Sanding wooden handled moras

[daved]

Just got one of the traditional mora knives.

A number of people have talked about sanding the paint off the wooden handled moras and then treating them with linseed/danish oil. Now that I have seen the orange paint on my one , I am quite tempted to have a go.

Before I get up to my armpits in sandpaper and oily goo, I was wondering what the end result is like - is it worth the effort? Anybody got a picture of their handywork?

Any tips on how best to tackle this? Someone suggested removing the handle first - is this easy to do? (looks like the end of the tang has been hammered over a washer to hold the handle on). How best would I re-attach the handle? (Learned a long time ago that it is better to ask this question before you start, rather than after! Painful memories of trying to stuff the spring back in to my air rifle as a kid)

Thanks for your help
Dave

 

[Doc]

All good questions.

The handle is very pale birch (not curly birch). To remove the handle, put the knife blade down in a padded vice, with the vice gripping the handle, not the blade. You will see the end of the tang exposed. Hit this with a hammer and an improvised punch and it all comes apart. I think Jimbo's website explains the construction. Mine was held by a clip, not peened over a washer. If the tang really has been peened over a washer then removal is probably going to be VERY difficult.

Sand off the paint by hand. It takes a while. You don't want to remove too much wood. Slightly dampen handle, dry with hairdryer and sand again. I used fairly fine paper and finished with 600 grit wet and dry (used dry), raising the grain with water and hairdryer each time.

I used some gunstock oil, but danish, teak, tung or linseed oil would do. Or you could varnish, but an oil finish is grippier. Or you could use Tru-oil which is a rather glossy oil-varnish hybrid. Th old rule for oiling rifle stocks was once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and annually thereafter! I just rubbed in three thin coats.

I put epoxy (araldite) in the handle when re-assembling - not for strength, but to seal the blade handle junction for hygiene reasons.

I got the idea for all this from Jimbo's website. It is worth doing as it looks better, gives better grip and stops food traces getting into the cavity in the handle. The handle will be a very pale wood so easy to find if you drop it.

 

[OldJimbo]

I often just use a propane torch and brass brush. After that I oil with tung or boiled linseed oil.

Mora

A picture is on the page.

 

[daved]

Thank you both for the info.

Just taken a look at your website, oldjimbo - quite an aladdin's cave of goodies there. Interesting reading.

After reading the description of how these things are built, my first reaction was "Yikes" and then "but that shouldn't work". Seems to though. Bit surprised at how there is no support for the tang underneath the guard.

I'm not sure if my one uses that collar at the end - it looks solid and there is definitely a washer there. (I would post a picture but unfortunately don't have a camera.) If it is solid, do you think it is worth trying to get the handle off or just do what I can with it in place?

Thanks
Dave

 

[Seagull]

Daved, here.s what I discovered, when I tried to do just this:

First off. it didnt occur to me, to remove the handle and I am glad of that, for I dont think I could,ve got it all back, not securely.

I hand sanded sanded and sanded, used nitromores stripper and every other sort , sanded from all positions and all points of the compass and , sanded some more and still, I couldnt remove all the original finish.

So I called it quits and I oiled up and lived with it for a while and got more and more miffed with it.

Eventually, I binned all that effort and removed the damn handle and made a new one, from Yew heart.

At least I was happy with the clean finish and it gave me an excuse to use the Dremel and make a mess of dust, all over the garage.

Thing is, either , burn-off and brush, or make a new handle, but , unless you are happy to end-up with gut thin handle, dont even think about sanding.

Seagull

 

[Isshogai]

I'm with Seagull on this, Yorksher tha siz!

Dont faff around sanding it. There's not a great deal of handle on them anyway.

I used a blow torch on the paint in a well ventilated room (my garden!) and then set to it with a wire brush. It leaves a grippy but comfortable surface which is improved with some oil.

Nice and easy!

 

[OhCanada]

Don't remove the handle! Use card and tape to protect the blade. I sanded mine and it is not so much a paint as it is a stain.

