new knife overnight and then wipe off any excess....

You can then go by the oiling mantra "Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and once a year for life!"

Varnish, while sounding idea for a knife handle - will also make the handle slippery when wet with your sweat - and can cause blisters if used hard!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Xunil]

I like to finish my hard use knife handles off with beeswax.

This is how I typically finish off a hidden tang knife:

1. tape the blade up for safety

2. weigh the knife (optional step)

3. place knife handle-down in plastic beaker

4. pour your chosen oil finish (I like boiled linseed, Danish or Tung oil) into beaker, so that the oil is a quarter inch or so over the top of the handle material

5. pull a couple of bits of clingfilm over the top of the container, one on each side of the blade, effectively sealing it in

6. go away and make more stuff, do something more interesting, think lofty thoughts, feel morally superior etc...

7. two weeks later (yes, really) I remove the knife from the oil having topped it up if required to ensure the entire handle remains fully submerged

8. allow excess to drip off

9. wipe any remaining excess off with lint free cloth

10. allow to dry for a couple of days

11. give the handle a quick rub with a soft cloth and then rub some melted beeswax or a beeswax based traditional gunstock polish all over it, working it in with your hands to keep everything warm

12. wipe off excess

13. buff well with a soft cloth

The finish you get when you do this is great - it lasts for ages, the beeswax lends a slightly tactile feel.

If you bothered with step 2 and repeat it at this point you might be very surprised at how much weight the knife gains, but it's unnecessary unless you are interested in the fine details - I am trying to build up a repeatable, predictive close estimate of how much I should expect different handle materials to gain weight like this, for use on other non-knife related projects.


Some people just wipe a little oil onto the handle, allow to dry, give it a quick rub with super-fine grade wire wool and repeat. The end product isn't nearly as good as when you soak the handle, which really makes the wood glow and completely changes its characteristics and appearance.

Be advised though, that soaking the handle like this on a full tang knife can introduce scale issues where the handle slabs can shift slightly due to taking on the oil. It can also go some way towards compromising the glue joint, depending on a great many factors.

 

[Two Socks]

Since your from Holland: Gamma sells boiled linseed-oil in bottles of 0.5 Liter for about 4 euro`s.

 

[LukeP]

Thank you for all the help: you were more than perfect in answering my questions! I'm glad this board is such a high quality one.
By the way, I'm looking for a backup knife (relatively cheap, obviously) and I came across the Condor Bushlore: http://2sharp.nl/pr/showarticle.php...entscode=&currentlanguage=nl&returnto=lasturl

Could the same process be applied to this knife, or is there a risk of slight shifting as Xunil rightly pointed out?

 

[Siberianfury]

Plasticized or stabilised wood is impregnated with resin, so it doesnt soak up water.

 

[Two Socks]

I wonder if it is needed to treat a productionknife with oil, besides an occasional wipe as maintenance every now and then. I never did more to my Helle, and it is doing just fine. Even after heavy rain.

 

[JonathanD]

You can also buy stabilised woods that have been impregnated with resin throughout by high pressure. These will be like micarta and wil resist dampness, immersion and swelling. Most of my antler, camel bone and wooden handled DB knives have been made with these materials and used in salt water, canoe trips and high rainforest humidity with no problems.

 

[Xunil]

Could the same process be applied to this knife, or is there a risk of slight shifting ...

There is always a risk, on any natural material, when you do a deep oil finish.

Glue joint issues don't occur as a result of soaking in oil - the oil soak can simply exacerbate the issues caused by a 'dry joint' where the handle may have been overclamped in assembly. The tiny voids beneath the handle material soak up any liquid which can then further disrupt the joint integrity, but only if the joint is subject to stresses and strains in use that offer the oil a chance to move. It's a short-term problem anyway, since the oil, when it cures, goes hard.

The greater risk is where the very edges of the handle material can swell slightly, and you may feel your fingernail catch on them when they were flush fit before. In that case I leave the knife to settle for a couple of weeks after the oil soak and, if necessary, lightly sand the wood back to flush fit.

Plasticized or stabilised wood is impregnated with resin, so it doesnt soak up water.

That's true(ish) - sort of

Sand a stabilised slab to 400 or 600 grit and put a few water drops on it. Leave it for a while, and then tip the water off. You might be surprised at how many stabilised timbers are not, in fact, as impervious to water as we are all led to believe.

Twenty odd years ago the stabilised wood I was buying was much better than it is today - the process and/or chemicals are certainly different these days. I have a few pieces of Cocobolo left that I had stabilised in the early 90s (yes, the nineteen nineties... ) that sheds water very well and drops just sit and bead on top of it.

The stuff I am having processed today will soak some water up though, and it often still responds well to an oil finish which, you would think, would not be the case.

Try it for yourself - I was pretty surprised (and miffed) the first time I experimented with it.

So-called plasticized wood is not quite as plasticized as some would have you think and it is one of several reasons why I am using a lot less of it these days.

It still needs finishing for a long working life.