Sanding wooden handled moras

[OldJimbo]

Dave - soon yours will look like Doc's!

The question I have is what an average time would be to get the paint off by burning and sanding - first time is going to take longer.
Also - is it posible to get tung or boiled linseed oil in small quantities in UK?

 

[daved]

Keeping in mind that it was my first go and I am not really that experienced with wordworking etc, it didn't take that long. Initial burning took maybe 5 minutes and would have been quicker with a lighter rather than matches. Scraping the worst of the burnt paint off with a knife took probably another 5 -10 minutes and then sanding took around an hour and most of that was spent on trying to get the paint of the end. I also took Doc's tip of occassionally wetting the handle - this made it (alarmingly) clear where the paint remained. Altogether, with drying time and tidying up it took less than two hours (elapsed time not effort).

I experimented with acetone (nail varnish remover) today on the ring of paint trapped around the ferrule. Seemed to work quite well though I am not sure how well it would cope with larger amounts of paint. Would be worth someone experimenting as an alternative to flames. (If it doesn't work as a solvent then it would certainly help the paint burn afterwards - be careful if you want to keep your eyelashes).

Picked up some Danish oil today (blend of tung plus other stuff). Chose it over linseed as the 250ml tin was cheaper than the smallest linseed oil bottle. Couldn't find tung oil on its own. Seems to go a long way so I think I have enough for a lifetimes worth of knife handles.

Knife is just drying out at the moment. Results look a bit patchy so far so a couple of coats may be needed. Hopefully it will come out looking as good as Doc and Bardsters's knives.
Dave

 

[Doc]

Nice one Dave. Hope it comes out well.

I'm thinking about making a leather neck sheath for my Mora. I picked up a few leather offcuts at the last meet. The supplied plastic sheath is just plain ugly.

The problem with all this DIY knifecraft is it is addictive. If you look at the Brisa website you will see that you can buy a four inch stick tang Scandinavian blade from quality Finnish makers Lauri) for about 6 Euros (what's that? four quid?) and a block of curly birch for about the same. You then need a drill, a set of needle files (you can get these in 99p stores!) and a lot of time......

In some ways the Mora is more practical than the full tang Woodlore. A lot of my outdoor trips are 80% hillwalking and 20% bushcraft. I like to keep the pack weight down. I've not weighed the Mora, but it's much less than a Woodlore.

Last thing - in Sweden it's pronounced more like 'Moora'.

Danish oil is a good choice. The info on the Brisa website specifically mentions it.

 

[daved]

Doc,
I know what you mean, I was starting to think along those lines too, but will try my best to resist the temptation. A better sheath would be good though ....

Just taken a look to see how the handle is progressing. Some of it looks pretty good but it still has darker patches and there is an overall blotchy effect - seems unrelated to the grain. I hope that clears up when it dries because it looks pretty bad at the moment. Anybody got any ideas what it could be or what to do about it?

I'm starting to think that the affection people have for these knives has less to do with their performance and more to do with the amount of grief you have to go through to get them in to shape. You never really appreciate anything that handed to you on a plate.

 

[OldJimbo]

It should come fine with more coats.

I put lots of work into my Moras and the hours sure add up since I have a bunch. I 'm enthused about Moras because when properly set up, they work better than more expensive knives for me. That's not to say that that will be the story for you - but after fixing a Mora you'll sure know how to evaluate a knife - for your methods and purposes.

 

[daved]

Jimbo,
Don't get me wrong, I think the effort is worth it - even just removing the paint has transformed the knife - and I am learning an awful lot that I would have missed out on with a "ready-to-go" knife. My comment was a little tongue-in-cheek but I do stand by it - I think I will end up taking better care of this knife because I have had a hand in shaping it (with quite a lot of help from you guys - and a little from the Swedes who made it!). Sorting out all the foibles gives you a good appreciation of what makes a good knife. Something which I think you would miss out on if you were just handed a woodlore or some other "gold-plated" knife at the beginning. Just getting a bit fearful that this sort of thing is addictive and I will end up spending all my time polishing knives rather than actually using them!

Got a Swedish friend visiting tomorrow. It will be interesting to hear what he thinks of these knives.

I've given the handle a second coat of oil but it wasn't looking much better - have to see how it looks in the morning after a third coat.

 

[OldJimbo]

It'll take a few coats and some drying time until everything becomes shiny and even. Then of course you'll still just have a shinier but plain handle! The idea with this part is to see how well that handle works. If later you want something that looks really good - and feels like that then you do have to get into fitting or having someone fit for you a handle of curly birch or some other exotic wood. Those are pretty.

Once the handle is finished you'll be needing some emery paper in 320, 600 grits and some green buffing compound (chromium oxide). It might be as well to begin looking for a supply of the latter. The buffing compound is used on cardboard.

 

[Doc]

Here's my homemade leather sheath for the modified Mora. I've never done any leatherwork before, so its a bit rustic, but I prefer it to the plastic sheath.

[/IMG]

 

[Bardster]

Thats Pretty Good - excellent work

 

[Stevie]

Not wanting to take mine apart I went the chemical way using Nitro-mors. It took about 4 or 5 applications in all and then a little light sanding to come up with this:-

There is still a very small amount of orange where the wood meets the metal but I don't mind that too much. I then oiled the handle and now enjoy working with it