Jmercier Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I finished one ! Sometimes I work so slow that I swear my work must be going backwards... This is my 9th finished knife to date, and the first one I've made to keep for myself so that I actually have something to show someone when I say that I make knives as a hobby. This is some of Aldo Bruno's nice 1084 forged sometime last fall, but not finished until now. 7 inch overall length, rosewood handle, which unfortunately darkened up a whole lot with finishing so doesn't show the great figure of the wood any longer. The sheath was made by Chris Kravitt of Treestump Leather This pre-finished photo shows the figure, but it didn't finish that light, but much darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Congrats, I understand what you mean when it feels like you're going backwards! What did you use to finish the handle and what type of wood? Oh, and the sheath looks very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmercier Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 400 grit sandpaper... and the natural oils in the rosewood *shrug* there's no actual finish on the handle, this wood was so dense and oily that I'm not sure any finish like linseed oil or anything would even take. All i can think is that the wood oxidizes dark like that. The block of wood was almost black when i found it in my shelf, when i cut it in half it was that gorgeous swirly red-brown with streaks of black, and it was that color the whole time when i was shaping it, but now that it's finished and sanded fine... well *shrug* you can see it's almost black again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I have found that clear shellac works well on oily woods to seal them, then buffing on a felt wheel helps to bring out the figure in the wood. Nice knife by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 looks good non the less- keep on keepin on,j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I like the knife a lot. I have used some rosewood recently, too. I think linseed oil made a slight difference, but not like it does with maple or mesquite. How thick is the knife at spine at thickest point? I am trying to get a reference for dimension. I am making a hunting knife for a friend, and I am looking for guidance re: how thick to make spine at ricasso. I like your knife, so this info would be helpful. thanks for posting, Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quenchcrack Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I have used rosewood, cocobolo, etc and found that after sanding to about 280 grit, I can start with steel wool. I end up with XXX fine. After getting rid of the scratches, I just finish with paste wax and buff it up. Yeah, it darkens some. Oh, really nice knife, too. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I would say try hitting it with some steel wool. If you have some (sorry, name is alluding me and don't want to run into the shop to check - yellow sticky towels sold in plastic bag at hardware store), use that to clean up dust that might be left clinging to the wood. I like to use tung oil - it normally gets drawn into the wood a few times but it'll do a nice job bring out that pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRT02 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Pretty cool knife! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canska Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I''ll second the tung oil suggestion, I've used it on rosewood a few times. Scuff up the wood to remove the oxidized surface and brighten it up, then wipe on the tung oil before it darkens. Let it dry, then scuff again with fine steel wool and apply more tung oil, repeat to your liking. I've been consistently happy with four coats. I like tung oil because it doesn't yellow over time like linseed oil typically does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 First and foremost, nice knife!! I've tried to use tung oil on cocobolo (very, very oily wood) and never really got it to work quite right. I do like the paste wax products that "dry hard" but you need to really work them into the wood and be careful not to let it dry until it's all smoothed out--kinda hard to explain, but the wax will dry with ridges that you can just barely make out if you look at it really close. Second to that would be shellac, however shellac doesn't really like water all that much. Another idea would be to do a test piece--try to get some different products together and try them out if possible. Also, try to locate a "hardwood" lumber yard. There are many yards that only deal in exotic hardwoods and there *may* be someone at one of those places that could help. Lastly, try Google--that's what I end up doing most of the time ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quentin Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 nice knife. i especially like the sheath. very nice leather work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 that is very nice, and the leather sheath very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggraham Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 If "going backward" creates this great looking knife, that's not a bad thing. Quality is not cheap, either in time or money. keep it up. george Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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