Wetting scales?

[tommy the cat]

Well just re did my scales on my first knife after being unhappy with it (to thick /uncomfortable school boy error! ) About to finish with walnut oil and I seem to remember that you should dampen the wood in order to raise the grain?Done this and it doesn't seem any different?
Just oiled it the last time and it came out nice.......presumably it works diff on diff woods?
Ta Dave
(Cocobola)

 

[michiel]

Wet the handles, let it dry, sand it with a finer grit, wet the handle, let it dry, sand with finer grit,...

This would give a better finish to the wood. Haven't really noticed a difference, so I don't really bother.

 

[tommy the cat]

Ta, the finish is pretty good for me so I think I will go with one more wire wool and then walnut.
All the best Dave

 

[Dave Budd]

teh raising of the grain is more applicable to softer and more wolly woods like birch or oak. Depending on hte type of walnut it may or may not require raising and depending on the density of the wood it can take anywhere from one to five repetitons.

I find that if you wet the wood (having not touched it with your hands and thus getting oil on it) and then force dry it with a hairdryer (or over a fire), you get better rise and it is easier to remove. Use fine sandpaper or fine wirewool to remove the fuzz, re wet and dry, then repeat. Use very light pressure as you want to abrade the fuzz not squash it when the grain doesn't rise anymore then you can oil it up. Make sure you use clean water and have clean hands as any dirt will really stick at this stage (especially on light woods).

that's just me

 

[jojo]

teh raising of the grain is more applicable to softer and more wolly woods like birch or oak. Depending on hte type of walnut it may or may not require raising and depending on the density of the wood it can take anywhere from one to five repetitons.

I find that if you wet the wood (having not touched it with your hands and thus getting oil on it) and then force dry it with a hairdryer (or over a fire), you get better rise and it is easier to remove. Use fine sandpaper or fine wirewool to remove the fuzz, re wet and dry, then repeat. Use very light pressure as you want to abrade the fuzz not squash it when the grain doesn't rise anymore then you can oil it up. Make sure you use clean water and have clean hands as any dirt will really stick at this stage (especially on light woods).

that's just me

I'll second that. I used to make quite a few boxes, and also on paddles. It really depends on the wood you use.

 

[shep]

The guys above have much more experience than I do and everything said sounds right to me.

However,
one other consideration is what degree of finish is best for a knife handle. I have used the above process and found the handle looks great, but is quite slick in the hand.

Now I tend to go down to 600 and then put on the first coats of oil with wire wool. For me that gives a happy medium. I might wet once at most before final sanding.

 

[Dave Budd]

600 grit is all I ever finish knife handles to

well, unless it's a presentation piece and needs some shiny bits of course

 

[tommy the cat]

Ta chaps went a bit finer than 600 but seems fine for me .(its a user) Just got to get the knick out of it that I dunno how get there.(blade )
Dave

 

[MitchelHicks]

Yes try not to get sweaty hands on it so you don’t oil it accidentally. I’ve used water to raise the grain on oak and hickory handles however rather that use sandpaper I would recommend a razor blade it may sound dangerous but if you keep it at 90 degrees to the handle it removes the grain a lot neater. I was taught this method by Paul Kirtly who now runs the Inland Woodlore course and it works extremely well.

I would suggest trying it out on a spare peice to get the pressure and direction right.

Good luck with the knives don’t forget to post some pictures.

 

[Draven]

Yes try not to get sweaty hands on it so you don’t oil it accidentally. I’ve used water to raise the grain on oak and hickory handles however rather that use sandpaper I would recommend a razor blade it may sound dangerous but if you keep it at 90 degrees to the handle it removes the grain a lot neater. I was taught this method by Paul Kirtly who now runs the Inland Woodlore course and it works extremely well.

I would suggest trying it out on a spare peice to get the pressure and direction right.

Good luck with the knives don’t forget to post some pictures.

I agree with this method, very good for smoothing out Also used by many Luthiers to smooth out the wood on stringed instruments!

