Preserving a knife handle
 

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.

Mineral oil would be a good choice.
vegitable oils are sometimes known to go rancid/sticky

I usually mix paraffin and mineral oil, melt over low heat, then heat
the wood (steak knife handles and cooking spoons) in the oven to drive
out moisture/open pores.

Then coat or dip the wood into the oil and let cool (soaking or not.)

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"Philip Lewis" wrote in message
du...
Mineral oil would be a good choice.
vegitable oils are sometimes known to go rancid/sticky

I usually mix paraffin and mineral oil, melt over low heat, then heat
the wood (steak knife handles and cooking spoons) in the oven to drive
out moisture/open pores.

Then coat or dip the wood into the oil and let cool (soaking or not.)

Thanks!

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

What's been offered is OK. I'd ask, why not use something that
polymerizes, rather than something that can be extracted again from the
wood handle? Something like tung oil, alkyd varnish, even BLS will
polymerize, seal the pores in the wood handle, not leach back out, would
seem to be a longer term solution. I'd thing mineral and paraffin would
require reapplication sooner than a thinned polyurethane/mineral spirit
mix. BTW, I do use this combination on the kitchen stuff and have been
satisfied with it. I'd think (haven't tried it) that mineral oil would
deposit a little of itself on every towel you laid the knife on until
most of the mineral oil leached back out. With something that
polymerizes, once it's set, it's set.

bob g.


AAvK wrote:
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

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 20:44:30 -0500, Robert Galloway
wrote:

What's been offered is OK. I'd ask, why not use something that
polymerizes, rather than something that can be extracted again from the
wood handle? Something like tung oil, alkyd varnish, even BLS will
polymerize, seal the pores in the wood handle, not leach back out, would
seem to be a longer term solution. I'd thing mineral and paraffin would
require reapplication sooner than a thinned polyurethane/mineral spirit
mix. BTW, I do use this combination on the kitchen stuff and have been
satisfied with it. I'd think (haven't tried it) that mineral oil would
deposit a little of itself on every towel you laid the knife on until
most of the mineral oil leached back out. With something that
polymerizes, once it's set, it's set.

bob g.

I use equal parts parraffin wax and BLO. melt it, submerge the handle
and leave it over heat until the bubbles stop coming out of the wood.
give it a few days to dry and you have a very well protected handle
with little surface build.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 20:44:30 -0500, Robert Galloway
wrote:

What's been offered is OK. I'd ask, why not use something that
polymerizes, rather than something that can be extracted again from the
wood handle? Something like tung oil, alkyd varnish, even BLS will
polymerize, seal the pores in the wood handle, not leach back out, would
seem to be a longer term solution. I'd thing mineral and paraffin would
require reapplication sooner than a thinned polyurethane/mineral spirit
mix. BTW, I do use this combination on the kitchen stuff and have been
satisfied with it. I'd think (haven't tried it) that mineral oil would
deposit a little of itself on every towel you laid the knife on until
most of the mineral oil leached back out. With something that
polymerizes, once it's set, it's set.

bob g.

I use equal parts parraffin wax and BLO. melt it, submerge the handle
and leave it over heat until the bubbles stop coming out of the wood.
give it a few days to dry and you have a very well protected handle
with little surface build.

What's BLO?

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:34:55 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 20:44:30 -0500, Robert Galloway
wrote:

What's been offered is OK. I'd ask, why not use something that
polymerizes, rather than something that can be extracted again from the
wood handle? Something like tung oil, alkyd varnish, even BLS will
polymerize, seal the pores in the wood handle, not leach back out, would
seem to be a longer term solution. I'd thing mineral and paraffin would
require reapplication sooner than a thinned polyurethane/mineral spirit
mix. BTW, I do use this combination on the kitchen stuff and have been
satisfied with it. I'd think (haven't tried it) that mineral oil would
deposit a little of itself on every towel you laid the knife on until
most of the mineral oil leached back out. With something that
polymerizes, once it's set, it's set.

bob g.

I use equal parts parraffin wax and BLO. melt it, submerge the handle
and leave it over heat until the bubbles stop coming out of the wood.
give it a few days to dry and you have a very well protected handle
with little surface build.

What's BLO?


boiled linseed oil

Doug Kanter wrote:

I use equal parts parraffin wax and BLO. melt it, submerge the handle
and leave it over heat until the bubbles stop coming out of the wood.
give it a few days to dry and you have a very well protected handle
with little surface build.

What's BLO?

Blonde Lingerie Oil. To get it, you have to remove the lingerie from a
blonde, then extract the oil. (How you extract it is a secret, but it's
fun.)

--
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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 22:51:30 -0400, Silvan
wrote:

Doug Kanter wrote:

I use equal parts parraffin wax and BLO. melt it, submerge the handle
and leave it over heat until the bubbles stop coming out of the wood.
give it a few days to dry and you have a very well protected handle
with little surface build.

What's BLO?

Blonde Lingerie Oil. To get it, you have to remove the lingerie from a
blonde, then extract the oil. (How you extract it is a secret, but it's
fun.)



wow! I like that a lot better than the BLO I've been using. I'll have
to try it....