Pro carpentry tip: Soon after applying varnish/oil coats, rub off the excess with a towel very thoroughly!!! Let it set overnight. Re-coat with oil, rub vigorously. Repeat to desired finish.
If you haven't already done this, you should try Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil gun stock finish. This stuff is amazing and dirt cheap. It's used by high end gun makers to finish their very expensive stocks. You apply it in the same manner as your DIY tung oil. A small amount goes a very long way. It produces a hard, durable, weather proof and silky finish while maintaining the natural feel of the wood. It doesn't significantly change the colour of the wood. You could stain the the wood before applying the Tru-Oil. For fun, I make Cigar Box Guitars. I generally use maple wood, or white oak for the necks. I always finish the necks with Tru-Oil. The end result is simple stunning. It works just as well on magnolia wood, as used in the making of traditional ho handles.
What you have made is essentially a danish oil. Apply till it won’t absorb more, then wipe off thoroughly. I use a similar finish on gunstocks since it isn’t intended to build up on the surface like a lacquer or varnish does. I’m glad this is the recommended finish. I just finished making my first Japanese style knife yesterday, a Honesuki and I’m almost done with a petty. Both turned out great. Once I get a bit more proficient I’d like to send you a knife to get your opinion.
@Edgar Medina Danish oil is foodsafe once it cures. You don't want uncured danish oil anywhere near food because of the solvents that need to evaporate, so make sure it's fully cured first. It takes a couple days to fully cure, but once it does, it hardens and is foodsafe.
Mineral oil never cures, so it's always wet. That's why it rubs off, seeps out, and doesn't last nearly as long as oils that cure like (real) Tung, or boiled linseed oils. Mineral oil also. if you use a lot of it frequently, will soften the wood. But that takes a lot over years.
I recently restored a high end Snooker Cue, which requires a delicate finish, and am a big fan of boiled linseed oil (hot blown method for pre oxidation and fast curing and good water resistance, no siccatives like manganese for health reasons on frequent contact) or tung oil. BLO has an aging effect over time, it will slightly darken and gets a orange/yellow hue, while tung oil will hold its first, more matte look instead satin look like on BLO. Tung oil is considered slightly better for water repellence, but it’s down to the impregnating process. Both highlight the grain and look awesome, but the feel is simply unmatched, it feels so much smoother than for instance Danish oil, Tru oil or other varnish products. They are simply the best. I’m both cases, make sure to apply thin coats, wipe off any excess and let each dry thoroughly, like 1-3 days (warm temperature speeds things up a lot). With 3-5 coats, you’re good to go. For sure not as easy as varnish or wax, but damn I love it 😄
a great way to protect the wood is by using one of the following: oils: tung oil flax oil mineral oil teak oil one of the simplest is baby oil but i dont recommend it. Waxes: bees wax works fine if you burn it a little but te best layer so far that i ever used was Carnauba wax, it takes some time to apply it (requiers heat and friction with a full coton cloth) but holds very good and doesnt melts under the heat of your hands like untreated bees wax, also not so oily. theres also one kind of polish used in smoking pipes and high polished furniture, its beautifull!! but i dont think its suitable for kitchen knives or cutting boards so dont mind it =] best regards :)
Hi Ryky, I'm just getting into knives and was gifted a good sized Japanese cleaver. My mom told me that I should seal the end where metal meets wood with wax. I have not seen or read anything that explains or recommends this technique or gives details on the type of wax. Can you give any input on this? Thanks!
I know it's been a year but I have the same question, since I have several knives and one quite nice one with gaps at the tang entry point where water could get into the handle. Beeswax is a traditional fix for this, and at least a couple of mine seem to have it. There's a well-known blacksmith, Shosui Takeda, who uses epoxy. The beeswax doesn't seem like a permanent fix and epoxy seems a little drastic, so I'm just not sure at this point what I want to do.
Food grade beeswax pellets just melt down in some hot water inside a bad and then pout warm wax over where blade goes. Squish it in and then clean up the edges and when it hardens you're done.
I used epoxy first inside the handle then when dry I finished off the whole handle with tung oil. Then I finished the whole handle and especially where the blade meets the handle with warm beeswax.
I recently purchases the MIYABI Birchwood set. As you know they have inlays on either side of the birchwood handle. Would you still recommend this process, or something different? Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.
Just something I'd like to add. To make it waterproof you would have to coat where the wood meets the blade as well. I'm new to Japanese blades and that area scares me the most. But I'm probably just paranoid because I cannot see what's happening to the steel inside the handle!
I permanently epoxy the handle in with some Gflex. After sanding and putting tung oil I epoxy and then add beeswax when everything is coated with oil and dry. This will make you have 3 seals.