Without a blow torch it was a tough job.

I bought a natural wood laminated Mora from Frost but they are not to my liking. I like the rough back of the carbon steel.

 

[daved]

Hmm. Starting to sound like this might be a bigger job than I expected (no blowtorch). Thanks for all the comments. I think I might put the project on hold for a while - at least until after I have had a go at sharpening the blade. If it survives my amateur attempts at sharpening and comes through at least slightly sharper than a butter-knife then I might have a go one wet winter weekend.

I suppose orange isn't sooo bad is it? I'm sure it will grow on me. Yes, getting used to it already
(who am I kidding, its hideous)

Thanks for all your comments
Dave

 

[OldJimbo]

The paint has to come off - it's simply too dangerous to leave it, because it's slippery when wet. Eventually we'll have you in scary sharp territory and a cut with such an edge isn't something to be taken lightly. I've only cut myself with a Mora once, when leaping to my feet to save my grand-daughter from getting scalded - but trust me, it was some cut from a little knife.

When the handle is properly finished with oil it works superbly, so all we have to do is get there. I'd just never bothered to try anything other than a propane torch - but this is an excellent opportunity to find out what works for paint stripping that's either cheap, handy - or preferably both. Brake fluid always did a wonderful job of removing paint - but since the idea is to never get it on paintwork - I don't know if it still does, or whether it will work on that paint. I don't like the idea of suggesting paint stripper, because the rest of the can will sit around and we have enough dangerous chemicals in homes. I'm thinking that a little bottle of nail polish remover should work, but I don't have any around to try since my grand-daughter moved out. So let's get ideas people! DEET in insect repellant has killed off enough Kraton knife handles to make me think it might work...
I only have one reference knife around which still has paint - but I just tried scraping and that worked great with a sharp scraping knife. Just be sure to tape the blade first even if you don't think it's sharp!

Anyway, while we wait for ideas, tape the blade and try the handle after rubbing with a bit of potato peel and handling with wet hands. That'll be a handy reference as why the emphasis on removing the paint. Since I use an OILED handled Mora around the kitchen for stuff like peeling potatoes - I believe you'll see the difference fast.

 

[daved]

I thought you were being a bit paranoid as I didn't think the handle was that slippery. Just tried wetting it and boy am I glad I did that BEFORE sharpening it. No guard, tapering handle, shiny paint, wet hands - ouch. Is there a smiley icon for humbled and embarrassed? (Brought back a painful memory of slipping when changing a scalpel blade and ending up with it impaled under my thumb nail - makes me whince to just to think about it.)

OK, you've convinced me, the paint must go (before my fingers do)

Now I know what I have planned for the weekend...

Dave
(fingers intact, blood on the inside, wanting to keep it that way)

 

[OldJimbo]

I'm glad that we got that one out of the way! Rule #2 is that with Scandi knives from the 60's, they had a thing about varnish. So never assume a nice curly birch handled Scandi has an oil finish.

It's going to take some convincing now that a shiny oil finish isn't slippery when wet - so a person just has to do the potato peeling around the house to gain confidence... Do enough and you're not likely to cut yourself in the bush.

 

[Bardster]

Infact its real easy.... I got two off ebay last week and played with them over the weekend - first one i did it with the torch as everyone suggested - works well but very easy to scorch the wood - then just brushed it off with brass wire brush. Didnt want the second one to be quite as extreme and i had noticed that the paint seems very flammable... sooo, i just put it in the vice, handle up and lit it with my lighter at the bottom... ALL the paint then burnt off without scorching the wood!! Cool i thought. brushed it off with a cloth and all that was left was some slight colouring where the paint had penetrated the grain. a quick sand with alu oxide paper (240/300/400) and then oiled it - result as below... and the grease on the blade wipes off with white spirit! Top one is the blowtorch scorched one and the bottom is the one done just with the lighter. Think i am going to end up making new handles though - just because

 

[Grez]

They both look excellent. That’s defiantly persuaded me to have a go anyway.

