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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need. |
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#1
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Sanding causing dirty looking scales - help!
I?m making a full tang knife with an ATS-34 blade, 416 stainless steel bolsters, and caragana wood scales. I?m at the stage where I?m doing the final sanding of the handle, bolsters and knife spine.
My problem is, every time I sand the bolsters and spine, the steel dust created by sanding gets into the pores of the wood making it look dirty and discoloured. How do you prevent this? Jim |
#2
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You may not be able to prevent it with the wood you have. In the future you might try having your wood professionally stabilized. Such wood is not porous and so there is no place for the grit to hide. For the problem at hand, you can try waxing the wood before you sand. This won't keep the grit from getting in the wood but it will be a little easier to clean....
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#3
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Thanks Ray. Supposedly, the wood was stabilized, but even with the naked eye, I can see the pores now that they have steel dust lodged in them. Think I'll stick with the proven professionals when it comes to stabilizing wood from now on.
I know there are knife makers who use wooden scales that aren't stabilized. How do they prevent the smudging when sanding steel? Do they just use a denser wood with fewer or more minute pores? I wouldn't mind trying some of those woods if that's the case. Jim |
#4
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Can you clean the wood with a mild detergent after sanding? Maybe scrub it will something that won't abraid the steel but will help clean the pores a little better.
__________________ -Andrew Riley For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.... (Hebrews 4:12) My YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/ARCustomKnives Check it out and Subscribe! |
#5
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Yes, some denser woods are not nearly as susceptible to the smudging problem as the more porous woods. Also, darker woods show the smudging less than light colored woods. Mostly though, you don't prevent the smudging as much as you make it possible to clean up afterwards and the wax helps with that, then wash with soap as AR said.
If you think porous wood is bad, just wait until you try unstabilized ivory next to brass bolsters! Personally, I cop out on the whole issue by using only stabilized wood/horn/ivory and avoiding full tang knives like the plague ... |
#6
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Appreciate the feedback and the advice Ray and Drew. I ended up using some dishwashing detergent which got rid of most of the smudging (and also made the knife smell lemony fresh ).
I think my original problem was having the wood stabilized by a company that was new to the market and perhaps not as refined with their techniques as some of the more established people. On a related note, does stabilizing ivory change its colour at all? Jim |
#7
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I've had quite a bit of ivory and bone stabilized by K&G over the years and never noticed any real change in the color. They tend to look a little yellowish when they first come back but that's the layer of goo on the outside. After you start sanding and polishing the ivory just looks like ivory again. If it's any darker I can't really tell but either way it's well withing the normal range of ivory color ...
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#8
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I tape off the wood when I work on the metal parts, and then i tape off the metal when i work on the wood. On porous wood compressed air often works well, as long as you keep everything dry. Once you get oil or wax on the wood - even if it is naturally oily - the dust will stick more. An old toothbrush helps to get the dust out of porous wood. If all else fails, try washing the wood in paint thinner, scrubbing with said tooth brush...
__________________ Chris K. Two Mountains Forge Delta, BC, Canada www.twomountainsforge.com |
#9
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Thanks Chris. I did tape off the wood while sanding the bolsters, but there is that transition point where the bolster butts up against the wood scale that still got dirty simply because my sand paper wore away the tape. I did end up using a toothbrush and dish washing detergent to scrub and it seemed to get rid of most of the ground in dust. Live and learn, I guess. I certainly appreciate the advice everyone offered. Thanks all!
Jim |
#10
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I've had great success with this problem by sealing the wood with a couple of coats of super glue. Thicker CA seems to fill the pores and open grain better than the thinner types. Some lighter woods, (olive, movingui) or more open grained woods like walnut need more coats. Others like cocobolo or ironwood usually only need one. Sand to the wood between coats and wear a vinly glove to apply the CA with a finger tip. I let the CA air dry as using an accelerator means more sanding. I sand to the wood leaving the CA in the pores. This allows me to finish the wood if needed with whatever finish I'm using for that particular type of wood. An added benefit of this technique is the CA lets you know if you have any low spots in your handle. After sanding wipe the handle down with a cotton ball damp with white vinegar. The low spot will show up glossy as it still has some CA in it. Since finding this info on a pen turning site I have used it on hundreds of knives. It works.
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Tags |
art, ats-34, blade, brass, full tang, ironwood, ivory, knife, knives, scales, stainless steel, tang |
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