I have at least two knives with inadequate tang sealing IMHO. One has what looks to be beeswax in it and another simply has a pretty big empty gap all the way around. I'm pretty adept with epoxy so I'm going to go that route. Might not look quite as traditional in that area but if it's good enough for Shosui Takeda it's good enough for the likes of me.
The 440 used black pakka. You can. It will not bring the color back, but will give what you have a protective coating. Just make sure you wipe away excess after application
I know this is a crazy request but I use ur videos to sharpen my traditional slip joint knives and my kitchen knifes, is it possible for u to do a video on maybe a pocket knife?
hey Ryky. did you ever consider to mix Boiled Linseed oil (the natural one, without varnish in it) + (Paste) wax + Mineral spirits? i've seen this on another chanel and it did seem to work wonderfull.
I have a vintage collection of Chicago Cutlery S series knives from the late 1970s - early 1980s before they were bought up and shipped to China. They came with walnut handles and I use boiled linseed oil on them about once a year. I bought most of them used (bought the initial 7 knife set in 1981). The BLO keeps them in good repair without getting gummy or sticky like mineral oil. Love your videos and just bought my first Japanese knife a Nakiri. I can't wait to use it.
Hi Ricky, Sorry if I'm bothering you, I know that you are busy. I will try to be short. So, I'm watching your videos for more than an year, and recently I was looking for something to protect my wood handle, and the problem is that I can't find mineral spirits from your link from Amazon anymore. Could you tell me another choice or option, please??! It is worth to use this homemade oil on cheap knifes??! I'm chef and I have a set from opinel some french company with wood handle and I have already some cracks in my chef knife handle and I don't want to lose it. So, I want to try your homemade oil. I saw that video with 1 dollar knife; very good ideea. Great job with your channel and congrats for your first Burrfection knife. Sorry for my English. I will waiting for your reply. Thanks a lot
Why do you need to mix varnish with the linseed? Doesn't boiled linseed polymerize and set naturally? I can understand why you might want to thin the linseed oil, just not why you need to put varnish with it.
Linseed, varnish and mineral spirits doesn't sound overly food safe, nor does this mixture equal tung oil. True tung oil is an oil all on its own (comes from a tree and 100% natural). Tung oil is not something you create by mixing other oils/varnishes together.
I use Ballistol oil .... As an alkaline Oil Ballistol is high effective, universal, environment-friendly and acts disinfectant. Furthermore Ballistol is a proven penetrating oil . Ballistol does not resinify even in decades and it is durable practical unlimited. Besides Ballistol is complete biodegradable, food safe and skin-friendly. Ballistol protects, preserves and rejuvenates all natural wooden surfaces. It enhances the wood graining and protects against humidity and insect damage.
I actually work in a business that manufactures polyurethane finishes for wood, concrete and the like, so I'm a little bit biased, but I'd say you're doing the right thing. NY PU finishes are extremely wear and weather resistant, and produce a spectacular look.
one this is not a Tung oil finish. Tung oil is a natural oil and takes months to completely dry. that is why they add other things to get it to dry faster. this is a varnish type mixture.Varnishes are not great with moisture, but with the linseed oil in it it will help. Next use painters tape and tape off the blade that way you don't cut yourself or scratch or get finish on the blade. Next sand to 400 grit. dampen the wood and let it dry this will raise the grain . then you can use the 400 grit one more time. once this is done you may want to rubbing alcohol on it to remove any chance of oils on the wood. or go back a step and use alcohol to raise the grain but do the final sanding with latex gloves on. then apply your first coat. let dry then apply several more coats with a light rubbing of 0000 steel wool. If you don't want a shine to your handle after in has completely dried a light rubbing of 0000 steel wool or 2000 grit sand paper will take care of that.
would love to rick but I have so many things in the fire, and knowing how much time it takes to edit. I just don't have the time right now. I was a pro photographer and have everything to also edit vids, but just don't have the time. I'm hoping in the next year I will be able too. But you guys are so so good at it. But it would be nice with my making of bamboo rods, knives, and Platinum Printing in photography. I would have a very good base to start videoing.
Burrfection mine take an average of 6-7 hours per video, will try this out this week :) I'll do a video on how it went at some point and point them back to you in the intro :D once dried is this finish good for the whole spatula? Or just the handles? Looking to make some wooden utensils and have been checking on food safe finishes, also I've tried a few but what do you use for oiling the blade? I just use light vegetable oils
@@vanguardsmithing7501Hello!! For blade protection your best choice is "Tsubaki oil" that's a traditional Japanese oil for blades. It's extracted from Camellia seeds and it's edible, I found it in pharmacy strore pretty expensive.
Boiled linseed oil is not food safe until its 100% dry/cured. Even if it feels dry to the touch, it still takes quite a long time to fully dry/cure. I would not recommend Boiled linseed oil for anything food-related