 

[Shinken]

I like going down to lower grits then finishing and over that use a hard carnauba wax. Gives plenty of grip

 

[John Fenna]

Recently I have tried the "scraping" method to finish wood, but with my Mora not a razor blade - it is about as sharp - and the results are good!

 

[TheGreenMan]

Dampening the wood several times before sanding (I’ve only ever taken the grits as fine as P400) and then oiling, seems to work well to raise the fibres of the grain on woods with a lower density, be they low-density hard woods, or higher density soft woods.

In my limited experience it does make a big difference to the finish of the birch handles on Mora knives.

As an aside, I dampened a beech wood rolling pin the other week, prior to oiling with cold pressed organic linseed oil, and it’s now as smooth a baby’s bum (or as smooth I imagine said bum would be). Beech never seems to absorb much oil before it starts to ‘sweat’ it out again, particularly in hot weather, other than at the end grain, which soaks up the oil ‘like a sponge’.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[tommy the cat]

Thanks for sharing those thoughts. I will have to try some of those ideas on the next one as its now finished.
Got to say when I stopped stressing about it and got a bit more 'heavy handed' with the scales got the job done a lot quicker than the first time I did the handle.
Reasonably happy with it as an exercise and enjoyed it.....now do I really need another knife?
Dave

 

[Draven]

now do I really need another knife?
Dave

Clearly you haven't been paying enough attention to this section of the site if you need to ask that! Of course you need another knife One in every handle material - per every grind, profile shape and handle shape combination So far, I'm... nowhere near there uppy_dog

Just a note about scraping, you'll want to make sure that the wood is really bone dry before scraping, or I've found that it can tear up fibres.

Now show us pictures of the knife!

 

[tommy the cat]

Na taint worth sticking pics up of it mate!
Just wanted something prettier than my mora.....free cocobola from Mike P ( ta!) and Bobs your uncle....next one I like that curly birch......now blades. Was thinking about a small back up/ neck knife and trying to forge one myself.......got access to Oxy Acetaline could I poss work with that or am I gonna have to make a forge?
Dave

 

[TheGreenMan]

...seems to work well to raise the fibres of the grain on woods with a lower density, be they low-density hard woods, or higher density soft woods...

Having just reviewed my own post the above is incorrect. The text should have read as follows: seems to work well to raise the fibres of the grain on woods with a lower density, be they low-density hard woods, or soft woods.

Apologies to all for that error.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[TheGreenMan]

...free cocobola from Mike P...

The use of cocobolo might explain why the grain didn’t rise when you dampened it. I understand that cocobolo has a naturally high oil content of its own, and this is why it’s favoured for knives intended for outdoor use, it naturally resist rotting and absorption of moisture due to its high oil content. My guess would be that the cocobolo won’t absorb much of the walnut oil either, because it already contains a lot of oil.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[tommy the cat]

Greenman, Thanks, I have no reference to say if it absorbed a lot of oil or not but it did seem to 'sit' on the wood a bit. All I know about the wood is it is the hardest wood I have worked with sounded like metal when I cut it, tis all is good as the blade is stainless as it may be used for food prep and poss get wet.
Dave

 

[TheGreenMan]

Yep, a knife maker sent me some cocobolo scales for me to look at the other week, and it did feel like pretty unyielding stuff in terms of hardness. As a point of interest, some people are allergic to cocobolo, I know of a Swedish knife making hobbyist who replaced the cocobolo handle on a Fällkniven TK1 for that very reason.

And I’ve noticed that oil ‘sitting’ on the surface thing, when oiling beech (and other hardwoods). I’m not sure whether it’s to do with the fine pore and dense fibre structure of the that particular wood or the wood’s natural oil content making it reluctant to take up the oil on the surfaces that run in the direction of the grain, but I notice that if you let one application of oil (raw linseed) dry for a few weeks it usually will take up more later, this is particularly true of the end grain. However many applications of oil I make to the end grain (whatever the type of wood – in my experience so far- I’m no expert!) it always seems to take up more, even if I’ve previously soaked the handle in oil for a week or more. The end grain seems to soak-up whatever you give it.

Cheers,
Paul.