Caring for your exotic wood knife handles

[Leo James Mitchell]

After my wife inadvertently put two of my precious French Chambriard folders through the dishwasher, I went looking for something to protect and renew my exotic wood knife slabs. The dishwasher is very unkind to Curly Norwegian Birch and Olive wood handles. :woohoo:
My friend Randy Chinn uses Tom’s Gun Stock Wax and so I figured I could do no better than to try this stuff made in Pearland Texas for a mere 10 dollars for a 4 ounce jar. It took a short 4 days for the package to arrive way up here in Canada…well done USPS!
I followed the instructions, but be aware that you might want to do this waxing in a well ventilated place. Apply generously by hand; let set for 30 to 40 minutes; rub with a soft cloth; reapply after 8 to 10 hours; reapply for two or three coats and you will be rewarded with a soft deep glow; a non slippery coating that enhances the natural grain of the wood and which will protect and renew wood that has been somewhat damaged like mine were in the dishwasher.
This stuff is worth its weight in gold. Use it and you will have not only a razor sharp knife, but one that looks and feels good in the hand.
Do you have any tips on caring for your knives and tackle associated with your knives, that others might find useful. Share them please.

Cheers
Leo

[John Haley]

In the same category, for years, I’ve used Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish on my upper end gun stocks and also on my better knife handles. Expensive, but works very well giving a protective and shined finish while not reducing grip.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Thanks mate! Good stuff! Can you order this wax online?

Here is the web address for the stuff I mentioned
http://thegunstockdoctor.com/

Leo

[Leo James Mitchell]

Here is the stuff Quoddy specified. You can get it on Amazon for $23 .

http://www.amazon.com/Renaissance-Micro-Crystalline-Wax-Polish-65/dp/B001DSZWEM

Leo

[Leo Barr]

I make a butter for my boardsmith end grain cutting board it consists of vaseline oil (unperformed) heat the oil over a pan of boiling water say about a cupful then get about a quarter of a fist of beeswax and melt it in once it is cold it should look like a sort of butter and be reasonable soft so you can dollop it onto the wood using your fingers . Both the oil and the beeswax are cheap and it is odourless.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Yes odorless is good. The smell of the turpentine is a bit much with the Tom’s Military Wax, but it dissipates fairly quickly. I like the soft deep glow that it gives to the wood without being glossy. It really makes the grain even more beautiful than it was.
Does your mixture last for some time or does it need to be repeated regularly to keep up the protection and look. I imagine the grain of the wood would be enhanced with your ‘butter’ too.

Leo

[Leo Barr]

It penetrates the wood it is not like a polish it drys more like satin I guess you could buff it up but since it has more the consistency of butter it feeds rather than polishes a straight wax is likely to be much thicker and will take a lot more work to make it penetrate the wood.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Hi Leo
This sounds very much like what happens with the Tom’s Gun Stock 1/3 Natural Wax. I suspect that the addition of boiled linseed oil and turps might give it deeper penetration into the wood than the Vaseline butter mix. On the other hand the butter is easy to make and cheap so it can be reapplied more easily over time. For indoor use such as your wooden base or a piece of furniture, it sounds great.
The Finnish army uses the Tom’s formula for their rifle stocks so they are protected from the harsh treatment they receive from general military use and the severe winters and hot summers they are subjected to. So I am thinking for a knife handle that is used outdoors for general camp use, hunting and perhaps survival situations, the Tom’s Military Wax may be the ticket.
Both will make any wood look good while at the same time protecting it from normal usage.

Leo

[Leo James Mitchell]

It just dawned on me. that one could take Leo Barr’s Vaseline Butter and add some turpentine and boiled linseed oil and experiment a bit with amounts. You would then have your own penetrating protection for knife handles or any other fine wood. It certainly wouldn’t be very expensive. Just a thought. Thanks once again Leo for the tip.

Leo

[Mark76]

I don’t know if you guys have experience with boiled linseed oil (“boiled” means more than boiling – at 275 degrees C – the stuff also has some turpentine added). This it what nearly everyone I know uses – including myself.

Does Tom’s formula or Leo’s formula work better/different?

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Leo James Mitchell]

It depends on what you need. If the wood is not subjected to weather extremes or harsh treatment then I think Leo’s Vaseline butter makes excellent sense. If the knife or gun stock is used in conditions where it is rained upon, dragged through mud and snow, and in the case of a knife in particular, which is being washed over and over again, I think Tom’s formula with the penetrating oils is the better of the two. The Finnish army thinks pretty highly of that 1/3 mix i.e. a third each of bee’s wax, boiled linseed oil and turpentine. As I said, you can easily use those proportions and make your own really hardy stuff.
Did I misinterpret your post Mark? 🙂

Leo

[Leo Barr]

The butter as said is for cutting boards that are often sanitised with weak chemicals and always rinsed off I would imagine a chopping board gets more exposure to soaps, water, blood etc so in effect I would imagine that the boards go through a lot more than a handle the idea is to keep saturating it eventually will not absorb any more .
Linseed oil, terps, wax etc is more like a varnish so it will seal once dry the downside I would imagine is that once the surface is sealed it will not allow the wood to take up any more so in my view the mineral oil & beeswax blended to that of a butter will allow a more constant flow of both the wax & mineral oil into the wood time after time eventually making the wood more durable.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Without trying to be argumentative at all 😉 , I will submit that the instructions on the Tom’s Mix encourages the user to reapply as needed. Too, the military not only in Finland but also other countries and shooters of note use the stuff, so I guess my question would be, why add the linseed oil and turps if it is not necessary.It could be that it is not necessary to redo the wood as often. IMO it is hardier but not necessarily better quality then the Vaseline Butter, just lasts longer. I also think it seals to a certain extent when the Tom’s is used, but is by no means everlasting. I don’t know about your knives, especially when used daily as I do around the kitchen, are regularly and scrupulously washed, just not in a dishwasher, which for any wood is overkill.

Cheers
Leo

[Leo Barr]

I think it will be whatever one is happier with the mineral oil & beeswax whilst I would not eat it is meant for a board whereas the turpentine would not be so palatable. I clean my knives by letting hot tap water run over the blade and then wipe dry I use two or three knives so they get rinsed as I go along so the handle normally stays dry and yet once again it depends on how you like to clean your knives.
I only put forward the mineral oil beeswax mix as a consideration. The fact that it is easy to make it is possible to play with the proportions ; the mineral oil is good for boards since it does not go rancid like sunflower or olive oil or produce allergies that nut oils can do.
I find that less processed things are preferable since there tends not to be a bundle of chemicals in it rather like homemade food as opposed to store prepared foods.
Since the mineral oil and beeswax is quite cheap to produce and can also be used on a boards this is primarily what it is for; it has more use to me but perhaps if you do have wooden tops or boards it would be worth making some and try it on the knife handles.
I have not used any of the products you mention to me they sound closer to old fashioned wood varnishes which maybe more suited to handles that get soaked in hot soapy water.

[Mark76]

Thanks guys! (No, you interpreted my post very well, Leo 😉 ). I’ll do some experiments with boiled linseed oil and beeswax. If you happen to be able to read Dutch, here is a page about what “boiled linseed oil” really is… more than boiled linseed oil: http://www.hout-olie.nl/contents/nl/d277_verrijkte_gekookte_lijnolie.html

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

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