However does anyone have any ideas what sort of glue would be best to put down the handle to seal it etc?

Cheers

Grez..

 

[falcon]

Epoxy resin (something like Araldite) - it's what's usually used for attaching the scales to knife handles, handles to walking sticks etc.

 

[OldJimbo]

Excellent! I like the scorched darker look - but it's great that the paint can be so easily removed not even needing solvent!

 

[daved]

Bardster - the knife handles look pretty good - Looks like the effort pays off in terms of appearance as well as keeping a full set of digits! Quite like the look of the lighter one.

Sounds like you might have got your knives from the same seller as me (genuine army surplus?), so chances are the paint is the same. Might give your technique a try - sounds like it burns off easily. Only problem is finding somewhere to do it (I live in a flat, with no garden). So, as a back up plan, anyone had any success with using chemicals to strip the paint?

Dave

 

[OldJimbo]

You should get out your sharpest kitchen knife and start gently scraping first, Dave. It should work without chewing things up if you are careful to just scrape the paint. I'd figure that most of the paint would be off in under 30 mins. Then if you do use chemical to finish, you won't need much - or can just sand it.

 

[OldJimbo]

I almost forgot a word of caution since people seem to be getting their handles stripped. I use tung oil because it's more durable and waterproof. Boiled linseed oil works well enough - but be careful of how you dispose of rags/paper towel soaked in that stuff. In very hot places, it's been known to spontaneously combust. No keeping oily rags around inside, even in the UK... Such stuff is so uncommon as to be mythical - people here even treated clothing with linseed oil (hence "oilskins") - but it has happened in hot places. Once dry, the rags/paper are safe and can even be used for tinder supplies - so no wearing oilskins for campfire sing-alongs...
Gosh I'm getting to be an old worry-wart!

 

[daved]

Well, had a free afternoon so I decided to bite the bullet and have a go. (Sanding the handle rather than encouraging spontaneous combustion).

I have to say Bardster's tip is spot on. I put a match to the handle and sure enough the paint does catch light. I wouldn't excatly recommend it as tinder but it will burn. Handful of matches later and most of the paint is all brown. Began to regret it at this stage as I could still see orange under the charring but a quick scrape with a knife took almost all the paint off. It still clings on tenaciously to areas with a bit more grain though. I attacked it with some sandpaper and eventually managed to get most of it off. I think this would have been torture if the paint hadn't been burnt first. Still have an annoying ring of orange where the ferrule joins the handle but there's not a lot I can do about that. The end was tricky to do as this didn't catch light at all and the metal washer made it hard to sand there.

Overall, the wood looks quite good and is very light in colour. There are a few darker areas but I don't know whether that is scorching or just natual variations (or possibly steel dust from the tang/washer!). The end of the handle still looks a bit orange but there is no shifting that and I keep noticing other specks but that is just me being a perfectionist.

Overall, much easier than I expected. If anyone is planning on trying this, then I would certainly recommend burning the paint. It is worth taking a bit of time to make sure you get the blade end burning properly at the start because it is hard to go over areas you missed later without scorching the wood. Use a lighter or a candle rather than matches - much easier. The bottom of the handle is difficult too - didn't come up with a satisfactory method there. I would also suggest that you don't use too coarse an abrasive. I started with a fairly coarse paper thinking that I would blitz the paint quickly but you end up missing the stuff lurking in the grain - finer paper seemed to get in there much more easily. Not what I was expecting.

Next step : oil, but that will have to wait for another day.

 

[Doc]

There are obviously different Mora knives- mine is Frosts, others are by KJ Erikssen. Most are carbon steel, mine is laminated. Some have a clip holding the tang, others are peeened.

I think you've done the right thing given the difficulty of removing the handle. I still think sanding is a worthwhile option if the handle is removable.

Here's mine, along with another knife that is 15 times the price, but not 15 times as good....

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