Finishing wood handles

[JAMESC41001]

Can anyone give me some advice on wood finishes. I have some curly Hawaiian koa. It is very nice and I do not want to ruin the appearance of the wood. I would like to sand it very smooth and maybe buff it and leave it alone but think I should put something very thin to protect it from staining and maybe make it pop a bit. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also have a piece of Gorbon ebony that is very nice and tulip wood also.

[Elvis]

On dark hardwoods, a good sanding finished off with 4-0 steel wool should be all you need before buffing. Just be careful not to let it stay in one spot for too long so it doesn't start to wear it uneven. Here's one I did recently in desert Ironwood with no finish after buffing.

[coffeecup]

On Koa, you'll need some type of finish. In the past I've finished Koa with pure tung oil, and with shellac. If you decide to try this, test the finish on some scrap first--sometimes oil will darken a piece of wood too much. On the other hand, shellac is not exactly a "pocket-durable" finish.

I typically finish ebony by waxing and burnishing. When I carried an ebony-handled knife this finish protected the wood well but had to be replenished occasionally.

Which type of "tulipwood?" If American, it is not dense enough to be a good knife handle unless you have it stabilized. If it is Brazilian, it is one of the Dalbergia species, which includes rosewoods and the like. I'd finish it like rosewood or ebony (for a pocketknife, a coat of wax followed by burnishing). If it is the Australian stuff, where did you get it???? From what I've heard, it finishes well with oil finishes.

[JAMESC41001]

nice knife elvis did you load the buffing wheel with anything? what kind of wheel did you finish with? does the rpm matter? the tulip wood I have is brazillian and said to be stabilized already. I heard rudd makes a pre cat laquer that is good for the curly Hawaiian. I don't have a lot extra to fool around with so im trying to nail it on the first time out. I do appreciate the feed back!

[coffeecup]

Lacquers--pre-cat or otherwise--work very nicely on Koa. Unfortunately, lacquers tend to not do as well in pocketknives that will be carried, unless carried in a case in the pocket. If you can do that--or the knife will be displayed but not carried--lacquers would be an excellent choice.

I hate to think what nicely-done lacquer-finished covers would look like after a week of bouncing around in a pocket with keys, change, etc!

[JAMESC41001]

Well that's the kind of advice I'm looking for. Doing a fixed blade knife but same difference I guess

[orvet]

the tulip wood I have is brazillian and said to be stabilized already.

If the handles have been stabilized it should be easy to finish them, however; it depends on how well they have done the stabilizing!

All stabilizing is not created equal!
It depends on who did the stabilizing, how good a job they did and no doubt the type of wood being stabilized makes a difference as well.

If the quality of the stabilizing is good, you can sand it and finish it with polyurethane, just be sure you have all the scratches out before finishing.

I have done several projects with Koa as I had a good source for it locally.
I found polyurethane worked nicely on it.

There are a lot of woods from the Rosewood that are so oily that they will not take a finish like polyurethane.
My first project with Mexican King Wood (Dalbergia congestiflora) was going beautifully until I applied the finish. It still looked beautiful, but the finish never dried!

I know Brazilian Tulipwood (Dalbergia decipularis), also known as Bois de Rose is so oily that I started a smoldering fire in the sawdust under my table saw after making a few cuts.
I have no idea how it is stabilized, but unstabilized it is very oily.

I struggled with finishes for oily woods until I started asking about finishing the woods at Gilmer Woods.
The formula they gave me was very effective: equal parts boiled linseed oil, turpentine & polyurethane.
It really works nicely on oily woods. In fact it is the only finish I have found for many of them!

[muskrat man]

I have had good luck with K&G stabilizing, most stabilized woods can be finished by buffing since the resin completely seals the wood and all the pores if done properly. unstabilized woods I normally either go with a buffed finish as well or an oil finish depending on the density and what the customer wants the finished product to look like.

[Elvis]

nice knife elvis did you load the buffing wheel with anything? what kind of wheel did you finish with? does the rpm matter? the tulip wood I have is brazillian and said to be stabilized already. I heard rudd makes a pre cat laquer that is good for the curly Hawaiian. I don't have a lot extra to fool around with so im trying to nail it on the first time out. I do appreciate the feed back!

A lot of good advice floating around here. As for that particular piece, after the 4-0 steel wool it's pretty smooth already. I gave it a quick once over on my 3500 rpm Baldor buffer with a medium grit and light pressure just to remove any sand marks that might have been left, then I go to a 1750 rpm wheel with either the white polishing compound or the pink scratchless. From there, a little Ren Wax does a lot (although there is none on the pictured piece). This works well on Desert Ironwood, Ebony, Bocote and other dark, hard and oily (cocobolo) woods. Using this on a light colored wood will get polishing compound (black) into the pores of the wood and ruin a project fast. For those my personal preference is a tung oil varnish hand rubbed in after the 4-0 steel wool. If it's just painted on, it would have the same problems as shellac. I hope this is helping some.

Edit: I just remembered I have a bit of Koa in the workshop. I can play with it and show you the results that work best if you like.

[JAMESC41001]

Good stuff bob. Thanx for the info. That should keep me occupied for awhile. Ill try and post some pics unless I make firewood out of it.