Just bought a Japanese weeding knife for a friend. It's got some sort of
hardwood handle, but it's not treated with anything that I can see. When I
bought the same tool for myself 20 years ago, I had a little bottle of some
sort of oil made by Chicago Cutlery, but that's gone. I'd rather not buy a
large can of something I'll only use once in a blue moon. Is plain vegetable
oil good enough for something like this, just to make the wood a bit more
immune to moisture? It won't be exposed to LOTS of water, just dropped on
wet grass, frozen in the garage for 4 months, that sort of thing.


What I did for an untreated chef's knife handle, heated peanut oil, it's thick and
solidifies in the fridge. I heated it and the knife handle over the kitchen stove.
Got it real warm, used rolled up paper towel (thickly) and painted the hot oil
into the hot handle several times over, intermitently reheating the handle as the
oil stays hot on a medium-low flame. Works like a... well oiled handle, and no
problem has occured with water wrecking it, no rancid smells either, and no
greasiness from it.

Alex