All About Pocket Knives

Ok, y’all, couple questions for some different perspectives, please.

1. When sanding wooden scales what grit do you finish up with? What progression do you use?

2. When done sanding, what do you finish up with? Stain? Just oil? Then what? Poly?

Thanks!

After I get the shape I want I will usually finish with 2K or 3K and then maybe a 7K and 10K grit.
Depending on the wood I used I may not put anything else on it or I may use one of the Howard wood products.

I finish with 150, 220, 400, 800, and 1500 grits and use Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil Gunstock Finish on wood scales.

I normally cross sand to 320 or 400 grit and buff with pink no scratch rouge after that. I also change direction crossing as I buff on a loose unsewn muslin wheel. Most woods I use are stabilized or oily enough that I don't normally use any other finish.

btrwtr wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 6:30 pm I normally cross sand to 320 or 400 grit and buff with pink no scratch rouge after that. I also change direction crossing as I buff on a loose unsewn muslin wheel. Most woods I use are stabilized or oily enough that I don't normally use any other finish.

I do the same?
Also on stabilized wood I’ve sanded up to 5000 grit and it was glossy enough to not need a trip to the polishing wheel.
Jeff

I have sanding belts going up to 1200 grit, but I rarely go above 400 before I buff it.
My sander is a bit too aggressive, so sometimes I will hand sand before buffing, but still only sand up to 400 grit.

To me it depends on the knife. I redid an old fixed blade that a friend of mine had found buried in a mound of dirt when he was younger. I soaked it for 3 days in vinegar to get it derusted and rehandled it with a piece of grainy oak. Knife has alot of pits so I finished to 400 and buffed it so to leave the handle more natural with pores to match the rest.

Jimbo

Oledadsknives wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 2:52 am To me it depends on the knife. I redid an old fixed blade that a friend of mine had found buried in a mound of dirt when he was younger. I soaked it for 3 days in vinegar to get it derusted and rehandled it with a piece of grainy oak. Knife has alot of pits so I finished to 400 and buffed it so to leave the handle more natural with pores to match the rest. ABF71D71-3D67-4E5E-B21A-CE99F3E3A004.jpeg



Jimbo

I like that knife, Jimbo. Leaving the handle a bit less smooth was a good choice, given the pitting. Your way of thinking makes a lot of sense, and gives me something to think about on a couple of my projects.

Thanks reverand, I tried to do it to suit the overall appearance of the piece when finished. It turned out better than I thought it could. Stay warm reverand!

Jimbo

The type of wood, usually dictates the finish and the amount of sanding I do to the handle.
Extremely oily Woods like kingwood, lignum vitae, some species of cocobolo, are so oily that you cannot get a regular poly finish to dry on them. I encountered that problem early on and talked to an old-timer who gave me a workaround for that. Nowadays I find it just as effective to sand them to about 2,000-3,000 Grit then buff them with no scratch pink and wax them with carnauba. It helps incorporate the carnauba wax with the oils of the wood and makes for a very nice finish.
Side note: When sawing very oily Woods like Bois de Rose keep a fire extinguisher handy! I actually had the sawdust from Bois de Rose start a fire under my table saw. It is very hard and very oily!

I find watching the wood tells me how much it needs to be sanded or buffed. Very hard woods like snakewood I will usually send to about 1500 to 2000 Grit then hit them with no scratch paint and polish with carnauba. That is about the same procedure I use with stabilized woods as well. The polymers in the stabilization pretty much provides its own finish and after buffing it with no scratch pink it looks pretty good.
Like super oily woods, it is often very difficult to get a very hard wood like snakewood to absorb any finish, that's why I prefer the carnuba wax finish.

Previously I have used softer woods for handles, and the finish I use on them depends on the wood I'm using. I have used a lot of polyethylene finishes in the past but I am moving away from that now and have been inclined towards Gunstock finishes like Tru-Oil for softer hardwoods like Walnut and Oak.

Dale, I’ve also finished a few knives with tru oil and been ver pleased with the outcome. My dad was a big believer in tru oil on gunstocks he made.

Jimbo