Caring for wood handles

[Wire Edge]

Hi everyone!

I got to thinking I should condition the wood on my Climber.  The wood is Ebony.  I was thinking linseed oil, but maybe there's a better choice, or maybe it's best left alone.

The same question applies to Swiss Walnut. 

Thanks!

[Donald]

I don't know how much oil Ebony will absorb. I will be curious to see what someone might know about it. In any event it won't hurt it. I use flax seed oil on my wooden implements. It is available from vitamin type stores. It is the same as linseed oil but since it is for consumption one knows there are no toxic additives added to it. Often the linseed oil that you get at the hardware store has additives in it so it dries/hardens faster. In other words the oil penetrates the wood and eventually dries and hardens thereby sealing the wood. Natural flax seed oil without additives will take a long time to do that, but it will be food safe.

Walnut oil will also work. I wish I had known that before I had to figure out where to get flax seed oil. lol Walnut oil is available for use on salads and such in the grocery store, and sometimes in the gourmet sections. After you finish oiling up your wood....put some Arugula (Rocket) in a bowl. Grate some fresh Parmesan cheese over it. Toss just a bit to spread out the Parmesan and then drizzle with walnut oil and toss again. This makes a fantastic salad and since it has no vinegar, it does not conflict with any wine that you have opened with the corkscrew on your SAK. For those who have not had it, arugula is a terrific lettuce but has a bit of a bitter or sharp taste. I love it, some do not care for it so much.

[dks]

I have used, on some older wooden (dark) handled knives, the oil used to condition outside wooden furniture; I think it was Teak oil...
Worked OK, for my needs, but I am not using these knives so I do not know how good or safe that oil is.

[Sparky415]

I have just had a quick google,
 
While I normally cover every wood with linseed oil/white spirit mix
It looks to me like Teak won't benefit from oiling 


I have a little experience with Walnut, I found it is an oily wood that didn't need any treatment other than a polish 
 
Open to other advice 


Edited to add

Reading some more...... Half the sites say don't use teak oil ( but use their products! )and others say to use it 

http://www.teakmaintenance.net/teakwood-care.html

The Iroko scales on my Spartan won't absorb any oils even though I tried Linseed at first and after two years of pocket carry is looking as good as ever 

 I will leave it up to you to decide
 

[crackout]

Why not use oil for guitar fretboards?
Most of them are rosewood, but there are also ebony boards.

[dks]

Reading some more...... Half the sites say don't use teak oil ( but use their products! )and others say to use it 

Welcome to the World Wide Web.

[Sparky415]

Why did I google Teak when I was thinking  Ebony?   

Reading some more...... Half the sites say don't use teak oil ( but use their products! )and others say to use it 

Welcome to the World Wide Web.

Thats just confusing   

 

Crackout has  it sorted and Donald has made me hungry 

http://www.ehow.com/how_8401024_care-ebony-fretboard.html

[Styerman]

Tung oil + Teak oil 50/50 , followed by a good quality Carnuba paste wax .

Chris

[jerseydevil]

Tung oil + Teak oil 50/50 , followed by a good quality Carnuba paste wax .

Chris

+1 .  I talked to a couple of the furniture repair guys at work this morning after seeing this thread, and two of them said exactly this.

[Wire Edge]

 sounds like a plan, that everyone!

[nuphoria]

I had a UKPK modded with zebrawood and the maker used Danish oil - seems to work beautifully.

[Donald]

I managed to track down a version of a post I made that is still extant. It repeats some of what I said, since this is where my preferences came from and mentions something else I wanted to warn about, combustion. So I'll see how it inserts here.
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I use Flax Oil which is the same as saying pure Linseed Oil. In other words without any potential toxic agents. Since it is considered a health food supplement you can get it at such stores. I found mine at the Vitamin Shoppe. I understand that Trader Joes also has it, but I do not have one of those around here. It will polymerize very slowly. Just remember that any rags, paper towels, and the like that you use can spontaneously combust so do not leave a pile of rags laying around. I imagine a search would turn up safe disposal methods.

Raw linseed oil is a better alternative to vegetable oil or liquid paraffin. It is transparent, nontoxic and so clean it can be used in cooking. Its disadvantage is that it takes a long time to cure--a half year or so at room temperature. It will soak deeply into the wood, and therefore I would recommend that it be applied tow or three times, with about a week between applications. Small utensils can be soaked in the oil. Soaking should saturate the wood. To prevent oil buildup on the surface, wipe off any remaining oil. A cured oil skin is difficult to remove by sanding. Raw linseed oil can usually be found in art-supply, hardware and some natural-food stores.

Another nontoxic oil that cures is walnut oil. It is edible and is sold in health-food stores.

****
Caution: Spontaneous combustion can occur in rags and paper saturated with linseed oil.

Wille Sundqvist - Swedish Carving Techniques ©1990

I have not tried the walnut oil and probably read the above quote after I had managed to locate flax oil. Walnut oil is generally available in the vegetable oil section of the grocery store. The irony is that I actually have walnut oil. My brother-in-law prepared a salad that a wine connoisseur friend of theirs makes to avoid conflict of vinegar with wine. Toss arugula (Eruca sativa) a green also known as rocket with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Add a modest amount of walnut oil and toss again to coat. Enjoy. Aurugula is a bit bitter, I and my younger daughter are big fans; my older daughter and wife will tolerate it. One could add some freshly ground pepper, but we generally do not.

P.S. I store both of those oils in the refrigerator.

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The above is worth repeating, especially since the Sundqvist book is out of print, and I want to encourage Sparky to go for the salad! 

[Sparky415]

@ Donald,
Sounds to me you have missed the last line in the recipe, I think it goes something like... Then sprinkle with the fried smoky bacon bits and add the chicken breast   

Guys if any of you use Linseed oil for the first time I found that thinning it with 50% white spirit will help it to soak in to the wood 

I have also found if you let it get in to your SAK it really gums up the moving parts and is difficult to remove 

Another thing it is good for is protecting tools stored in a shed over winter
Put a coat of linseed on axes heads etc if you are not using them for a while, it stays sticky for a few weeks then hardens to protect the steel

As Donald says there is a possibility of spontaneous combustion, in the old days furniture guys kept their rags in airtight containers 

 

[Donald]

Sparky, good point on gumming up moving parts! I have had it lock up the blades on an Opinel. It was easy to break them free, I think I used my fishing pliers (smooth textured surface so no marks) and a drop of QuickRelease lubricant. Now if I am soaking the handles I leave the blades open a bit so squeezing them will break them free, if it happens again. Once soaked and dried though, it keeps moisture from swelling the wooden handles and binding the blade. They work much better for the treatment....once you have everything moving properly.*

With most modern SAKs you don't have to worry about the wooden handle problem so no need to soak,  but I it would not be good to gum up all those joints by accident! 

*

I don't remember if I needed the SAK for this quick "operation." Perhaps the smooth screw driver was good to get the vibraloc rings moving again on the Opinels.

Now if Victorinox would just make Stayglow plus handles! 
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P.S. Enjoy the salad either way!