Varnishing wood knife handle

[jzmtl]

So I had some water based urethane varnish left over from renovation, and when looking through my stuff I found Svord peasant and a Boker lockback. I've tried BLO on both, while they look good initially, a few days later they turn dull after the oil started curing.

I thought I'd try varnish them, it's meant for floors so it's tough as nails and very water resistant. Two coats later and I have to say they look pretty good, really brought out the wood grain contrast and surface stays shiny yet not slippery. Note the wood is already colored from BLO and water based varnish doesn't color wood much.

[82brutus]

Those look very nice!  Great job!

[ducttapetech]

Very nice. They look good.

[Mr. Whippy]

I like it!

[pfrsantos]

Didn't it made them more slippery? Is it the same/better/worse? Any difference when they're wet?

[enki_ck]

Very cool job.

[jerseydevil]

Didn't it made them more slippery? Is it the same/better/worse? Any difference when they're wet?

A floor grade waterborne polyurethane intended for floors shouldn't be too slippery, except in a high gloss finish.  I've done the handles on several Opinels with different finishes (one advantage to running a paint store  ), and I've found a low-lustre finish to be the best compromise between durability, shine, and grippiness.  Those came our very nice jzmtl. 

[jcs0001]

That looks good.  The waterbased varnish seems to be really tough - I've seen it used on indoor steps and it held up really well.

John.

[jzmtl]

Didn't it made them more slippery? Is it the same/better/worse? Any difference when they're wet?

I only did two coats so the wood grain is still showing through and there's enough surface texture. The varnish itself is actually high gloss, varathane diamond interior finish.