"Blotchy" Rosewood handle

[vizslaman]

Help!
I have completed a nice skinner using Indian Rosewood and have started the finishing process with semi-gloss Tung Oil. I have about 8 coats on now, buffing with 600 grit between coats. I am getting a "Blotchy" appearance on the handle. I sanded back down to the wood after about the fourth coat, thinking that would help. But, alas, it has not. I need help!
What is causing the surface to have irregular, random bright shiny/dull areas?
What do I do about it?

PS - I finished some quarter sawn white oak on another knife at the same time, using the same process and it turned out Great!

Thanks for your help.

[Kostoglotov]

Are the blotches tacky? The Tung Oil might not be fully dried/cured across the entire scale when you are sanding. How long are you waiting between coating and sanding?

Rosewood is pretty oily IIRC and when compared to the oak, wont adsorb the oil nearly as fast as the Oak.

Try wiping the handle down with a little acetone and wait a day (see if you get any bleeding), wipe on a thin coat of TO and wait a day and then sand.

to Knifenetwork

[SVanderkolff]

I tried tung oil on an rosewood scale many years ago and had to give up. The tung oil simply would not dry with the oil from the wood affecting it. I ended up going without the oil and simply sanding to 1200 grit and lightly buffing.
Steve

[vizslaman]

No, the blotchiness is not tacky. I waited 24 hours between coats to make sure it was dry. I hurried (12 hours) the first coat and found that it had not cured. Then I waited (without taking it back to bare wood) before sanding and adding coat #2. Could that be causing my current difficulty?

I had used TO on an earlier knife last year without the problem. But, I don't know if it was from the same batch of rosewood.

I'll try the Acetone wipe, wait, sand, TO, wait, method.

Any other suggestions about fixing this issue would be appreciated. My next action, if I can't fix it will be to saw/sand this handle off and start over. I sure hate to put another 15 hours into this knife though!

Thanks for your inputs!
Ray

[Kostoglotov]

Ray

It sounds like your wood just has too much natural oil and its not curing out. I had the same issue trying to oil finish Cocobolo.

Here something to try before ripping the handle off ?

Take a test block and sand it to 600. Apply some wax to the handle (briwax or carnuba auto wax) and buff.

This is what I use with Cocobolo and gives a nice shiny finish.

Here's an example (the picture isn't very good, but you get the idea)

[vizslaman]

After my previous post, I tried Acetone, which came out VERY Dark RED. So, I got to thinking that the oils are coming to the surface through the Tung oil.

Being a little ( impatient, I stuck the knife back in the vise and started with 150 grit, working up through 220, 320, 400,600 and finally 1500 paper. Then, I used some more Acetone and the rag came up only slightly discolored.
Right now, I am letting it dry.

If I use Carnauba wax, will the finish fail after a time or is it reasonably long lasting?

I notice that we are both in the deep freeze part of the country. It is nice to know that there is someone reasonably local that is MUCH more experienced than me.

Thanks again, Ray

[Kostoglotov]

I know how the impatient part works lol

I just use Turtle wax, the wax is pretty long lasting - I've got a set of steak knives that I've waxed and it holds up for over 6 months. For a hunting knife, I wax and oil it when I put it away for the season

If you want longer life, use stabilized wood. Its more expensive but there isn?t much finishing required.


We always need more makers from Minnesota, were dwarfed by all the guys from Montana, Texas, and the South East

[vizslaman]

Well, after a half day of drying, the rosewood shows no sign of bleeding oil. But, having been burned, I'm afraid to try the TO system again.

I am going to follow your advice and use a wax finish.

Thanks a lot for your help!
Ray

[Bob Hatfield]

Vizslaman;

I do not use rosewood, but have used a lot of coco bolo which is similar and both having a high oil content. I sand my coco bolo to a 600 grit and then use the buffing wheel loaded with Jackson white polishing compound. The wood comes out with a deep beautiful shine.
I wipe the handle down, to remove any polishing compound, and apply two coats of Rennisance wax and buff with a soft cotton cloth.
I advise my customers who purchase a knife with coco bolo scales to clean knife after use and apply a coat of good wood paste wax and buff it before storing knife. Their feedback is that the knife scales have maintained their good looks after years of use in the field.

[vizslaman]

Bob,
Thanks for that tip.
When you say, "Wipe it down" after buffing with white compound, what do you use to wipe it? I enough of a newbie that I have the white, green and red buffing compounds, but have never tried getting it off of the wood except with a soft towel or similar cloth.

Another "dumb" question, "How much buffing?". When do you stop buffing? How do you tell that "enough is enough"?

Thanks,
Ray

[CWKnifeman]

Vizslaman, I do not know what Bob is using to cleanoff the excess polishing compound, but I just spray on a little WD-40 and clean with an old terry cloth hand towel.
One other thing is I use Zam specifically for handle materials. It works well and helps to hold a high polish on oil type woods, ait will also keep the wood from drying out as well. The Rennisance wax applied after that has a two fold purpose one is to put a final polish on it and the second is to keep the wood from drying out by keeping in the natural wood oils.
Curtis